And realizing there is no such thing as the Black experience. Time and events allow for change on both sides.

Who wants to live with one foot in hell just for the sake of nostalgia Our time is forever now.

Life is just a short walk from the cradle to the grave - and it sure behooves us to be kind to one another along the way.

Like snowflakes, the human pattern is never cast twice. We are uncommonly and marvelously intricate in thought and action, our problems are most complex and, too often, silently borne.

writing is a labor of love and also an act of defiance, a way to light a candle in a gale wind.

We think of poverty as a condition simply meaning a lack of funds, no money, but when one sees fifth, sixth, and seventh generation poor, it is clear that poverty is as complicated as high finance.

The Black writer explains pain to those who inflict it.

Some feminists feel that a woman should never be wrong. We have a right to be wrong.

Truth is simply whatever you can bring yourself to believe.

I think women need kindness more than love. When one human being is kind to another, it's a very deep matter.

Some truth has no nourishment in it.

Listen to me. They may control what you do, but no one can pee on your soul without your permission.

The pain will always be in you — but you will not always be in pain.

He had to give humans credit where it was due - they did seem to have a knack for building interesting places for cats to explore.

I like to be with my friends and my family, listen to music and read books. Things like that relax me.

I am myself a dissenter from all known religions, and I hope that every kind of religious belief will die out.

Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food.

I truly believe that many of the fears we have are unnecessary. It is something we've been taught. It has been programmed into us. It's just a habitual thinking pattern, and it can be changed.

For a season, a gifted speaker can inspire with his words, but for a lifetime John McCain has inspired with his deeds.

The comic and the tragic lie inseparably close, like light and shadow.

I like people who can and like to make fun of themselves!