“On every shelf, we see ourselves, experience our collective conscious, describe our dreams and our great longing for times that have passed.”

I don’t even like the sound of the dryer going – I like the quiet.

Money doesn’t have anything have anything to do with the magnificence of a person.

A feat she had never believed possible

We worry only about those we brought into this world.

Travel is very inspirational – but it’s in the ordinary that I find my themes of love and work and family.

The intimacy. The deepest level of love.

Having a purpose is the little secret of the nonpretties. Something to do always beats something to look at.

The good things that happen to us were meant to happen, and the bad things that happen are lessons meant to teach us to be better.

Art makes the spirit soar. And when the spirit is lifted, life follows.

The Bookmobile is just a government truck, but to me it’s a glittering royal coach delivering stories and knowledge and life itself.

I have held the following jobs: office temp, ticket seller in movie theatre, cook in restaurant, nanny, and phone installer at the Super Bowl in New Orleans.

In fact, I prefer it to elation or joy. Relief lets the air out of the Tire of Pain.

Beware the things of this world that can mean everything or nothing.

I used to believe my art had to be about the things that brought me joy and gave me hope.

And when you clear away the cobwebs of the description of every job in the world, at the bottom of that job is service.

I have value, and I have worth. I cannot be replaced like old shoes or taken for granted like tap water.

We don’t work like the best basketball player and the best musician and so on. Science is a collective effort.

I cannot speak for you. Two thoughts: there is no liberation that only knows how to say ‘I’; there is no collective movement that speaks for each of us all the way through.

I define “politics” as the on-going collective struggle for liberation and for the power to create – not only works of art, but also just and nonviolent social institutions.

In a history of spiritual rupture, a social compact built on fantasy and collective secrets, poetry becomes more necessary than ever: it keeps the underground aquifers flowing; it is the liquid voice that can wear through stone.

A withdrawal from thinking in terms of social and collective values, needs and solutions. The consciousness-raising groups of the women’s movement, for instance, becoming “support-groups” or therapy groups.

We must humble ourselves and commit to routine and collective actions.

Routine, measurable, and collective actions both small and large will make an impact.

The need of the hour is that your life should be revolutionised.