You must learn to respect, Papa said. But I do not respect her, I said. Papa paused for a moment, and patted my leg. Then you must learn to hide your disrespect.

But I have long loved the written word, and come to see in it the power of the sleeping lion. This is my name. This is who I am. This is how I got here. In the absence of an audience, I will write down my story so that it waits like a restful beast with lungs breathing and heart beating.

When it comes to understanding others, we rarely tax our imaginations.

We are never really beyond it... slavery continues to this day.

Some say that I was once uncommonly beautiful, but I wouldn't wish beauty on any woman who has not her own freedom, and who chooses not the hands that claim her.

beware the clever man that makes the wrong look right

Never have I met a person doing terrible things who would meet my own eyes peacefully. To gaze into another person's face is to do two things: to recognize their humanity, and to assert your own.

Sometimes a deal with the devil is better than no deal at all.

Today you live, child. Tomorrow, you dream.

I remember wondering, within a year or two of taking my first my first steps, why only men sat to drink tea and converse, and why women were always busy. I reasoned that men were weak and needed rest.