Time has nothing to do with the gifts that the gods give you; it's what you do.

You leave home to seek your fortune and, when you get it, you go home and share it with your family.

Completeness? Happiness? These words don't come close to describing my emotions. There truly is nothing I can say to capture what motherhood means to me, particularly given my medical history.

I don't let people use me. That's why I like a small number of people in my life. The more people in my life, the more complex it becomes, so I just try to keep it at a minimum.

I'm picking and choosing in terms of the stress factor. If it's not fun, I'm not going to do it.

I dont think being black has held me back at all. Being black makes you strong.

If I could be doing anything, I'd be laying on the floor in my birthday suit eating junk food and watching something dumb on TV.

If you have your own agenda and your own style and you don't easily conform to what the masses are doing, you're looked upon as being difficult. Whereas, I think of it as just being an individual.

Long tresses down to the floor can be beautiful, but learn to love what you have.

Historically, in my generation, all of my heroes and heroines have had issues and problems. We all do.

I say if it's going to be done, let's do it. Let's not put it in the hands of fate. Let's not put it in the hands of someone who doesn't know me. I know me best. Then take a breath and go ahead.

You have to teach your heart and mind how to sing together... then you'll hear the sound of your soul

When the mouse laughs at the cat, there's a hole nearby.

Hi, ’ Jake said. ‘I met you earlier today, but you were a lot younger then.’ ‘I was a lot younger ten minutes ago.

During the day, the library is a realm of order.

...khalepa ta kala...It means that that which is worth having--the good, fine, honorable, and noble things--are difficult to attain...It means something else as well...It means 'beauty is harsh'.

Coming up with something new and original is so exciting.

When I made my Broadway debut, I was still cleaning houses, something I'd done since I went out on my own at 15.

Examine the nature of hatred; you will find that it is no more than a thought. When you see it as it is, it will dissolve like a cloud in the sky.

A prude is a person who thinks that his own rules of propriety are natural laws.

I just want to say that, all you do, no matter how bad your diet is, for the first six months or year, I just reduce the amount, even if it's horrible stuff. That you can deal with it.