American poet (1928-2014)
A bizarre sensation pervades a relationship of pretense. No truth seems true.
MAYA ANGELOU
Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas
Every experience shapes your writing, being stuck in a car on a lonely bridge, or dancing at a prom, being the it girl on the beach, all of those things influence your life, they influence how you write, and the topics you choose to write about.
MAYA ANGELOU
Facebook post, Oct. 13, 2012
Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.
MAYA ANGELOU
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
I'm working at trying to be a Christian and that's serious business. It's like trying to be a good Jew, a good Muslim, a good Buddhist, a good Shintoist, a good Zoroastrian, a good friend, a good lover, a good mother, a good buddy--it's serious business. It's not something where you think, Oh, I've got it done. I did it all day, hotdiggety. The truth is, all day long you try to do it, try to be it, and then in the evening if you're honest and have a little courage you look at yourself and say, Hmm. I only blew it eighty-six times. Not bad.
MAYA ANGELOU
interview, The Paris Review, fall 1990
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.
MAYA ANGELOU
interview, The Paris Review, fall 1990
Be certain that you do not die without having done something wonderful for humanity.
MAYA ANGELOU
Letter to My Daughter
I don't trust anyone who doesn't laugh.
MAYA ANGELOU
Maya Angelou: 365 Quotes and Sayings of Phenomenal Woman
There's a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure truth.
MAYA ANGELOU
attributed, Sheroes
When I'm writing, I am trying to find out who I am, who we are, what we're capable of, how we feel, how we lose and stand up, and go on from darkness into darkness.
MAYA ANGELOU
interview, The Paris Review, fall 1990
I believe that each of us comes from the creator trailing wisps of glory.
MAYA ANGELOU
interview, Academy of Achievement
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.
MAYA ANGELOU
Facebook post, Jul. 5, 2011
Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.
MAYA ANGELOU
"Passports to Understanding"
We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.
MAYA ANGELOU
A Brave and Startling Truth
A friend may be waiting behind a stranger's face.
MAYA ANGELOU
Letter to My Daughter
I believe most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise.
MAYA ANGELOU
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God.
MAYA ANGELOU
Facebook post, May 23, 2014
Since time is the one immaterial object which we cannot influence -- neither speed up nor slow down, add to nor diminish -- it is an imponderably valuable gift.
MAYA ANGELOU
Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now
Take a month
and show some kindness
for the folks
who thought that blindness
was an illness that
affected eyes alone.
MAYA ANGELOU
"Take Time Out"
Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.
MAYA ANGELOU
attributed, Women Know Everything!
I realized that I didn't get here by myself. I am a child of God and that's a blessing and because I have the blessing of God and the knowledge, I have no modesty because it is a learned adaptation. People are just fooling themselves in trying to fool other people when they say, "Oh me! Oh! I'm modest, I can't do this!" I have no modesty, I have humility. Humility comes from inside out and it says, "Someone was here before me and someone has already paid for me." I have a responsibility to pay for someone else who is yet to come, there is no room in there for ego! I am grateful to God. I am grateful to all my people who have helped me and all the ways they've helped me, the teachers, preachers, rabbis, and priests. Everyone that has helped me, I am grateful and I try to help someone else as often as I can.
MAYA ANGELOU
interview, Beautifully Said Magazine, Jul. 2012