“I wasn't a major in political science for nothing, so I understood the politics of beauty and the politics of race when it comes to the fashion industry.”

“The difference between rearing a child in your 20s and one in your 50s is one of patience.”

“My mother was an activist so was my father. They came from a generation of young Somalis who were actively involved in getting independence for Somalia in 1960. ”

“There is no age better than another. The commitment to give of yourself and the knowledge that the time is right are what's important.”

“My father... gave me a positive connection with men because he is a gentleman.”

“On my 50th birthday in 2005, my discount-wielding AARP card came in the mail. I hurled it in the trash, put on something fabulous, and had a decadent meal. Just the thought of putting it in my wall...”

“I shiver, thinking how easy it is to be totally wrong about people-to see one tiny part of them and confuse it for the whole, to see the cause and think it's the effect or vice versa”

“At sunrise everything is luminous but not clear.”

“I think it's impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves.”

“If only I can find him... the man who will be intelligent, yet physically magnetic and personable. If I can offer that combination, why shouldn't I expect it in a man?”

“Don't be scared to be intelligent. Knowledge is sexy and powerful.”

“Intelligent people know they are intelligent. They also know that one person cannot know all, hence a person is not stupid simply because he is ignorant of one thing or another. They know that, to ...”

“When you play, play hard; when you work, don't play at all.”

“There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither.”

“All of us lived life when sex was the farthest thing from our minds. Try to remember the careless freedom of play, basking in the beingness of others. As adults, responsibilities and obligations ca...”