“When they tell you to go back to where you come from, tell them proudly that this is where you come from.”

If a woman doesn’t give herself permission, who will?

No matter how you say it, the hill we climb is a hill we climb together.

I think it made me all that much stronger of a writer when you have to teach yourself how to say words from scratch.

When you’re someone who’s lived a life where certain resources were scarce, you always feel like abundance is forbidden fruit.

What a day. What a life. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you

When you have to teach yourself how to say sounds, when you have to be highly concerned about pronunciation, it gives you a certain awareness of sonics, of the auditory experience.

It was so incredible meeting Lady Gaga. I mean I’m gaga for Gaga, literally. We kind of just each flew to each other like magnets after the ceremony ended and we were both just crying and hugging.

Poetry is – it’s an art form, but, to me, it’s also a weapon, it’s also an instrument. It’s the ability to make ideas that have been known, felt and said. And that’s a real, I think, type of duty for the poet.

We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace and the norms and notions of what just is, isn’t always justice.

It wasn’t until I was named Youth Poet Laureate of L.A. in high school though that I officially began calling myself a poet. I just always loved writing, period.

We know. We believe. And we act, because it is our civic duty.

I was writing since I can remember – I just didn’t know it was poetry yet, or that writing could be a career.

I was born early, along with my twin, and a lot of times, for infants, that can lead to learning delays.

But as for the future, I foresee a world which is more creative, more open, more loving, more ecologically friendly, more honest about its history and progress, and I think a lot of those contributions will be made by young people.

As a public poet, people often don’t see the reality of my life.

My Instagram doesn’t cover my insecurities, my lack of self-confidence, that week I spent crying, there’s a question of whether I should be sharing that online.

Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.

All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and well-born, the other the mass of the people.

Just because a chicken was born in the oven doesn’t make it a biscuit.

Some people are born losers; others acquire the knack gradually.

I was born in St. Louis, but I’m from Maplewood, New Jersey. Maplewood is completely different than the rest of New Jersey. It’s very small. It’s quietly affluent but more low-key. Lauryn Hill is from my town, though.

I was born to love you with every single beat of my heart. I was born to take care of you every single day of my life.

I don’t want to die, so sometimes I think it would have been better if I had never been born.

Don’t limit a child to your own learning, for she was born in another time.