Pearl Cleage Quotations

I've always loved the '40s romantic comedies and the idea of those mistaken identities and lovers' misunderstandings.

When you sit down to write, you have to be prepared to strip all of those voices away, all of the censors away, and talk about what you think the truth is, which I think is really the task of the writer - to get to the truth.

I really love writing comedy. Writing romantic comedy is even nicer because you get to write about how insane we all act when we're falling in love.

When you're writing first person, all I can see and tell as the author is what that main character can see.

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

I think one of the things that writers and creative artists generally have to deal with is the censors that we have in our heads, the voices that we have that say you better not tell that and don't tell that, and people will think you're not a good girl, and your grandmother's going to be mad at you and all of those things.

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.

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.

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

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.

I'm not one of those playwrights who says, 'Show up, hit your marks, and don't talk to me!' I always want to hear from the other artists involved, whether it's the director, the lighting tech, or the actors.

Denzel Washington is a big Hollywood movie star now. But he started out as an actor in the Negro Ensemble company.

I've never been to Paris. I don't like to fly!

I didn't have a dream of being a press secretary, I had a dream of being a playwright; I had a dream of being a novelist and a poet.

I truly love the rehearsal process, those eight hours a day! I really love actors.

I was raised in a very activist household so that I grew up surrounded by people who were activists.

I worked in Maynard Jackson's first campaign, and I remember the excitement we felt when he won.

If I had to name one book that has had the most lasting influence on my work, I would pick 'The Big Sea' by Langston Hughes.

That's why I love being a writer. My imagination can take me places I may never see except in my mind's eye.

Most of us, I think, are conscious of history swirling around outside the door, but when we're in the house, we're usually not dealing with history. We're not thinking about history.

...no woman can love a weak man hard enough to make him strong.

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.

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.

Discomfort is always a necessary part of enlightenment.

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

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.

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

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

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.

old habits are hard to break, but not impossible!

When you're young, there's a whole lot of stuff you say you'll never do. Once you get a little older, the list tends to get shorter.

Vera Stark is a fabulous force of nature.

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

you can't know the meaning of the lesson until class is over!

Any time your life is at stake and you can't find even one woman to come forward and say, 'This is a good man,' your problem isn't what kind of woman THEY are. Your problem is what kind of men YOU are.

Loneliness is random; solitude is ritual.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

Sometimes you have to show them what they want to see in order to get them to show you who they really are.

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

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

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)

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.