I don't think one parent can raise a child. I don't think two parents can raise a child. You really need the whole village.

I wish I’d a knowed more people. I would of loved ‘em all. If I’d a knowed more, I would a loved more

Alice thought, No. It wasn't the War and the disgruntled veterans; it wasn't the droves and droves of colored people flocking to paychecks and streets full of themselves. It was the music. The dirty, get-on-down music the women sang and the men played and both danced to, close and shamelesss or apart and wild...It made you do unwise disorderly things. Just hearing it was like violating the law.

I have a lot of respect for readers because I'm a reader. That's how I got into writing.

Being good to somebody is just like being mean to somebody. Risky. You don't get nothing for it.

Movements toward freedom and the self-respect that comes from something other than what people think is their most important feature.

I am a moralist. I worry.