The House of Eve Quotes

“And this trip downtown had shown me that we even had to fight for what should have been free: our dignity.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“I turned my fork over on my plate wondering why it was always my responsibility to worry over what grown men might be thinking.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“Knowing about racism and being abused by its wrath were two different things.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“Eleanor’s own mother had always told her that it was important for women to have a separate stash set aside in case of a rainy day.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“The way to a healthy marriage is to hold on to those pieces that make you you.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“Potential without focus and full commitment bears no fruit.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“You don’t care because you don’t have to, Shimmy. You live in a beautiful safe bubble, and the world says I don’t belong there.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“Can’t let nobody steal your joy, sweetness, or you gon’ live a miserable life.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“Can’t let nobody steal your joy, sweetness, or you gon’ live a miserable life. I done seen it. You show that ignorant woman by getting your education. Keep your eye on the prize. Forget about her.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“Art is the friend that you can always return to. It will always be there to heighten your feeling of aliveness. Keep going.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“Stay poor like the rest of us, or climb, scratch and claw like hell to get out.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“I turned my fork over on my plate wondering why it was always my responsibility to worry over what grown men might be thinking. I had been hearing it all my life. Even back to when I lived with Nene, as a flat-chested eight-year-old, I was constantly reminded to be modest. Not to leave the bathroom without my robe on when an uncle or cousin or friend of the family was at the house, smoking cigarettes and drinking beer.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“Don't let your mouth mash the gasoline on an ass whooping.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“Each story has a monster in it who made them tough instead of brave, so they open their legs rather than their hearts where the folded child is tucked. —Toni Morrison”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“I was simply using my connections and resources to give you both what I knew you wanted most in the world. To start a family.” “Why didn’t you just tell me? Why go behind my back?” “Because I knew that if you knew it had been my idea you would have rejected it.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“My grandmother, Birdie, was born a slave. Her white father owned an infamous slave jail in Richmond”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“There are no good girls gone wrong—just bad girls found out. —Mae West”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“she said and then made her way out the door, leaving her signature scent of Chanel No. 5 in her wake.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“Music had a way of soothing Eleanor’s soul,”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“Sometimes there are no words to help one’s courage. Sometimes you just have to jump. —Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“You know fashion is my forte.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“Eleanor had always felt most at ease when things were categorized, neat and organized.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“She reeked of money, dressed in the most eye-catching clothes and carried herself like she was the prima donna of Howard.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“To paint was to breathe easy. When I picked up my brush, all my problems magically washed away.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“Aunt Marie was known to settle problems with the .22 she kept on the floor beneath the couch,”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“But I’m broke as a joke girl until next Friday.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“the four of us girls from the attic room.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“Got no business all up in my man’s face. Stay in a child’s place.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve

“They will take the child and place it in a loving home with wonderful parents.”
― Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve