“Life is better than death, I believe, if only because it is less boring, and because it has fresh peaches in it.”
Death
“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.”
MenAll Quotes by Alice Walker
“'Thank you' is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding.”
Best“War contributes greatly to global warming, which shouldn't surprise us. All those bombs going off, all those rockets, all those planes and helicopters. All that fuel of various kinds being used. It pollutes the air and water of this very fragile and interconnected planet.”
War“The trouble with our people is as soon as they got out of slavery they didn't want to give the white man nothing else. But the fact is, you got to give em something. Either your money, your land, your woman or your ass.”
Money“All partisan movements add to the fullness of our understanding of society as a whole. They never detract or, in any case, one must not allow them to do so. Experience adds to experience.”
Experience“Never be the only one, except, possibly, in your own home.”
Home“Yes, Mother. I can see you are flawed. You have not hidden it. That is your greatest gift to me.”
Mom“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.”
Women“All History is current all injustice continues on some level, somewhere in the world.”
History“To me, the black black woman is our essential mother, the blacker she is the more us she is and to see the hatred that is turned on her is enough to make me despair, almost entirely, of our future as a people.”
Future“Nobody is as powerful as we make them out to be.”
Power“I'm for women choosing whatever they want to do but they have to really know what they are doing.”
Women“Don't wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you've got to make yourself.”
Happiness“As an elder of the Americas and of the rest of the planet, it is my responsibility to care for and protect, to the best of my ability, the young.”
Best“My mother was very strong. Once, she picked up a coconut and smashed it against my father's head. It taught me about women defending themselves and not collapsing in a heap.”
Women“I'm not convinced that women have the education or the sense of their own history enough or that they understand the cruelty of which men are capable and the delight that many men will take in seeing you choose to chain yourself - then they get to say 'See, you did it yourself.'”
Education“Politically, the world is so confused right now - there's so much suffering caused by various movements by various parties and people in power in government.”
Government“Deliver me from writers who say the way they live doesn't matter. I'm not sure a bad person can write a good book, If art doesn't make us better, then what on earth is it for.”
Art“The infinite faith I have in people's ability to understand anything that makes sense has always been justified, finally, by their behavior.”
Faith“We should learn to accept that change is truly the only thing that's going on always, and learn to ride with it and enjoy it.”
Change