Zora Neale Hurston — "If you are silent about your pain, they will kill you and say you enjoyed it."

"I want to be myself, and I want to be a woman, and I want to be an American. And I want to be all of these things without apology."

"I have been in Sorrow's kitchen and licked out all the pots. Then I have stood on the peak of the mountain and caught the honey of the sun in my hair."

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

"I have been in Sorrow's kitchen and licked out all the pots. Then I have stood on the peaky mountain wrapped in rainbows, with a harp and a sword in my hands."

"I do not weep at the world—I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife."