Listen up. Let me tell you something. A man ain’t a goddamn ax. Chopping, hacking, busting every goddamn minute of the day. Things get to him. Things he can’t chop down because they’re inside.

I always looked upon the acts of racist exclusion, or insult, as pitiable, from the other person. I never absorbed that. I always thought that there was something deficient about such people.

I know that my books are worthy, which is separate from me.

You are your best thing

No gasp at a miracle that is truly miraculous because the magic lies in the fact that you knew it was there for you all along.

Beloved, you are my sister, you are my daughter, you are my face; you are me.

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.