Bessie Delany Quotes

12 Sourced Quotes

I thought I could change the world. It took me a hundred years to figure out I can't change the world. I can only change Bessie. And honey, that ain't easy either.

Bessie Delany
I'm a hundred-and-one years old and at my age, honey, I can say what I want!

Bessie Delany
Honey, we never married. We never had husbands to worry us to death.

Bessie Delany
When Negroes are average, they fail, unless they are very, very lucky. Now, if you're average and white, honey, you can go far. Just look at Dan Quayle. If that boy was colored he'd be washing dishes somewhere.

Bessie Delany
It always seemed to me that white people were judged as individuals. But if a Negro did something stupid or wrong, it was held against all of us.

Bessie Delany
There's a saying: Only children and old folks tell the truth.

Bessie Delany
We loved our country, even though it didn't love us back.

Bessie Delany
I think I'm just as good as anyone. That's the way I was brought up. I'll tell you a secret: I think I'm better! Ha! I remember being aware that colored people were supposed to feel inferior. I knew I was a smart little thing, a personality, an individual - a human being! I couldn't understand how people could look at me and not see that, because it sure was obvious to me.

Bessie Delany
Once in a while, God sends a good white person my way, even to this day. I think it's God's way of keeping me from becoming too mean. And when he sends a nice one to me, then I have to eat crow. And honey, crow is a tough old bird to eat, let me tell you.

Bessie Delany
Turning one hundred was the worst birthday of my life. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Turning 101 was not so bad. Once you're past that century mark, it's just not as shocking.

Bessie Delany
There are certain stereotypes that are offensive. Some of them don't worry me, though. For instance, I have always thought that Mammy character in Gone with the Wind was mighty funny. And I just loved "Amos 'n' Andy" on the radio. So you see, I have enough confidence in myself that those things did not bother me. I could laugh.

Bessie Delany
I am a colored woman or a Negro woman. Either one is OK. People dislike those words now. Today these use this term African American. It wouldn't occur to me to use that. I prefer to think of myself as an American, that's all!

Bessie Delany