All those songs reflect all the people that live within me.

I'm convinced that we Black women possess a special indestructible strength that allows us to not only get down, but to get up, to get through, and to get over.

People do see me as sweet and innocent. Not to say that I am not those things. But I have other sides to me.

Competition is great. And as long as it's friendly and not a malicious thing, then I think it's cool.

I don't believe in luck. ... It's persistence, hard work, and not forgetting your dream.

I can be happy with who I am, not what I should be, or what I might have been, or what someone tells me I must be.

Believe in yourself. Have faith in yourself because no one else is going to.

It has taken me most of my adult life to come to terms with who I am. To do that, I had to break free of attitudes that brought me down.

In complete darkness we are all the same, it is only our knowledge and wisdom that separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you.

The greatest achievement to any human being is to love God, yourself, and others.

Every body type is different - that's what makes you unique. What makes you special is you, and you are different from the next person.

Everyone's dying, Milcah. Some people are just dying sooner than others.

He threw his burning cigarette onto our clean living room floor and ground it into the wood with his boot.We were about to become cigarettes.

Your Majesty, I took the liberty because I was so desirous of visiting alone with you for a few minutes before the rest of the other peasants arrived.

I write a lot of songs people don't hear. I really just enjoy the process. I finish 'em all. I don't think there's a whole lot of difference between the bad ones and the good ones.

In the world who knowes not to swimme, goes to the bottome. [In the world, who knows not to swim goes to the bottom.]

If I could say it, I would not have to dance it.

What will they say about my poetry who never touched my blood?

I can't say I'm anything like a devoted animal rights activist, but I certainly oppose cruelty to animals.

Look at a star in the sky not as something unreachable but as a planet you would visit one day.

Most single women have been in that situation where there is a silent guy in your group. You don't see him as boyfriend material. He's just there, but you know all the same people.