I deeply regret any harm, or any perceived harm, that I may have done to anyone by any behaviour of mine.
You know, one race will not be a survivor if the other one dies, and that's something that we should think about.
When I was 18, I went to the Soviet Union. I kept hearing that America was planning to bomb them - lots of bombs were going to come down on these people. I went there not knowing anything, except that I thought the whole thing was stupid and that I wanted to see who these people were that we were going to bomb.
The infinite faith I have in people's ability to understand anything that makes sense has always been justified, finally, by their behavior.
My interest in creating anything is that it be useful.
I can imagine in years to come that my papers and memorabilia, my journals and letters, will find themselves always in the company of people who care about many of the things I do.
Sometimes, reading a blog, which I do infrequently, I see that generations of Americans have been wilfully crippled, and can no longer spell or write a sentence.
I just feel that 'The Color Purple,' which was my 10th book, was a true gift from my ancestors.
I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.
I can easily imagine Obama sitting down and talking to any leader - or any person - in the world, with no baggage of past servitude or race supremacy to mar their talks.
I think writing really helps you heal yourself. I think if you write long enough, you will be a healthy person. That is, if you write what you need to write, as opposed to what will make money, or what will make fame.
For me, I used to be shy towards journalism because it wasn't poetry. And then I realized that the events that I covered in essays that became journalism were actually great because they inspired me, and they became my muse.
My work is about my life, and what I want to do with it.
We must do everything in our power to cease the behaviour that makes children everywhere feel afraid.