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Maya Angelou Quotes - Page 30

All Quotes Achievement Adventure Adversity Age Aging Appreciation Art Attitude Beauty Being Alone Birth Black History Bravery Cancer Challenges Change Character Children Choices Christmas Church Communication Community Compassion Confidence Country Courage Creativity Culture Dance Darkness Death Defeat Determination Discipline Diversity Dying Earth Education Effort Ego Electricity Empowerment Encouragement Encouraging Energy Ethics Failing Failure Faith Falling In Love Family Fashion Fear Feelings Fighting Forgiveness Freedom Friendship Generosity Giving Glory God Grace Graduation Gratitude Growing Up Growth Happiness Hard Work Harmony Hate Healing Heart Hell Helping Others History Home Honesty Hope House Humanity Humility Hurt Husband Identity Ignorance Inspirational Inspiring Intelligence Journey Joy Justice Kindness Language Laughter Leadership Learning Leaving Life Listening Live Life Loneliness Love Love Life Lying Memories Modesty Mom Monday Morning Motivation Motivational Moving On Music Overcoming Pain Passion Past Peace Persistence Pleasure Poetry Positive Positive Thinking Positivity Prejudice Pride Purpose Quality Racism Reading Reality Regret Respect Responsibility Romance Running Sacrifice School Segregation Self Esteem Silence Skins Sleep Son Soul Spring Strength Struggle Style Success Survival Sympathy Talent Teaching Thankful Thanksgiving Time Today Travel Trust Truth Virtue Waiting Wall War Water Whining Winning Wisdom Writing Yoga

I think a nap or a rest overnight is great. But who needs three days of rest? Please! The second day, you might die.

I think a nap or a rest overnight is great. But who needs three days of rest? Please! The second day, you might die.

Thinking, Naps, Three

Interview with Oprah Winfrey, www.oprah.com. December 2000.

I would be a liar, a hypocrite, or a fool - and I'm not any of those - to say that I don't write for the reader. I do. But for the reader who hears, who really will work at it, going behind what I seem to say. So I write for myself and that reader who will pay the dues.

Liars, Hypocrite, Writing

Once you appreciate one of your blessings, one of your senses, your sense of hearing, then you begin to respect the sense of seeing and touching and tasting, you learn to respect all the senses.

Philosophy, Blessing, Medicine

Of course, there are those critics - New York critics as a rule - who say, 'Well, Maya Angelou has a new book out and of course it's good but then she's a natural writer.' Those are the ones I want to grab by the throat and wrestle to the floor because it takes me forever to get it to sing. I work at the language.

New York, Book, Forever

"Let’s Stop Talking About Maya Angelou" by Jeff Steinmann, www.huffingtonpost.com. June 3, 2014.

To take a few nouns, and a few pronouns, and adverbs and adjectives, and put them together, ball them up, and throw them against the wall to make them bounce. That's what Norman Mailer did. That's what James Baldwin did, and Joan Didion did, and that's what I do - that's what I mean to do.

Wall, Mean, Together

When members of a society wish to secure that society's rich heritage they cherish their arts and respect their artists. The esteem with which we regard the multiple cultures offered in our country enhances our possibilities for healthy survival and continued social development.

Life, Country, Art

To be angry is very good. It burns out things and leaves nutrients in the soil. You should always be ready to be angry at injustice and cruelty.

Anger, Soil, Injustice

Some of us are timid. We think we have something to lose so we don't try for that next hill.

Thinking, Trying, Next

Be courageous, but not foolhardy. Walk proud as you are.

Proud, Courageous, Walks

When we come to it We must confess that we are the possible We are the miraculous, the true wonders of this world, that is when, and only when we come to it

World, Wonder, This World

Maya Angelou (2010). “Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer”, p.19, Hachette UK

That's the biggest gift I can give anybody: 'Wake up, be aware of who you are, what you're doing and what you can do to prevent yourself from becoming ill.'

Giving, Wake Up, Becoming

It's good to remember that in crises, natural crises, human beings forget for awhile their ignorances, their biases, their prejudices. For a little while, neighbors help neighbors and strangers help strangers.

Ignorance, Littles, Prejudice

"Maya Angelou: In disaster, humanity shines". CNN Interview, www.cnn.com. May 27, 2011.

Had I known that the heart breaks slowly, dismantling itself into unrecognizable plots of misery... had I known yet I would have loved you, your brash and insolent beauty, your heavy comedic face and knowledge of sweet delights, but from a distance I would have left you whole and wholly for the delectation of those who wanted more and cared less.

Sweet, Distance, Heart

The desire to reach hearts is wise

Wise, Heart, Ambition

Twitter post from Sep 28, 2016

Whining is not only graceless, but it can be dangerous. It can alert a brute that a victim is in the neighborhood.

Whining, Victim, Dangerous

Maya Angelou (1993). “Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now”, Random House Canada

The human heart is so delicate and sensitive that it always needs some tangible encouragement to prevent it from faltering in its labour.

Encouragement, Heart, Needs

Maya Angelou (2008). “Letter to My Daughter”, p.40, Random House

Some people cannot see a good thing when it is right here, right now. Others can sense a good thing coming when it is days, months, or miles away.

People, Months, Good Things

If somebody is really trying to take your head off with a baseball bat - I don't know how long you're supposed to stand there and turn the other cheek, so he or she can get a better angle at taking your head off.

Baseball, Long, Trying

"America's Renaissance Woman". Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. January 22, 1997.

No one can take the place of a friend, no one.

Twitter post from Jan 15, 2017

Love is that condition in the human spirit so profound that it empowers us to develop courage; to trust that courage and build bridges with it; to trust those bridges and cross over them so we can attempt to reach each other.

Inspirational, Love Is, Bridges

I pray for humility because that comes from inside out. And what humility does for one, is it reminds us that there are people before me. I have already been paid for. And what I need to do is prepare myself so that I can pay for someone else who has yet to come, but who may be here and needs me.

Humility, People, Doe

Source: www.psychologytoday.com

I love the melodies in the Old Testament, how preachers highlight them when they read from the Scripture. But I was influenced forever by the New Testament. I love the Beatitudes, informing us that the meek shall inherit the earth.

Forever, Scripture, Earth

Politicians must set their aims for the high ground and according to our various leanings, Democratic, Republican, Independent, we will follow. Politicians must be told if they continue to sink into the mud of obscenity, they will proceed alone.

Independent, Mud, Republican

Maya Angelou (2008). “Letter to My Daughter”, p.56, Random House

Strictly speaking, one cannot legislate love, but what one can do is legislate fairness and justice. If legislation does not prohibit our living side by side, sooner or later your child will fall on the pavement and I'll be the one to pick her up. Or one of my children will not be able to get into the house and you'll have to say, "Stop here until your mom comes here." Legislation affords us the chance to see if we might love each other.

Love, Mom, Children

The sadness of the women's movement is that they don't allow the necessity of love. See, I don't personally trust any revolution where love is not allowed.

Love, Women, Sadness

1975 Interview in California Living,14 May. Collected in Conversations with Maya Angelou (1989).

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