“For in the end, freedom is a personal and lonely battle and one faces down fears of today so that those of tomorrow might be engaged.”
Freedom
“The infinite faith I have in people's ability to understand anything that makes sense has always been justified, finally, by their behavior.”
FaithAll Quotes by Alice Walker
“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“As you know from school, it's when you have not prepared for the test that you have the fear of failing. And if you have prepared, even if you fail, you've done your best.”
Best“I can be almost terminally grief-stricken because things are so dire, but at the same time, there's a real lightheartedness about just the recoverability of life, of how things change, how they're not the same, ever again.”
Change“I just like to have words that describe things correctly. Now to me, 'black feminist' does not do that. I need a word that is organic, that really comes out of the culture, that really expresses the spirit that we see in black women. And it's just... womanish.”
Women“No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.”
Friendship“It is justice and respect that I want the world to dust off and put - without delay, and with tenderness - back on the head of the Palestinian child. It will be imperfect justice and respect because the injustice and disrespect have been so severe. But I believe we are right to try.”
Respect“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“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“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.”
Power“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“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“In my work and in myself I reflect black people, women and men, as I reflect others. One day even the most self-protective ones will look into the mirror I provide and not be afraid.”
Women“Yes, Mother. I can see you are flawed. You have not hidden it. That is your greatest gift to me.”
Mom“How simple a thing it seems to me that to know ourselves as we are, we must know our mothers names.”
Mom“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.”
God“The gift of loneliness is sometimes a radical vision of society or one's people that has not previously been taken into account.”
Society“The experience of God, or in any case the possibility of experiencing God, is innate.”
Experience“Fiction is such a world of freedom, it's wonderful. If you want someone to fly, they can fly.”
Freedom“Nobody is as powerful as we make them out to be.”
Power