It doesn't matter what you're trying to accomplish. It's all a matter of discipline. I was determined to discover what life held for me beyond the inner-city streets.

I don't consciously try to be a role model, so I don't know if I am or not. That's for other people to decide.

Black women . . . work because their husbands can't make enough money at their jobs to keep everything going. . . . They don't go to work to find fulfillment, or adventure, or glamour and romance, like so many white women think they are doing. Black women work out of necessity.

No matter what great things you accomplish, somebody helps you.

I believe in me more than anything in this world.

I ran and ran and ran every day, and I acquired this sense of determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never give up, no matter what else happened.

Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose.