Toni Morrison — "I think of myself as an American writer."

"Love is never any better than the lover."

"I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that …"

"A writer's life and work are not a gift to mankind; they are its necessity."

"Certain things you can't learn in a classroom. You have to learn them on the streets, in the world, in life."

"My work is to make sure that the people I'm writing about are human, and that they are complex, and that they are not stereotypes."