“But, self, that thing was on TV, and this one wants to tear your liver out your nose. Run.”

“Real magic can never be made by offering someone else's liver. You must tear out your own, and not expect to get it back.”

“But that’s the thing about dead people: they can’t warn you to keep your nose out of things that are going to put your ass in danger.”

“For God's sake, have some self-respect and do not run off at the mouth if your brain is out to lunch.”

“There is something so tender about this to me, about being willing to have your makeup wash off, your eyes tear up, your nose start to run. Its tender partly because it harkens back to infancy, to your mother washing your face with love and lots or water, tending to you, making you clean all over again.”

“Rule Number One for working for a white lady, Minny: it is nobody’s business. You keep your nose out of your White Lady’s problems, you don’t go crying to her with yours—you can’t pay the light bill? Your feet are too sore? Remember one thing: white people are not your friends. They don’t want to hear about it. And when Miss White Lady catches her man with the lady next door, you keep out of it, you hear me?”