“She starched and ironed her face, forming it into just what people wanted to see.”

My head was full of misty fumes of doubt.

Those that don’t got it, can’t show it. Those that got it, can’t hide it.

I made up my mind to keep my feelings to myself since they did not seem to matter to anyone else but me.

Bitterness is the coward’s revenge on the world for having been hurt.

If you kin see de light at daybreak, you don’t keer if you die at dusk. It’s so many people never seen de light at all.

I will fight for my country, but I will not lie for her.

And I can’t die easy thinking maybe the menfolks white or black is making a spit cup out of you. Have some sympathy for me. Put me down easy, Janie, I’m a cracked plate.

People can be slave ships in shoes.

Honey, de white man is de ruler of everything as fur as Ah been able tuh find out. Maybe it’s some place way off in de ocean where de black man is in power, but we don’t know nothin’ but what we see.

She didn’t read books so she didn’t know that she was the world and the heavens boiled down to a drop.

An envious heart makes a treacherous ear. They done ‘heard’ bout you just what they hope done happened.

Night came walking through Egypt swishing her black dress.

She stood there until something fell off the shelf inside her.

Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to ‘jump at the sun.’ We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground.

The sun had become a light yellow yolk and was walking with red legs across the sky.

Love is lak de sea. It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore.

Some people are marching together and some on their own. Others are running, the smaller ones crawl. But some sit in silence.

In life, you can blame a lot of people and you can wallow in self-pity or you can pick yourself up and say listen, I have to be responsible for myself.

A lot of people have problems with public confrontation, but it doesn’t worry me at all. I can handle myself. I know my martial arts.

There are a lot of things that people say about Hillary Clinton. But nobody says that she doesn’t know how to throw a punch.

I’m always inspired by people who have really cool Twitter profiles.

I tend to put my foot in my mouth. I’m not good at being diplomatic. I tend to piss people off.

People suffer when they pursue a life or chase a dream that doesn’t belong to them.

I have noticed this, that when a man is full of the Holy Ghost he is the very last man to be complaining of other people.