Quotes from Maya Angelou

Teachers of my early youth Taught forgiveness stressed the truth Here then is my Christian lack: If I'm struck then I'll strike back.

I believe that there lives a burning desire in the most sequestered private heart of every American, a desire to belong to a great country. I believe that every citizen wants to stand on the world stage and represent a noble country where the mighty do not always crush the weak and the dream of a democracy is not the sole possession of the strong.

I learned to love my son without wanting to possess him and I learned how to teach him to teach himself.

When I walk in, they may like me or dislike me, but everybody knows I'm here

The child gives, because the body can, and the mind of the violator cannot.

I'm convinced of this: Good done anywhere is good done everywhere. For a change, start by speaking to people rather than walking by them like they're stones that don't matter. As long as you're breathing, it's never too late to do some good.

Upon reflection, I marvel that no one saw through me enough to bundle me off to the nearest mental institution. The fact that it didn't happen depended less on my being a good actress than the fact that I was surrounded, as I had been all my life, by strangers.

For years, I had known that there is nothing idle about curiosity, despite the fact that the two words are often used in tandem. Curiosity fidgets, is hard to satisfy, looks for answers even before forming questions.

The woman who truly intends to live a good life is already living phenomenally since intent is part of the achievement.

Since life is our most precious gift And since it is given to us to live but once, Let us so live that we will not regret

They may have forgotten how badly they treated you, or they may pretend that they have forgotten. But watch: They will come back to you.

I have found that the platonic affection in friendships and familial love for children can be relied upon with certainty to lift the bruised soul and repair the wounded spirit

Girl, you're going to be all right. You haven't forgotten the essentials. You know about defending yourself. All you have to do now is remember … sometimes you have to defend yourself from yourself.

You must take the good that people do and put the bright light on that good, but human beings can never withstand such light without showing their shadows and warts. All mortals have their shortcomings and weaknesses.

I could never put my finger on her realness. She was so pretty and so quick that even when she had just awakened, her eyes full of sleep and hair tousled, I thought she looked just like the Virgin Mary. But what mother and daughter understand each other, or even have the sympathy for each other's lack of understanding? Mother

America was aptly described by George Bernard Shaw, who said that it was 'the only country which had gone from barbarism to decadence without once passing through civilization.

Intelligence always had a pornographic influence on me. He

Love heals. Heals and liberates.

The Black woman in the South who raises sons, grandsons and nephews had her heartstrings tied to a hanging noose.

Every storm runs out of rain.

she must provide a blanket of stability, which warms but does not suffocate, and she must tell her children the truth about the power of white power without suggesting that it cannot be challenged.

Life was cheap and death entirely free.

My name had lost its ring of familiarity and I had to be nudged to go and receive my diploma.

It was the awakening summer of 1960 and the entire country was in labor. Something wonderful was about to be born, and we were all going to be good parents to the welcome child. Its name was Freedom.