“We were bred of earth before we were bred of our mothers. Once born, we can live without mother or father, or any other kin, or any friend, or any human love. We cannot live without the earth or ap...”

“It seems to me that the earth may be borrowed but not bought. It may be used, but not owned. ... We are tenants and not possessors, lovers and not masters.”

“He edged closer to his fathers bones and sinews. Penny slipped an arm around him and he lay close against the lank thigh. His father was the core of safety. His father swam the swift creek to fetch...”

“Ma Baxter rocked complacently. They were all pleased whenever she made a joke. Her good nature made the same difference in the house as the hearth-fire had made in the chill of the evening.”

“I'm eating' it quick... but I'll remember it a long time.”

“Hit dont make no difference what a man perfesses. I been in a heap o churches. Theres the Nazarene Church and the Pentecost and the Holy Rollers and the Baptists and I dont know what-all. I caint s...”

“I had a romance novel inside me, but I paid three sailors to beat it out of me with steel pipes.”

“The world has enough women who know how to be smart. It needs women who are willing to be simple. The world has enough women who know how to be brilliant. It needs some who will be brave. The world...”

“The heart of a woman is the best mirror you can find.”

“No black woman writer in this culture can write "too much". Indeed, no woman writer can write "too much"...No woman has ever written enough.”

“When you reduce a woman to writing, she makes you think of a thousand other women”

“I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman.”