“My motto is: feel the fear and do it anyway.”

“My daughter is my passion and my life.”

“I don't like work--no man does--but I like what is in the work--the chance to find yourself. Your own reality--for yourself not for others--what no other man can ever know. They can only see the me...”

“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”

“Earning happiness means doing good and working, not speculating and being lazy. Laziness may look inviting, but only work gives you true satisfaction.”

“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.”

“The more you talk about them, the more important they will feel. The more you listen to them, the more important you will make them feel.”

“My mother always says people should be able to take care of themselves, even if they're rich and important.”

“There is no job more important than parenting. This I believe.”