Maya Angelou Quotes

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“The main thing in one's own private world is to try to laugh as much as you cry.”

“Each of us, famous or infamous, is a role model for somebody, and if we aren't, we should behave as though we are -- cheerful, kind, loving, courteous. Because you can be sure someone is watching and taking deliberate and diligent notes.”

“I dreamt we walked together along the shore. We made satisfying small talk and laughed. This morning I found sand in my shoe and a seashell in my pocket. Was I only dreaming?”

“Women should be tough, tender, laugh as much as possible, and live long lives.”

“Ain't nothin' to it, but to do it.”

“I believe most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise.”

“One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We cannot be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.”

“The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.”

“As soon as healing takes place, go out and heal somebody else.”

“If you're for the right thing, you do it without thinking.”

“There is a very fine line between loving life and being greedy for it.”

“Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking. You might find a new solution.”

“Don't let the man bring you down.”

“I’ve got a magic charm
That I keep up my sleeve,
I can walk the ocean floor
And never have to breathe.”

“We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.”

“I hope that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.”

“Ritie, don't worry 'cause you ain't pretty. Plenty pretty women I seen digging ditches or worse. You smart. I swear to God, I rather you have a good mind than a cute behind.”

“Strong women- precious jewels all- their humanness is evident in their accessibility. We are able to enter into the spirit of these women and rejoice in their warmth and courage.”

“We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders.”

“To be left alone on the tightrope of youthful unknowing is to experience the excruciating beauty of full freedom and the threat of eternal indecision.”

“The best candy shop a child can be left alone in, is the library”

“It is this belief in a power larger than myself and other than myself which allows me to venture into the unknown and even the unknowable.”

“History, despite its wrenching pain cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage need not be lived again.”

“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!”

“We love and lose in China,
we weep on England's moors,
and laugh and moan in Guinea,
and thrive on Spanish shores.
We seek success in Finland,
are born and die in Maine.
In minor ways we differ,
in major we're the same.”

“We are all human; therefore, nothing human can be alien to us.”

“We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.”

“Making a decision to write was a lot like deciding to jump into a frozen lake.”

“It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.”

“Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.”

“Just like moons and suns,
With certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.”

“The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education.”

“Love is that condition in the human spirit so profound that it allows me to survive, and better than that, to thrive with passion, compassion, and style.”

“At fifteen life had taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honorable as resistance, especially if one had no choice.”

“She comprehended the perversity of life, that in the struggle lies the joy.”

“I want all my senses engaged. Let me absorb the world's variety and uniqueness.”

“A person is the product of their dreams. So make sure to dream great dreams. And then try to live your dream.”

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

“Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister's eyes,
Into your brother's face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
Good morning.”

“I do not need to know all things. I remind myself that it is sufficient that I know what I know and know that without believing that I will always know what I know or that what I know will always be true.”

“If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. It is an unnecessary insult.”

“I am overwhelmed by the grace and persistence of my people.”

“Take the blinders from your vision
take the padding from your ears
and confess you've heard me crying
and admit you've seen my tears.”

“I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.”

“My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness. Continue to allow humor to lighten the burden of your tender heart.”

“I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone.
People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.”

“Wouldn't take nothing for my journey now.”

“Children's talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives.”

“You are the sum total of everything you've seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot- it's all right there.”