Quotes by Maya Angelou
There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.
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.
While I know myself as a creation of God, I am also obligated to realize and remember that everyone else and everything else are also God's creation.
I answer the heroic question "Death, where is they sting?" with "It is here in my heart and mind and memories."
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.
Nature has no mercy at all. Nature says, "I'm going to snow. If you have on a bikini and no snowshoes, that's tough. I am going to snow anyway."
All men are prepared to accomplish the incredible if their ideals are threatened.
The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education.
The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerance. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors, and deserves respect if not enthusiastic acceptance.
There is a very fine line between loving life and being greedy for it.
My life has been one great big joke, a dance that's walked a song that's spoke, I laugh so hard I almost choke when I think about myself.
Effective action is always unjust.
Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.
One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.
The need for change bulldozed road down the center of my mind.
There's a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth.
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.
Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.
I am overwhelmed by the grace and persistence of my people.
Self-pity in its early stages is as snug as a feather mattress. Only when it hardens does it become uncomfortable.
It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.
Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise.
If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love. Don't be surly at home, then go out in the street and start grinning 'Good morning' at total strangers.
Of all the needs (there are none imaginary) a lonely child has, the one that must be satisfied, if there is going to be hope and a hope of wholeness, is the unshaken need for an unshakable God.
