BELL HOOKS

Using pseudonyms was such a part of the early feminist movement. We didn't want to have this star system. We wanted attention on the ideas, not the persona of the writer.

I feel that my environment reflects my belief in the grace and art and elegance of living simply.

To live fixated on the future is to engage in psychological denial. It is a form of psychic violence that prepares us to accept the violence needed to ensure the maintenance of imperialist, future-oriented society.

These days I wonder more and more why people are pessimistic when American history actually supports optimism.

In general, the mass media tell us that black people are not loving, that our lives are so fraught with violence and aggression that we have no time to love.

The people I love, I'm committed to loving for the rest of my life.

In this culture, the phrase 'black woman' is not synonymous with 'tender,' or 'gentle.' It's as if those words couldn't possibly speak to the reality of black females.

Every terrorist regime in the world uses isolation to break people's spirits.

I'm such a girl for the living room. I really like to stay in my nest and not move. I travel in my mind, and that that's a rigorous state of journeying for me. My body isn't that interested in moving from place to place.

But love is really more of an interactive process. It's about what we do not just what we feel. It's a verb, not a noun.

Once you do away with the idea of people as fixed, static entities, then you see that people can change, and there is hope.

I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else's whim or to someone else's ignorance.

If we give our children sound self-love, they will be able to deal with whatever life puts before them.

I think the number one thing Black women and all Black people should be paying attention to is our health.

The political core of any movement for freedom in the society has to have the political imperative to protect free speech.

It's in the act of having to do things that you don't want to that you learn something about moving past the self. Past the ego.

I've written 18 books, mostly dealing with issues of social justice, ending racism, feminism, and cultural criticism.

Certainly we can end racism with love. We can demand that the federal government change its emphasis on racial distinction.

All the men I fall for seem to have a commitment problem.

A major part of love is commitment. If we are committed to someone, if I'm committed to loving you, then it's not possible for me to 'fall out of love.'

Blacks who lack a proper killing rage are merely victims.

I love my family, even as I critique their dysfunctionalities.

I began writing a book on love because I felt that the United States is moving away from love.

Many spiritual teachers - in Buddhism, in Islam - have talked about first-hand experience of the world as an important part of the path to wisdom, to enlightenment.

I can be standing in Barneys with my coat and purse and my selections, and some white woman will say, 'Can you get this in my size?' What she sees is a black woman, and her service button goes off.