“To those who are given much, much is expected.”

“To those who have given up on love: I say, "Trust life a little bit.”

“Oh, Black known and unknown poets, how often have your auctioned pains sustained us? Who will compute the lonely nights made less lonely by your songs, or by the empty pots made less tragic by your tales?If we were a people much given to revealing secrets, we might raise monuments and sacrifice to the memories of our poets, but slavery cured us of that weakness.”

“We need much less than we think we need.”

“Women should be tough, tender, laugh as much as possible, and live long lives.”

“The main thing in one's own private world is to try to laugh as much as you cry.”

“I make writing as much a part of my life as I do eating or listening to music.”