“I see myself being a great-grandmother at my great-grandson's graduation from a school that has my name on it.”

“When I first became famous, I didn't know if I could go where I wanted to because I didn't know how people were going to act. Some folks would scream and holler, and I didn't know what to do with t...”

“People is, I think, it's their nature - some people's nature, in a way, to be angry or jealous or just spiteful about somebody else's blessings.”

“As slavery died for the greater good of America, and the movement for equality sputtered to life, the white woman was on the cover of every American magazine. She was the dazzling jewel on every mo...”

“Soul music is about longevity and reaching and touching people on a human level - and that's never going to get lost.”

“Heartbreak was the impetus to me writing poems and music in the first place. Over the years, I had my heart broken so badly that if I didn't find a way to get all the pain out, I was going to lose ...”

“once sailed neither the ship nor the shore ever remains the same again.”

“We are not trapped or locked up in these bones. No, no. We are free to change. And love changes us. And if we can love one another, we can break open the sky.”

“One day spent with someone you love can change everything.”

“Our body is designed to work for reaching a set goal”

“I felt like an animal, and animals dont know sin, do they?”

“V-Dayif you need this one day in a year to show everyone else you truly care for your loved one I think its quite stupid. I hate this commercialism. Its all artificial, and has nothing to do with r...”

“The belief that we are deficient and unworthy makes it difficult to trust that we are truly loved”

“The suffering of a loved one was in many ways worse than one's one suffering because it left one feeling so very helpless.”

“Be still and know you are loved Feel the arms of the universeRocking you to its steady hum.”