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“Be nobody's darling;
Be an outcast.
Take the contradictions
Of your life
And wrap around
You like a shawl,
To parry stones
To keep you warm.

Watch the people succumb
To madness
With ample cheer;
Let them look askance at you
And you askance reply.

Be an outcast;
Be pleased to walk alone
(Uncool)
Or line the crowded
River beds
With other impetuous
Fools.

Make a merry gathering
On the bank
Where thousands perished
For brave hurt words
They said.

Be nobody's darling;
Be an outcast.
Qualified to live
Among your dead.”
― Alice Walker, Everyday Use

“Oh, Celie, unbelief is a terrible thing. And so is the hurt we cause others unknowingly.”
― Alice Walker, The Color Purple

“Resist the temptation to think what afflicts you is peculiar to you. Have faith that what is in your consciousness can be communicated to the consciousness of all. And is, in many cases, already there.”
― Alice Walker, The Temple of My Familiar

“What you hope for, you also fear. ”
― Alice Walker, The Temple of My Familiar