Gwendolyn Brooks

“To be in love is to touch with a lighter hand. In yourself and others.”

“Books are meat and medicine and flame and flight and flower.”

“We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond.”

“Truth-tellers are not always palatable. There is a preference for candy bars.”

“I believe that we should all know each other, we human carriers of so many pleasurable differences.”

“Art hurts. Art urges voyages - and it is easier to stay at home.”

“Even if you are not ready for the day, it cannot always be night.”

“Reading is important. If you know how to read, then the whole world opens up to you.”

“Poetry is life distilled.”

“Exhaust the little moment. Soon it dies. And be it cash or gold it will not come again in this identical guise.”

“Live and go forward. And if you must, live beautifully.”

“Don’t let anyone call you a minority if you are black or brown or yellow or red.”

“My last defense is the present tense.”

“I felt that I had to write. Even if I had never been published, I knew that I would have gone on writing, enjoying it, and finding it good for my soul.”