When someone shows you who they are believe them; the first... - Maya Angelou

"I speak to the Black experience, but I am always talking about the human condition--about what we can endure, dream, fail at and survive."

"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style."

"I love the song 'I Hope You Dance' by Lee Ann Womack. I was going to write that song, but someone beat me to it."

"A Woman in harmony with her spirit is like a river flowing.She goes where she will without pretense and arrives at her destination prepared to be herself and only herself"

"What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat,’.... And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, ‘Okay. Okay. I’ll come."