I got an M.F.A. in acting from NYU, and part of our training is to learn how to use swords in combat situations in a performance and Shakespeare plays where you have to fight.

A zombie apocalypse isn't the most jovial situation.

I've always been extremely physically active.

If you're a fighter, you recognize a fighter.

I write about African women, that's really my topic. I have no shame or qualm in it because it's a very underrepresented topic, which is part of the reason I started to write.

People with nothing to hide don't usually feel the need to say so.

I always used to say hybrids would rule the world - people who have an understanding of many cultures and can relate to them with ease. And then along came Obama.

My favorite TV shows are Orange Is the New Black, House of Cards, Modern Family, and Veep.

You look at women like Lena Dunham, you look at how women are kind of crafting their own space on the screen. I want to add to that.

My assumption is I'm not going to be recognized. But when I am, I'm like, "Dang, you know who I am?" I always think I look so different.

Zimbabweans are so smart and witty and able to weave together tons of situations and experiences into terminologies that are just utterly original.

Never put yourself in a position to be made an example of.

Why could you not have left me as I was, in the sea of being?""Because the world has need of your humility, your piety, your great teaching and your Machiavellian scheming.

I suppose it's amazing how quick life goes by when you have children.

I've come to the conclusion that a long, personal relationship is next to impossible for me. Ultimately, music is a possessive mistress.

A stiff apology is a second insult... The injured party does not want to be compensated because he has been wronged; he wants to be healed because he has been hurt.

This is looking tasty.

Nothing turns off an investor more than when an entrepreneur comes in with a ridiculous valuation.

If it makes you feel any better, this isn't my first apocalypse. There is hope.

If things were easy to find, they wouldn’t be worth finding.

Science can tell us what exists; but to compare the worths, both of what exists and of what does not exist, we must consult not science, but what Pascal calls our heart.