That, I decided, was what it meant to be a slave: your past didn't matter, in the present you were invisible and you had no claim on the future.

I had chosen freedom, with all its insecurities, and nothing in the world would make me turn away from it.

I would have to confess that in the land of the toubabu, I had managed to save only myself.

I wouldn't wish beauty on any woman who has not her own freedom, and who chooses not the hands that claim her.

Live life by the abc's...adventure, bravery and creativity.

Swiftly the remembrance of all things is buried in the gulf of eternity.

Some people go through life trying to find out what the world holds for them only to find out too late that it's what they bring to the world that really counts.

The joke in our family is that we can cry reading the phone book.

I teach people to be flexible, scientific and logical in their thinking and therefore to be less prone to brainwashing by the therapist.

HELPED are those who live in quietness, knowing neither brand name nor fad; they shall live every day as if in eternity, and each moment shall be as full as it is long.

The world's not going to wait for you. If you have an idea, put some effort behind it and get it out there.

The pulpit is a clergyman's parade; the parish is his field of active service.

Happiness is something you get from yourself. If you're completely satisfied with yourself, nobody can take it away from you.

In terms of being a role model, I didn't start out to be one. I don't go to work every day with that in mind. But, I do get a lot of fan mail from young girls.