Ritie, don't worry 'cause you ain't pretty. Plenty pretty women I seen digging ditches or worse. You smart. I swear to God, I rather you have a good mind than a cute behind.

Nothing will work unless you do.

A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.

Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.

We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.

Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. Please remember that your difficulties do not define you. They simply strengthen your ability to overcome.

My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style

If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be.

You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!

Love is not jealous.

If there were something that Mother Nature or God could do with money, She or He would have sold immortality to the rich a long time ago.

Do what you can to help people but have the wisdom to accept your limits.

Being the person I am, you know, the size I am, being a woman, being a black woman, there's not a lot of roles for us.

Why is the competition always so intense to set new records for maximum stupidity?

There are so many directors that I want to work with, but I can't tell you that there's one role. If I knew it, I would write it for myself.

Early in the phase of being in a female body, there's all this desire that comes at you, a lot of it hostile, a lot of it dangerous, a lot of it ruinous.

Unless the radio is on I am usually listening to stuff that is very different to what I do.

If the government can't get the black man justice, then it's time for the black man to get some justice for himself.

To give someone a piece of your heart, is worth more than all the wealth in the world.