Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" When I write, I tend to twist my hair. Something for my small mind to do, I guess. "

Related Quotes:

" I speak a number of languages, but none are more beautiful to me than English. "

" I was born in St. Louis but lived there just for a few minutes in my life. "

" It's one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody. "

" The love of the family, the love of one person can heal. It heals the scars left by a larger society. A massive, powerful society. "

" If you're a human being, you can attempt to do what other human beings have done. We don't understand talent any more than we understand electricity. "

" There's something which impels us to show our inner souls. The more courageous we are, the more we succeed in explaining what we know. "

" The sadness of the women's movement is that they don't allow the necessity of love. See, I don't personally trust any revolution where love is not allowed. "

" I am never proud to participate in violence, yet I know that each of us must care enough for ourselves that we can be ready and able to come to our own defense when and wherever needed. "

" Effective action is always unjust. "

" I was very blessed to have family and friends, but particularly family, who told me I was not only all right, I was just right, so I believe that my brain is a good one, and it's lasting me very well. "

" Like a pianist runs her fingers over the keys, I'll search my mind for what to say. Now, the poem may want you to write it. And then sometimes you see a situation and think, 'I'd like to write about that.' Those are two different ways of being approached by a poem, or approaching a poem. "

" The hope, the hope that lives in the breast of the black American, is just so tremendous that it overwhelms me sometimes. "

" I know some people might think it odd - unworthy even - for me to have written a cookbook, but I make no apologies. The U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins thought I had demeaned myself by writing poetry for Hallmark Cards, but I am the people's poet so I write for the people. "

" I know that I'm not the easiest person to live with. The challenge I put on myself is so great that the person I live with feels himself challenged. I bring a lot to bear, and I don't know how not to. "

" I agree with Balzac and 19th-century writers, black and white, who say, 'I write for money.' Yes, I think everybody should be paid handsomely; I insist on it, and I pay people who work for me, or with me, handsomely. "

Black And White

" Somehow, we have come to the erroneous belief that we are all but flesh, blood, and bones, and that's all. So we direct our values to material things. "

Material Things

" For Africa to me... is more than a glamorous fact. It is a historical truth. No man can know where he is going unless he knows exactly where he has been and exactly how he arrived at his present place. "

" I'm happy to be a writer - of prose, poetry, every kind of writing. Every person in the world who isn't a recluse, hermit or mute uses words. I know of no other art form that we always use. "

" 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. "

" Cooking certain dishes, like roast pork, reminds me of my mother. "

" Don't let the incidents which take place in life bring you low. And certainly don't whine. You can be brought low, that's OK, but don't be reduced by them. Just say, 'That's life.' "

" I thank God I'm myself and for the life I'm given to live and for friends and lovers and beloveds, and I thank God for knowing that all those people have already paid for me. "

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

" I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself. "

" I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. "

" I'm considered wise, and sometimes I see myself as knowing. Most of the time, I see myself as wanting to know. And I see myself as a very interested person. I've never been bored in my life. "

" If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. "

" 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. "

" Everybody born comes from the Creator trailing wisps of glory. We come from the Creator with creativity. I think that each one of us is born with creativity. "

" I wasn't a pretty girl. I was six feet tall at 15, you know. "