"I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. Unless you're trying to write a dissertation, then it just runs out."

"I've learned that it is by acts and not by ideas that people live."

"I'm not a writer who happens to teach. I'm a teacher who happens to write. I teach until my throat hurts, and then I write."

"I'm a black woman, and I'm a writer, and I'm a poet, and I'm a dancer, and I'm a singer, and I'm a director, and I'm an actress, and I'm a producer. And I'm not going to be contained by anybody's idea…"