“Give people a chance.”

“Happiness is not found in a life lived for the expectations of others.Rather than seek happiness living my life to please the will of others, I will seek happiness where I know it can be foundlivin...”

“I don't know about you, but sometimes I need to remind myself to breathe. I have to close my eyes and concentrate, even force myself to take a few deep breaths. In and out. In and out. In and out.I...”

“Shit works out.”

“She was a victim, until she decided she wasnt. Until she realized only she had the final say in her victimhood. That it was a choice. Her choice. Before then, she allowed the actions of others to d...”

“You have the power to change your life, if you want to. By the words you speak, the actions you take, the thoughts you give weight to. Your choices make all the difference. Your dedication alone wi...”

“Comparison is the thief of joy.”

“The problem, as far as I can tell, is that women spend infinitely more time than men paying attention to, competing with, worrying about, everyone other than themselves.”

“Neither compares nor competes. Be creative.”

“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.”

“If I am going to be drownedif I am going to be drownedif I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and t...”

“I'm an Earth ecstatic, and my creed is simple: All life is sacred, life loves life, and we are capable of improving our behavior toward one another. As basic as that is, for me it's also tonic and ...”

“Some negroes lie, some are immoral, some negro men are not be trusted around women - black and white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men.”

“The only honest way to approach the question of whiteness and blackness is to start by accepting that these are arbitrary categories that were invented in the 17th and 18th century in order to just...”

“I never asked Tolstoy to write for me, a little colored girl in Lorain, Ohio. I never asked [James] Joyce not to mention Catholicism or the world of Dublin. Never. And I don't know why I should be ...”