Best 31 quotes of Pearl Cleage on MyQuotes

a lot of brothers don't understand. When it comes to making love, reciprocity is everything.

As African-Americans, we often spend our time and energy blaming other people for the problems we see around us.

But it is the fear, not the writing that defeats me. Everything is not a masterpiece.

Buying flowers is not just a way to bring home beauty. It's an expression of confidence that better days are coming. It's a defiant finger in the face of those naysayers who would have you believe your fortunes will never improve.

Discomfort is always a necessary part of enlightenment.

Domestic violence is the front line of the war against women.

Feminism is to sexism what black nationalism is to racism; the most rational response to the problem.

...freedom can be a full-time job if you let it.

If you don't annoy your big sister for no good reason from time to time, she thinks you don't love her anymore.

I think all negotiations should take place at a round table and everybody should have to rotate counterclockwise once an hour so that even the perception of head of the table, or foot, are ritually obliterated.

I think it's hard to make a living as a writer, but I think it's hard to work at McDonald's too.... I think the commitment is to get up everyday and say, "I'm a writer, therefore what I'm supposed to do today is write." And to do that, and to do that and to do that.

I think that theater is a unique way to communicate with people as they gather together with other people they may not even know. It creates a sense of shared community for the time of the performance that hopefully carries over into other aspects of the audience's life because they have shared this experience together.

I think the black community is no different from any other community. We need to take responsibility for how we live together. We need to be personally responsible for keeping our streets clean, our schools safe, and our houses peaceful.

It is a dangerous time to be a black woman in America. It’s a time when we are not safe in the streets or at home or at school or at work and nobody seems to be able to do anything about it. Nobody. Not us. Not our mommas. Not the police. Not the people we elected to look out for our interests. Nobody. We’re just out here. (p.53)

Loneliness is black coffee and late-night television; solitude is herb tea and soft music.

Loneliness is black coffee and late-night television; solitude is herb tea and soft music. Solitude, quality solitude, is an assertion of self-worth, because only in the stillness can we hear the truth of our own unique voices.

Loneliness is random; solitude is ritual.

Many times, what people call 'writer's block' is the confusion that happens when a writer has a great idea, but their writing skill is not up to the task of putting that idea down on paper. I think that learning the craft of writing is critical.

old habits are hard to break, but not impossible!

Putting words on paper regularly is part of the necessary discipline of writing. A journal is a great way to do that.

Sisterhood is a funny thing. It's easy to recognize, but hard to define.

Sometimes you meet yourself on the road before you have a chance to learn the appropriate greeting. Faced with your own possibilities, the hard part is knowing a speech is not required. All you have to say is yes.

the problem with knowing is that it takes away the possibility of pretending!

Vera Stark is a fabulous force of nature.

We danced too wild, and we sang too long, and we hugged too hard, and we kissed too sweet, and howled just as loud as we wanted to howl, because by now we were all old enough to know that what looks like crazy on an ordinary day looks a lot like love if you catch it in the moonlight.

What looks like crazy on an ordinary day looks looks a lot like love if you catch it in the moonlight.

When I got to the end of this play, I realized I was trying to make Angel do something that had not been justified by the characters and by their story . . .. I kept trying to force it, but that doesn't work. So I had to come to terms with what it meant for me to create a character who doesn't triumph.

You can't save a person who doesn't want to be saved. It was like Mr. Eddie always told the new gardeners: Everybody's got to kill their own snakes.

You know the Buddhists believe that sometimes when everything is in turmoil, it's because something wonderful is ready to be born and that thing is distracting you so it can have some privacy during the birthing process.

Liberation is a constant struggle. And this is a new year.

What looks like crazy on an ordinary day looks a lot like love if you catch it in the moonlight.