“Once you do away with the idea of people as fixed, static entities, then you see that people can change, and there is hope.”

Life-transforming ideas have always come to me through books.

As long as women are using class or race power to dominate other women, feminist sisterhood cannot be fully realized.

There will be no mass-based feminist movement as long as feminist ideas are understood only by a well-educated few.

All the men I fall for seem to have a commitment problem.

If we want a beloved community, we must stand for justice.

If you do not know what you feel, then it is difficult to choose love; it is better to fall. Then you do not have to be responsible for your actions.

The rage of the oppressed is never the same as the rage of the privileged.

The practice of love offers no place of safety. We risk loss, hurt, pain. We risk being acted upon by forces outside our control.

I believe that it is impossible for two individuals not committed to their own and each other’s well being to sustain a healthy and enduring relationship.

When we face pain in relationships our first response is often to sever bonds rather than to maintain commitment.

If any female feels she need anything beyond herself to legitimate and validate her existence, she is already giving away her power to be self-defining, her agency.

The function of art is to do more than tell it like it is-it’s to imagine what is possible.

To be truly visionary we have to root our imagination in our concrete reality while simultaneously imagining possibilities beyond that reality.

I think Black people need to take self-esteem seriously.

Any society based on domination supports and condones violence.

Genuine love is rarely an emotional space where needs are instantly gratified.

A writer lives in awe of words, for they can be cruel or kind, and they can change their meanings right in front of you. They pick up flavors and odors like butter in a refrigerator.

Your life is a reflection of your thoughts. If you change your thinking, you change your life.

Now get the hell out of here and go change the world.

If you want to change your life, begin by changing your words. Start speaking the words of your dreams, of who you want to become, not the words of fear or failure.

It is easier to endure than to change. But once one has changed, what was endured is hard to recall.

Each of us guard a gate of change that can only be opened from the inside.

Instead of calling everybody names, start being more understanding.

To achieve goals you’ve never achieved before, you need to start doing things you’ve never done before.