Author bell hooks Passes At 69. A Look At Her Life Through Her Words

Feminist writer, poet, theorist and cultural critic bell hooks passed away at her home in Kentucky on Wednesday. She was 69.

Born in 1952, her real name was Gloria Jean Watkins and was considered one of the pioneering feminist authors.

bells wrote extensively on race, feminism, community and culture. Here are some of her most famous quotes:

"But many of us seek community solely to escape the fear of being alone. Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape."

"If any female feels she need anything beyond herself to legitimate and validate her existence, she is already giving away her power to be self-defining, her agency."

"No Black woman writer in this culture can write ‘too much’. Indeed, no woman writer can write ‘too much’ … No woman has ever written enough.” "

"The function of art is to do more than tell it like it is – it’s to imagine what is possible."