Toni Morrison

“You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”

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

If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, you must be the one to write it.

I'm not entangled in shaping my work according to other people's views of how I should have done it.

I'm always annoyed about why black people have to bear the brunt of everybody else's contempt. If we are not totally understanding and smiling, suddenly we're demons.

I wrote my first novel because I wanted to read it.

I would solve a lot of literary problems just thinking about a character in the subway, where you can't do anything anyway.