“You should always own a black dress because no one ever remembers a black dress.”

We obtain our education at home, at school, and, most important, from life itself.

Success in marriage depends on being able, when you get over being in love, to really love.

A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it’s in hot water.

Today is the oldest you’ve ever been, and the youngest you’ll ever be again.

We gain courage and wisdom from every instance in which we stop to look fear in the face

What you don’t do can be a destructive force.

I am who I am today because of the choices I made yesterday.

Once I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered.

In all our contacts it is probably the sense of being really needed and wanted which gives us the greatest satisfaction and creates the most lasting bond.

There is nothing to fear except fear it’s self.

Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.

You can’t move so fast that you try to change the mores faster than people can accept it.

Life was meant to be lived, and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.

To be a citizen in a democracy, a human being must be given a healthy start.

Light a candle instead of cursing the darkness.

When it’s better for everyone, it’s better for everyone.

My main fight is for freedom and equality.

When I see the leadership roles black women are taking today I am very encouraged.

If you can only be tall because someone else is on their knees, then you have a serious problem. And white people have a very, very serious problem.

We should just come together as people. I think it’s really important to come together as humans, not as white people or black people, green and blue people.

Nothing is black or white.

Your silence will not protect you.

Many whites, even white Southerners told me that even though it may have seemed like the blacks were being freed (by my actions) they felt more free and at ease themselves. They thought that my action didn’t just free blacks but them, too.

I am a Black, Lesbian, Feminist, Warrior, Poet, Mother – stronger for all my identities, and I am indivisible.