Quotes by Alice Childress

“Like snowflakes, the human pattern is never cast twice. We are uncommonly and marvelously intricate in thought and action, our problems are most complex and, too often, silently borne.”

“I continue to create because writing is a labor of love and also an act of defiance, a way to light a candle in a gale wind: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was God.”

“Some feminists feel that a woman should never be wrong. We have a right to be wrong.”

“The Black writer explains pain to those who inflict it.”

“The twisted circumstances under which we live is grist for the writing mill, the loving, hating and discovering, finding new handles for old pitchers . . .”

“Who wants to live with one foot in hell just for the sake of nostalgia? Our time is forever now!”

“. . . and realizing there is no such thing as the Black experience. . . . Time and events allow for change on both sides.”

“It becomes almost second nature to be on guard against the creative pattern of our own thought.”

“. . . the good old days. The only good days are ahead.”

“. . . its a poor kind of man that wont fight for his own freedom.”

dear little baby of the folks I work for, I got a present for you .. my whole damn life! Im handin it over to you & your ma & pa. if you got no money to pay, I wanna stay anyhow, my pleasure is to wait on you forever. to hell with my children & hooray for you!.. you stayin up all night fixin up Character Parts for me! givin em what you call dignity! dignity! you know what your dignity is? a black straw hat with a flower stickin up in front, hands folded cross my stomach, sayin the same damn fool things .. only nice & easy & proper! --trouble in mind (1955)

Truth is simply whatever you can bring yourself to believe.

I think women need kindness more than love. When one human being is kind to another its a very deep matter.

Life is just a short walk from the cradle to the grave-and it sure behooves us to be kind to one another along the way.

Like snowflakes the human pattern is never cast twice. We are uncommonly and marvelously intricate in thought and action.

The good old days. The only good days are ahead.