A cynical young person is almost the saddest sight to see, because it means that he or she has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.

In so many ways, segregation shaped me, and education liberated me.

I thank God I’m myself and for the life I’m given to live and for friends and lovers and beloveds, and I thank God for knowing that all those people have already paid for me.

I believe that every person is born with talent.

I’m not a writer who teaches. I’m a teacher who writes.

When younger writers and poets, musicians and painters are weakened by a stemming of funds, they come to me saddened, not as full of dreams and excitement and ideas. I am then weakened and diminished,...

Be present in all things and thankful for all things.

I sustain myself with the love of family.

Segregation shaped me; education liberated me.

While the rest of the world has been improving technology, Ghana has been improving the quality of mans humanity to a man.

To be left alone on the tightrope of youthful unknowing is to experience the excruciating beauty of full freedom and the threat of eternal indecision.

It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody.

Encouragement to all women is – let us try to offer help before we have to offer therapy. That is to say, let’s see if we can’t prevent being ill by trying to offer a...

I respect myself and insist upon it from everybody. And because I do it, I then respect everybody, too.

In a magazine, one can get – from cover to cover – 15 to 20 different ideas about life and how to live it.

Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise.

I’ve read everything Thomas Wolfe ever wrote; my brother and I memorized whole chapters of ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’ and ‘Look Homeward, Angel.’

I will not sit in a room with black people when the N word is used. I know it was meant to belittle a person, so I will not sit there and have that poison...

Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.

I don’t trust people who don’t love themselves and tell me, ‘I love you.’ … There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.

That’s what you want to do? Then nothing beats a trial but a failure. Give it everything you’ve got. I’ve told you many times, ‘Cant do is like Dont Care.’ Neither of them have a...

What is a fear of living? It’s being preeminently afraid of dying. It is not doing what you came here to do, out of timidity and spinelessness. The antidote is to take full responsibility for...

You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.

I believe that one can never leave home. I believe that one carries the shadows, the dreams, the fears and the dragons of home under one’s skin, at the extreme corners of one’s eyes and...

I know that when I pray, something wonderful happens. Not just to the person or persons for whom I’m praying, but also something wonderful happens to me. I’m grateful that I’m heard.

I agree with Balzac and 19th-century writers, black and white, who say, ‘I write for money.’ Yes, I think everybody should be paid handsomely; I insist on it, and I pay people who work for...

Our stories come from our lives and from the playwright’s pen, the mind of the actor, the roles we create, the artistry of life itself and the quest for peace.

Whenever something went wrong when I was young – if I had a pimple or if my hair broke – my mom would say, ‘Sister mine, I’m going to make you some soup.’ And I...

I admire people who dare to take the language, English, and understand it and understand the melody.

Hold those things that tell your history and protect them. During slavery, who was able to read or write or keep anything? The ability to have somebody to tell your story to is so important....

The language of all the interpretations, the translations, of the Judaic Bible and the Christian Bible, is musical, just wonderful. I read the Bible to myself; I’ll take any translation, any edition, and read it...

We need much less than we think we need.

My life has been one great big joke,A dance that’s walked,A song that’s spoke,I laugh so hard I almost choke,When I think about myself.

Making a decision to write was a lot like deciding to jump into a frozen lake.

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.

You saw me bludgeoned by circumstance.Lost, injured, hurt by chance.I screamed to the heavens….loudly screamed….Trying to change our nightmares into dreams…

I’m convinced of this: Good done anywhere is good done everywhere. For a change, start by speaking to people rather than walking by them like they’re stones that don’t matter. As long as you’re breathing,...

Find a beautiful piece of art. If you fall in love with Van Gogh or Matisse or John Oliver Killens, or if you fall love with the music of Coltrane, the music of Aretha Franklin,...

I have a feeling that I make a very good friend, and I’m a good mother, and a good sister, and a good citizen. I am involved in life itself – all of it. And...

I love wisdom. And you can never be great at anything unless you love it. Not be in love with it, but love the thing, admire the thing. And it seems that if you love...

Children’s talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives.

I write some country music. There’s a song called ‘I Hope You Dance.’ Incredible. I was going to write that poem; somebody beat me to it.

Every December, I host a tree-trimming party. I serve chili with cornbread and lots of good wine. It’s a wonderful party, and it shows how much adults like to play.

You can only become great at that thing you’re willing to sacrifice for.

A Woman in harmony with her spirit is like a river flowing.She goes where she will without pretense and arrives at her destination prepared to be herself and only herself

No matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

We wear the mask that grins and lies.It shades our cheeks and hides our eyes.This debt we pay to human guileWith torn and bleeding hearts…We smile and mouth the myriad subtleties.Why should the world think...

I’m young as morningand fresh as dew.Everybody loves meand so do you.

Independence is a heady draught, and if you drink it in your youth, it can have the same effect on the brain as young wine does. It does not matter that its taste is not...

I know some people might think it odd – unworthy even – for me to have written a cookbook, but I make no apologies. The U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins thought I had demeaned myself...