Black Pearls Living

You shake man han’, you no shake him heart.

—Bahamian Proverb

It was very, very important that my sons’ mother be a mother. They wanted, needed and deserved a mother. They didn’t need an author around the house.

—Toni Morrison

America is a capitalist country, and I am a capitalist.

—Alonzo Herndon

I really do believe that every human being has serious value. I’m in most people’s corner.

—Elaine Brown

Many times during auditions, I was told that I couldn’t carry a note with a bucket, and that I sure couldn’t play the piano.

—Ray Charles

I absolutely pictured myself climbing in and out of limousines.

—Suzanne de Passe

I have the original vision, and I see the film in its finished form before one frame is shot. When you get people dickering with your stuff, it distorts the vision.

—Spike Lee

For me, life is all about growth.

—Janet Jackson

Every man got a right to his own mistakes. Ain’t no man that ain’t made any.

—Joe Louis

It is our duty to conserve our physical powers, our intellectual endowments, our spiritual ideals.

—W. E. B. DuBois