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.

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.

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.

The pain is necessary. Sometimes pain is the teacher we require, a hidden gift of healing and hope.

Like any other tool for facilitating the completion of a questionable task, rewards offer a "how" answer to what is really a "why" question.

Good things happen to good people.

If you wanted to put the world to rights, who should you begin with: yourself or others?

The connectedness of things is what the great university is all about, and I believe the great university in the coming century will be described as a community of scholars.

One man's opportunism is another man's statesmanship.

Hey Grover! Thorn's kidnapping us! He's a poisonous spike-throwing maniac! Help!

Leadership is like exercise. Do it everyday, the results take time but you will see them. It's the little things.

Athletics have become professionalized.

I start work around 8 a.m. and usually finish around noon. If there's more to do, I do it in the late afternoon, although that isn't prime time for me.

It sure made me feel good to be here today, and have so many people say so many kind things.