Every color I can think of and nationality, we were all touched by Dr. King because he made us like each other and respect each other.

Don't be afraid to feel as angry or as loving as you can, because when you feel nothing, it's just death.

Always be smarter than the people who hire you.

I'm me, and I'm like nobody else.

The best thing about living... Is the chance to keep on doing it!

My identity is very clear to me now, I am a black woman.

Nobody black or white who really believes in democracy can stand aside now; everybody's got to stand up and be counted.

You have to be taught to be second class; you're not born that way.

You wouldn't be allowed to get on a particular bus, but you'd be asked to sign your autograph.

You have to be taught to be second class; you're not born that way. But the slanting process is so subtle that you frequently don't realize how you're being slanted until very late in the game.

I found out along the way that they like you a little imperfect.

Nothing can give you peace if there is no calmness in your mind.

Friends and fire didn’t go well together.

It's not your imperfections that make you attractive, it's your honesty about them that does.

No one looks stupid when they're having fun.

A mathematician is a magician who converts adjectives into nouns: continuous into continuum, infinite into infinity, infinitesimal into location, 0D into point, 1D into line, curved into geodesic.

Throughout the developed world,we have moved from "man power"to "mind power."We have moved from the use of physical muscle to the use of mental muscle.

You have to be able to play: this is spontaneous interaction, and it flexes all the creative muscles you need as a writer. And empathy is one of those muscles.

Our years Glide silently away. No tears, No loving orisons repair The wrinkled cheek, the whitening hair That drop forgotten to the tomb.

There is no other organ quite like the uterus. If men had such an organ they would brag about it. So should we

When I got through, Duke Ellington stood up and started the applause.