“It goes without saying that your friends are usually the first to discuss your personal business behind your back.”

“money does not guarantee happiness or peace of mind, it can take your mind off things, distract you, but it can't replace the generic stuff a person needs!”

“don't sabotage your own greatness by succumbing to failure!”

“I been saying it for years: church is full of sneaky men posing as honest souls, and they are perpetuators our here looking for women just like you, with giant holes in your hearts, and they can smell when you got a good job and when you lonely as hell.”

“Don't worry about how pretty (the story) sounds, how lilting it is, and the imagery, and the metaphor, all that. Most readers don't care. It's the people in your book that matter.”

“happiness aint got no Ph.D. or no certain amount of zeroes behind it!”

“Folks want to glow, to leave their worries and dead skin behind.”