I donate heavily to the church and various churches in the Detroit community and food banks.

We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It's our basic human right.

Be your own artist, and always be confident in what youre doing. If youre not going to be confident, you might as well not be doing it.

Soul is a constant. It's cultural. It's always going to be there, in different flavors and degrees.

I'm a big woman. I need big hair.

If you disrespect everybody that you run into, how in the world do you think everybody's supposed to respect you?

People really don't have to give you anything, so appreciate what people give you. And just don't let that go to your head, whatever it is they give you.

Don't say Aretha is making a comeback, because I've never been away!

Falling out of love is like losing weight. It's a lot easier putting it on than taking it off.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me.

My faith always has been and always will be important to me.

When you are in love, you always want to be with your lover.

Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different

Nothing is more impotent than an unread library.

If we incline too much to democracy, we shall soon shoot into a monarchy.

If I see a human body on the stage, I don't see it as an abstraction. I see it as a body.

Flowers rejoice when night is done, Lift their heads to greet the sun; Sweetest looks and odours raise, In a silent hymn of praise.

To me, speed is really about convenience.

Outrageous fiscal mendacity is neither historically normal nor bipartisan. It’s a modern Republican thing.

There are wars, there's pestilence, there are plagues, there is corruption in religious circles, corruption in the government, when was it not?

As far as the filmmaking process is concerned, stars are essentially worthless - and absolutely essential.