If Hemingway is to believed, poverty is an invaluable school for a writer. Poverty makes a man clear-sighted. And so on. It's interesting that Hemingway realized this only when he became rich.

We were letting go of October, relinquishing color, readying ourselves for streets lacquered with ice, the town closed like a walnut, locked inside the cold.

There are more men than women in mental hospitals - which just goes to show who's driving who crazy.

My mom is still yelling at me because she needs more autographed pictures.

The only good thing about the good old days is they're gone.

Now I also discipline myself to do things I love to do when I don't want to do them

The things that are important to me - being a mother, a businesswoman, an activist - are all things that were borne out of great passion.

God's message extends beyond borders. Anyone in the world can learn to forgive those who have injured them, however great or small that injury may be.

I realize that I'm black, but I like to be viewed as a person, and this is everybody's wish.

To have to be sexy? That I hate. To be outrageously sexy? That I love.

It will probably take several more generations before the female body can be considered a stand-in for the human body.