You know that sickening feeling of inadequacy and over-exposure you feel when you look upon your own empurpled prose? Relax into the awareness that this ghastly sensation will never, ever leave you, no matter how successful and publicly lauded you become. It is intrinsic to the real business of writing and should be cherished.

There was very much a real feel that we probably pretty much discovered every major fossil field in Africa. And in fact, some scientists even wrote that down at the turn of the millennia. It wasn’t a great time to be proposing to explore and push new, because we hadn’t succeeded, theoretically, being given the chance. All the big discoveries were in old sites. ... I was still an extraordinary believer in that there was more out there to be discovered. I just wasn’t demonstrating.

I think it's … the profession is starting to realise that in part it's the general climate, and the way we treat each other is not conducive for having more women in the profession. It's not just about promotion but it's about the general environment and how people talk to each other and address each other in seminars and things like that, that we need to work on a culture that is more respectful and that will be more acceptable for many women who think that they don't want to play the games of shouting at each other.

Sleep has to be, by far, the most underrated aspect of good health. I think sleeping less & working more is glorified. Life is like a marathon; if you run too fast and don't pace yourself, you can burn out, and you probably won't be able to finish strong.

In high school, I had a teacher who influenced me greatly, Miss Olive J. Williams, and she was versatile in music, and I wanted to be like her. She exposed me to the world of classical music. Before then, I had never heard classical music. She exposed me also to the great composers of the world, as well as black performers, which I didn’t know about at the time: Marian Anderson, Paul Robeson, Roland Hayes and Dorothy Maynor and others.

But I was blessed with parents who taught me not to let anyone make me feel like I wasn’t good enough, and as my mother told me, “You are just as good as anyone else. You get an education and try to be somebody. Then you won’t have to be kicked around by anybody, and you won’t have to depend on anyone for your livelihood, not even a man.”