Queen Sugar Quotes

“It was like her father said: never make people glad twice-glad to see you come, and glad to see you go”
― Natalie Baszile, Queen Sugar

“Every morning when I wake up and look in the mirror, I see a black face and I love it. Sure, I've been to Paris and grew up surfing, and yes, I speak like I'm in a commercial. But I'm just like the women you see walking on the side of the road with their laundry baskets and their Bibles. I'm just like the old men pedaling their rusty bicycles. I'm no different from the men who drive your tractors or the woman who probably raised you. I'm just like them, no better and no worse. I'm black, Remy, which means everything and nothing”
― Natalie Baszile, Queen Sugar

“Never make people glad twice—glad to see you come, and glad to see you go.”
― Natalie Baszile, Queen Sugar

“Charley thought of her father. He'd always told her she should never make assumptions about other people's time or their money, and that's the way she tried to live.”
― Natalie Baszile, Queen Sugar

“How often, on this great spinning ball where we're all just struggling to lead our tiny lives, do you get to see evidence of God's grace and know, the way you know your name, that at least for a little while, maybe just a few seconds, you can stop worrying, and take a deep breath, because things are all right?”
― Natalie Baszile, Queen Sugar

“Girl, you're free, can't you see that? You've got your child, you've got your family down here who love you, you've got your farm. You don't have to ask for anything. You know how few women in this world get to say that, black or white?”
― Natalie Baszile, Queen Sugar

“But sometimes, you go looking for adventure, all you find is disaster.”
― Natalie Baszile, Queen Sugar

“Because life should be as simple as a bucket of fish caught a few miles offshore and a van full of produce bought at a roadside stand. It should be as sweet as a cube of melon the color of your heart.”
― Natalie Baszile, Queen Sugar

“Once you understand how the ingredients work together, then you can go off on your own. Till then, you’re just wasting good food and everybody’s time.”
― Natalie Baszile, Queen Sugar

“Denton struck Charley as the kind of man who never wasted energy on extra movement or idle chitchat. He was foursquare Sonny Boy Williamson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a Silvertone guitar, older than old school.”
― Natalie Baszile, Queen Sugar

“He caressed her face and gave her that long, careful stare, then, in a calm, steady voice, said, “Listen to me, California. I know you’re a strong woman and all, but you need to let me lead.” Charley’s heart stopped. Let him lead. Let him lead. Yes. She could do that. For once in her life—okay, for ten minutes—she didn’t have to be the boss or the handyman or the plumber or the activity planner. Or the short order cook, or the chauffeur, or the banker, or the disciplinarian. “Okay,” Charley said. “I’ll try.” Remy”
― Natalie Baszile, Queen Sugar

“there was no fixing a life once it was broken; love, devotion, shortsightedness, ignorance—none of it mattered. Sometimes it was too late. •”
― Natalie Baszile, Queen Sugar

“Maybe that was the hidden blessing: the hurricane was the great equalizer; its wrath indiscriminate. In the end, the blessing, if there were one, was that for a short time, everyone would come together in order to survive. Less”
― Natalie Baszile, Queen Sugar

“The secret to good cooking is knowing how to follow the recipe till you feel comfortable,”
― Natalie Baszile, Queen Sugar

“For a moment he felt it, like a faint pulsing: the lightness that came with a few lazy summer months, the quiet joy in being connected to people you loved and who loved you.”
― Natalie Baszile, Queen Sugar

“We’ve got plenty of time.”
― Natalie Baszile, Queen Sugar

“The priest motioned for the congrecation to sit, then welcomed everyone in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He wasn't so much thin as soft, with wisps of dull brown hair and oversize glasses that made him look gooberish. As he shook holy water over a bundle of cane stalks leaning against the wall, Charley wondered if his blessing would be powerful enough, because from where she sat, it looked like he'd have trouble asking for extra mayo on his sandwich.”
― Natalie Baszile, Queen Sugar