“Don't ever think I fell for you, or fell over you. I didn't fall in love, I rose in it.”

“Black women were armed, black women were dangerous and the less money they had the deadlier the weapon they chose.”

“he didnt needs words or even want them because he knew how they could lie, could heat your blood and disappear.”

“I dont want to be a free nigger; I want to be a free man.Dont we all. Look. Be what you want--- white or black. Choose. But if you choose black, you got to act black, meaning draw your manhood upqu...”

“Not like the me was some tough somebody, or somebody she had put together for show. But like, like somebody she favored and could count on. A secret somebody you didn't have to feel sorry for or ha...”

“I laughed but before I could agree with the hairdressers that she was crazy, she said, 'What's the world for if you can't make it up the way you want it?'" 'The way I want it?'" 'Yeah. The way you ...”

“Wrapped in a mothers love is the most beautiful and safest place on earth for a child.”

“I lived with my mother for only a short time. Even though I left, she is always surrounding me with her love.”

“MOTHER IS WATERI wish I couldShower your head with flowersAnd anoint your feet with my tears,For I know I have caused youSo much heartache, frustration and despair Throughout my youthful years.I wi...”

“We are just too blinded by the phrase, "grow old together" and learning its meaning from hopeless movies and novels that glorify undying love and unbelievable understanding. Don't you think? Realit...”

“The bones of the oak tree that had stood by the spring branch during my youth were scattered about the ground, pieces of the skeleton of a majestic life that had passed while I was off growing up a...”

“We live to work.Man was made to move.Without work we shall grow old quickly.”

“There are only two things: love, all sorts of love, with pretty girls, and the music of New Orleans or Duke Ellington. Everything else ought to go, because everything else is ugly. ”

“If you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know.”

“Jazz is not just 'Well, man, this is what I feel like playing.' It's a very structured thing that comes down from a tradition and requires a lot of thought and study.”