“Sometimes it's easy to lose faith in people. And sometimes one act of kindness is all it takes to give you hope again.”

“Life isnt like the movies. People dont change overnight. people dont go from arrogant and self-righteous to ashamed and remorseful. They dont suddenly give in when theyve spent years taking out. No...”

“Whats the good of being true to your religion on the outside, if you dont change whats on the inside,were it really counts ?”

“I want to be with one person in my life. I want to know that the guy I spend the rest of my life with is the first person I share something so intimate and exciting with.”

“Your perception is riveting, Amal," he says in a bored and sarcastic tone, dropping the note down on my desk. "It's comforting to know that there are people in my class who have the maturity and in...”

“I just don't know what I'd do without a brain, Simone!" I say. "I mean, what's a person without one?”

“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 cause of every anomaly can be found in woman.”

“Perhaps that was a thing about attractive women: A rejection demanded their respect, made them trust you more.”

“I think Im very blessed to have been raised by so many intelligent and impressive women, and now continuing that on a professional level, having people like Sarah and Nadia to guide me through this...”