Terry McMillan Quotes

Too many of us are hung up on what we don’t have, can’t have, or won’t ever have. We spend too much energy being down, when we could use that same energy – if not less of it – doing, or at least trying to do, some of the things we really want to do.

I’m a fast writer.

I’m not an angry woman. I’m not bitter.

Writing is my shelter. I don’t hide behind the words; I use them to dig inside my heart to find the truth.

Let me put it this way: when I read, I learned the world was not as small as my house. And that everybody in my home town was not representative of the way people in the world were raised. And that was what saved me.

I don’t let negative criticism, for the most part, bother me.

I like doing the readings and the autographing, but the interviewing gets a little tedious because you get asked the same questions every day and sometimes three or four times a day.

Pay attention to the things that agitate you. It will tell you a lot about yourself.

Parents can ruin children, and sometimes that’s a learned behavior. Sometimes you can’t blame your parents for it, sometimes you can. I think to me, that’s what the whole paradox is, is people that have children that don’t even know how to raise them.

It’s not that marriage itself is bad; it’s the people we marry who give it a bad name.

My stories are character driven.

It goes without saying that your friends are usually the first to discuss your personal business behind your back.

I try to create characters that I am fascinated by on some level or intrigued by or can’t stand.

Few writers are willing to admit writing is autobiographical.

There is a price for popularity. Critics look for your weaknesses, your flaws, anything that makes the work seem like a fluke and not seem worthy of all the attention it’s getting.

Every human being I know craves love and affection.

Write from your heart, and God will take care of the rest.

Folks want to glow, to leave their worries and dead skin behind.

I can’t stand that – those women in ‘Waiting to Exhale’ now. I can’t stand them. But that’s because I’m 53 and not 33. But what they were experiencing at 33, I identified with it.

I’m more interested in interpersonal relationships – between lovers families, siblings. That’s why I write about how we treat each other.

People like to run their mouths.

What I do know is sometimes we love the wrong people and sometimes we marry them.

I just believe that young people need to be able to learn how to write in their own voice. Just like a musician, you pride yourself on having your own distinct sound.

If you jump to conclusions, you make terrible landings.

As a writer, you get to bring attention to something without preaching. I don’t believe in being didactic. So if you dramatize something, you automatically bring attention to it if people read it.

Writing is the only place I can be myself and not feel judged.

I don’t trust white critics’ judgment about most things that deal with black life, particularly when a black person is the creator.

As far as young kids go, my primary interest is to get parents to read to their kids. That’s about the most you can do, I think.

It takes me forever to say my prayers these days, but I don’t care, because this time around, I want to make sure God doesn’t have to do any guesswork.

life is like a jigsaw puzzle, you have to see the whole picture, then put it together piece by piece!

It’s amazing how we can make ourselves believe what we want to.

You know, one of my fears about living alone so long is that you get used to doing everything your own way.

Can’t nothing make your life work if you ain’t the architect.

I don’t live my life as a writer. I’m a mother, an African-American woman, and I do everything that everybody else does – cook and a little bit of cleaning.

What’s universal is the texture of our relationships. It’s evolving. Times are changing with the women’s movement. Men’s roles are being redefined and, in some ways, they’re confused.