I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.

The Black female is assaulted in her tender years by all those common forces of nature at the same time she is caught in the tripartite crossfire of masculine prejudice, white illogical hate and Black lack of power. The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerence. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors and deserves respect if not enthusiastic admiration.

God puts rainbows in the clouds so that each of us — in the dreariest and most dreaded moments — can see a possibility of hope.

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.

being a teenager these days is not for the faint of heart.

Failure happens all the time. It happens every day in practice. What makes you better is how you react to it.

I have failed over and over gain in my life and that is why I succeed.

I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

Learning is a gift, even when pain is your teacher!

You'll be fine. It's only a little jail time. I do this all the time.

Often it isn't the mountains ahead that wear you out, it's the little pebble in your shoe.