"I would not exchange my life for any other. I have enjoyed every minute of it."

"It is the curse of the black race to be forever looking backward, forever remembering."

"I like myself when I am laughing. And then I think that is the best way to like yourself. To be laughing."

"The white man is as much a victim of his own system as the black man."

"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."