Toni Morrison

"Me and you, we got more yesterday than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow."

"Daily life took as much as she had. The future was sunset; the past something to leave behind. And if it didn't stay behind, well, you might have to stomp it out."

"I don't think anybody cares about unwed mothers unless they're black or poor. The question is not morality, the question is money. That's what we're upset about."

"If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."

"No matter what all your teeth and wet fingers anticipated, there was no accounting for the way that simple joy could shake you."

"Black women were armed, black women were dangerous and the less money they had the deadlier the weapon they chose."