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Maya Angelou Quotes - Page 36

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

Everything costs and costs the earth.

Everything costs and costs the earth.

Cost, Earth

Maya Angelou (2011). “Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now”, p.34, Bantam

I also wear a hat or a very tightly pulled head tie when I write. I suppose I hope by doing that I will keep my brains from seeping out of my scalp and running in great gray blobs down my neck, into my ears, and over my face.

Running, Writing, Ties

Y’all dropped the ball and you should be shamed.

Balls, Should

You can't use up creativity, creative thinking builds on itself and increases the creativity of the thinker...You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.

Creativity, Thinking, Creative

By no amount of agile exercising of a wistful imagination could my mother have been called lenient. Generous she was; indulgent never. Kind, yes, permissive, never. In her world, people she accepted paddled their own canoes, pulled their own weight, put their own shoulders to their own plows and pushed like hell.

Mother, Exercise, People

Even here in America, we felt the cool, refreshing breeze of freedom when Nelson Mandela took the seat of Presidency in his country where formerly he was not even allowed to vote. We were enlarged by tears of pride as we saw Nelson Mandela's former prison guards invited, courteously, by him to watch from the front rows his inauguration.

Leadership, Wisdom, Country

'His Day Is Done' - Poem in Tribute to Nelson Mandela, delivered December 2013

In Stamps the segregation was so complete that most Black children didn't really, absolutely know what whites looked like.

Children, Black, Race Relations

Maya Angelou (2012). “The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou”, p.24, Modern Library

Then the question began to live under my blankets: How did lesbianism begin? What were the symptoms? The public library gave information on the finished lesbian--and that woefully sketchy--but on the growth of a lesbian, there was nothing. I did discover that the difference between hermaphrodites and lesbians was that hermaphrodites were "born that way." It was impossible to determine whether lesbians budded gradually, or burst into being with a suddenness that dismayed them as much as it repelled society.

Differences, Growth, Library

Oh, the holiness of always being the injured party. The historically oppressed can find not only sanctity but safety in the stateof victimization. When access to a better life has been denied often enough, and successfully enough, one can use the rejection as an excuse to cease all efforts. After all, one reckons, "they" don't want me, "they" accept their own mediocrity and refuse my best, "they" don't deserve me.

Party, Safety, Effort

1976 Singin'and Swingin'and Getting Merry Like Christmas, ch.9.

I made the decision to quit show business. Give up the skintight dresses and manicured smiles. The false concern over sentimental lyrics. I would never again work to make people smile inanely and would take on the responsibility of making them think.

Giving Up, Responsibility, Thinking

Dr. Maya Angelou (2009). “The Heart of a Woman”, p.55, Random House

Most people don't grow up. It's too damn difficult. What happens is most people get older.

Growing Up, People, Damn

It's wonderful that whenever Patsy Cline's name is mentioned, people's voices fall and they become right sentimental. And, rightly so.

Fall, Names, Voice

I know that I've been guided by God. I am obedient.

Knows, Obedient

Interview with Oprah Winfrey, www.oprah.com. May 2013.

I would welcome a friendship with Lynne Hinton. I would welcome an invitation to sit down at her table, but mostly I would welcome her next book.

Book, Tables, Next

If you have a song to sing, who are you not to open your mouth and sing to the world?

Song, World, Mouths

"Learning From Maya" by Sue Shanahan, www.huffingtonpost.com. June 4, 2014.

Only equals make friends, every other relationship is contrived and off balance.

Balance, And Off

Raising kids is like nailing Jell-O to a tree.

Kids, Tree, Raising Kids

To be human is to be challenged to be more divine. Not even to try to meet such a challenge is the biggest defeat imaginable.

Challenges, Trying, Defeat

Sisterhood means if you happen to be in Burma and I happen to be in San Diego and I'm married to someone who is very jealous and you're married to somebody who is very possessive, if you call me in the middle of the night, I have to come.

Jealous, Mean, Night

I never had that feeling that I had to carry the weight of somebody's ignorance around with me. And that was true for racists who wanted to use the 'n' word when talking about me or about my people, or the stupidity of people who really wanted to belittle other folks because they weren't pretty or they weren't rich or they weren't clever.

Clever, Ignorance, Talking

"Exclusive Interview With Maya Angelou on Her New Book, Mom & Me & Mom". Interview With Marianne Schnall, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 10, 2013.

I don't know how much longer I'll be around. I'll probably be writing when the Lord says, 'Maya, Maya Angelou, it's time.'

Writing, Lord, Angelou

I long for the time when all human history is taught as one history, because it really is.

Long, Taught, Humans

FaceBook post by Maya Angelou from Feb 28, 2013

I'm young as morning and fresh as dew. Everybody loves me and so do you.

Confidence, Morning, Believe In Yourself

Maya Angelou (2011). “I Shall Not Be Moved: Poems”, p.42, Random House

The intensity with which young people live demands that they "blank out" as often as possible.

Life, People, Demand

Maya Angelou (2012). “The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou”, p.155, Modern Library

The dread of futility has been my life-long plague.

Life, Long, Futility

Maya Angelou (2012). “The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou”, p.190, Modern Library

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