I never thought I'd be 52 years old. I don't think that anybody at 16 thinks like that.

It wasn't until I started reading and found books they wouldn't let us read in school that I discovered you could be insane and happy and have a good life without being like everybody else.

Don’t sleep with people who don’t read.

My idea of an interesting person is someone who is quite proud of their seemingly abnormal life and turns their disadvantage into a career.

True success is figuring out your life and career so you never have to be around jerks.

Without obsession, life is nothing.

[My catholic education] sticked with me. It caused the rage I had to make 'Pink Flamingos.'

Being rich is not about how much money you have or how many homes you own; it's the freedom to buy any book you want without looking at the price and wondering if you can afford it.

Do we secretly idolize our imagined opposites, yearning to become the role models for others we know we could never be for ourselves?

I like hard movies; I like ones that are basically the opposite of a date movie.

The "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" hitchhiker really made people never want to hitchhike again - the hitcher, the show. Hitchhiking is always vaguely sexual.

Passion towards a dream is the fuel that fires every trace of impossibility in the environment, paving way for you to win with style.

Once she was gone, every memory was suddenly precious, even the bad ones, even the times I was irritated with her, or she was irritated with me. Then it seemed a luxury to be irritated.

Of my two 'handicaps' being female put many more obstacles in my path than being black.

Take time as it comes, the wind as it blows, woman as she is.

I left Texas A&M because my school called me. Mama called, and when Mama calls, then you just have to come running.

We are in this period now where we all are trying to be in shape physically and deny ourselves any pleasure.

If you practice a little jnana yoga in your daily life, it will help you tremendously.

When public policy is directed toward urban spaces, it is directed toward people who sit at the margins.

I have a good face for what I do.

We know that in 2001 it was believed 78 stem cell lines existed. But now we know there are only 22 that are viable, and they have been contaminated with mouse stem cells.