"You better hush now, cause somebody might hear you."
Fear
"I am here."
"What God ever intended for us to know so much, to be happy like that in the flesh?"
Faith
"I may be black, but I am here."
Strength
"Thank you, thank you."
Gratitude
"Shug, you do have a pretty face though."
Beauty
"Dear stars, dear trees, dear God."
Nature
"I am black, I am poor, I am a heathen."
Truth
"We started to talk, after years of not being able to."
"I wonder what God had in mind."
Philosophy
"He beat me like he beat his children."
"You should stay here, Nettie, it is peaceful."
Peace
"I really feel like killing somebody."
"I am my mother's daughter."
Family
"I never knew what the word shame meant till I heard my own voice give its name."
"I got to open my mouth and tell the truth."
Truth
"I never thought I'd ever be free."
Freedom
"I don't fight. I lay there"
"Mr. scared"
"Us sleep like sisters now"
Friendship
"I love Shug Avery"
Love
"I'm pore, I'm black, I may be ugly"
"I think God just made up his mind about me"
Faith
"We was all just right together"
"I spec if I wait long enough, something good will happen"
Hope
"Dear God, that all I can say"
"I don't know why he do this to me"
"Babies come"
"Trying to fight my battle"
"He beat me like he beat the children"