“Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone.
Only when we confess our confusion can we remember that he was a gift to us and we did have him.”

—  Maya Angelou

We Had Him (2009)
Context: Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone.
Only when we confess our confusion can we remember that he was a gift to us and we did have him.
He came to us from the creator, trailing creativity in abundance.
Despite the anguish, his life was sheathed in mother love, family love, and survived and did more than that.
He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style. We had him whether we know who he was or did not know, he was ours and we were his.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone. Only when we confess our confusion can we remember…" by Maya Angelou?
Maya Angelou photo
Maya Angelou 247
American author and poet 1928–2014

Related quotes

Maya Angelou photo
Bell Hooks photo
José Ortega Y Gasset photo

“We feel that we actual men have suddenly been left alone on the earth; that the dead did not die in appearance only but effectively; that they can no longer help us.”

José Ortega Y Gasset (1883–1955) Spanish liberal philosopher and essayist

"The Dehumanisation of Art"; Ortega y Gasset later used this passage in The Revolt of the Masses (1929), quoting it in Ch. III: The Height Of The Times
The Dehumanization of Art and Ideas about the Novel (1925)
Context: This grave dissociation of past and present is the generic fact of our time and the cause of the suspicion, more or less vague, which gives rise to the confusion characteristic of our present-day existence. We feel that we actual men have suddenly been left alone on the earth; that the dead did not die in appearance only but effectively; that they can no longer help us. Any remains of the traditional spirit have evaporated. Models, norms, standards are no use to us. We have to solve our problems without any active collaboration of the past, in full actuality, be they problems of art, science, or politics. The European stands alone, without any living ghosts by his side; like Peter Schlehmil he has lost his shadow. This is what always happens when midday comes.

James Anthony Froude photo
Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues photo
Barbara Jordan photo

“A spirit of harmony will survive in America only if each of us remembers that we share a common destiny; if each of us remembers, when bitterness and self-interest seem to prevail, that we share a common destiny.”

Barbara Jordan (1936–1996) American politician

Keynote address, Democratic National Convention, New York (12 July 1976). (see External links)

Bell Hooks photo
Dag Hammarskjöld photo

“It is when we all play safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity. It is when we all play safe that fatality will lead us to our doom. It is in the "dark shade of courage" alone that the spell can be broken.”

Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961) Swedish diplomat, economist, and author

Servant of Peace : A Selection of the Speeches and Statements of Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary General of the United Nations (1962), p. 107; this has sometimes been paraphrased: It is in playing safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity.

Dan Brown photo

Related topics