And even though people like to furrow their brow like they suspect you're not being honest about yourself, the truth is that they worry that you're not serving their idea of you.

How do you plan a rebirth? I'm not sure you do. You just stand in the darkness until you can't endure it any long, and then you move forward until you're standing in the light.

It's a funny word, persistence. It means not giving up, but it also means just passing on through time.

Switching off perfection switched on the human quality

Rich said, "As your get older, feelings are harder to come by." It was so simple and poignant.

I can write all the way through the morning, when my mind is clear, and there are no distractions.

Democracy only works, as President [Barack] Obama spoke of in his farewell message, if it's driven by the people and the people stay active and vigilant and speak out and let their concerns be known.

I've stepped more into my womanhood, I'm a mother now, I'm having a beautiful relationship as a wife and as a friend.

Woe unto the defeated, whom history treads into the dust.

To be born poor is not our fault, but to die poor is crime

The reform of a college English department cuts no ice down at the corner garage.

Let's not be optimistic in the irreversibly irresponsible way that tends to happen with the crazies of geo-engineering. But let's talk about what sorts of changes we can make.

The wisest man the warl' e'er saw, He dearly loved the lasses, O.

I've spent my life following my passion.

The fact is, I can vote for anybody; independents, Republicans, Democrats. But I'm a registered Democrat in the District of Columbia.