It no longer bothers me that I may be constantly searching for father figures; by this time, I have found several and dearly enjoyed knowing them all.

Writing saved me from the sin and inconvenience of violence.

The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men.

It's so clear that you have to cherish everyone. I think that's what I get from these older black women, that every soul is to be cherished, that every flower Is to bloom.

I see children, all children, as humanity's most precious resource, because it will be to them that the care of the planet will always be left.

People tend to think that life really does progress for everyone eventually, that people progress, but actually only some people progress. The rest of the people don't.

Well, I think indigenous peoples have ways of living on the Earth that they've had forever. And they've been overrun by organized religion, which has had a lot of money and power.

My life is not to be somebody else's impact - you know what I mean?

Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.

I don't like typing messages on my phone. Some people get used to it.

Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful.

Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.

If you feel lost, disappointed, hesitant, or weak, return to yourself, to who you are, here and now and when you get there, you will discover yourself, like a lotus flower in full bloom, even in a muddy pond, beautiful and strong.

Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.

Real beauty is to be true to oneself.

Beauty is being the best possible version of yourself, inside and out.

Love of beauty is taste. The creation of beauty is art. 

Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself.

What's amazing is, if young people understood how doing well in school makes the rest of their life so much interesting, they would be more motivated. It's so far away in time that they can't appreciate what it means for their whole life.

The only definition by which America's best days are behind it is on a purely relative basis.

Oh, I think there are a lot of people who would be buying and selling online today that go up there and they get the information, but then when it comes time to type in their credit card they think twice because they're not sure about how that might get out and what that might mean for them.

Life has a tendency to just happen. But it happens because we make choices. The life you create and design for yourself is going to accumulate from the choices you make over time. Sure, there are unexpected things that can derail dreams. But we can control where we put our focus, and if we choose to put one dream ahead of another.

We start life with many big dreams–things we want to accomplish, create, build and experience. But if you ask anyone past the age of 40 what happened to all the dreams they had, they will most likely answer; Life.

Life is not fair, get used to it.