Quotes from Maya Angelou

Modesty is a learned adaptation. It's stuck on like decals. As soon as life slams a modest person against the wall, that modesty will fall off faster than a G-string will fall off a stripper.

After that exercise, the ship of my life might or might not be sailing on calm seas. The challenging days of my existence might or might not be bright or promising. From that encounter on, whether my days are stormy or sunny and if my nights are glorious or lonely, I maintain an attitude of gratitude. If pessimism insists on occupying my thoughts, I remember there is always tomorrow.

dreams are petted, like cherished lap dogs misunderstood and loved too well

I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy.

The humorless puzzle of inequality and hate.

Momma convinced us that not only was cleanliness next to Godliness, dirtiness was the inventor of misery. The

Why did she want to go to sea and live the rough unglamorous life of a seaman? 'Because they told me Negro women couldn't get in the union. You know what I told them?' I shook my head, although I nearly knew. 'I told them, "You want to bet?" I'll put my foot in that door up to my hip until women of every color can walk over my foot, get in that union, get aboard a ship and go to sea.

Depression, at least, did not discriminate.

Baby, I've been thinking and now I am sure. You are the greatest woman I've ever met.

more triumphant stories rainbowed around the

Living well is an art which can be developed.

We must recreate an attractive and caring attitude in our homes and in our worlds. If our children are to approve of themselves, they must see that we approve of ourselves.

Miss Kirwin proved Bailey right. He had told me once that all knowledge is spendable currency, depending on the market.

One couple (they were college graduates) held long adult conversations with me in the big kitchen downstairs, until the husband went off to war. Then the wife who had been so charming and ready to smile changed into a silent shadow that played infrequently along the walls.

find it interesting that the meanest life, the poorest existence, is attributed to God's will, but as human beings become more affluent, as their living standard and style begin to ascend the material scale, God descends the scale of responsibility at a commensurate speed.

The laughter was sour and not really directed at white women. It was a traditional ruse that was used to shield the black vulnerability; we laughed to keep from crying.

My Mothers Gift of Courage To Me Were Both Large and Small.

Because of a need for stability, children easily become creatures of habit.

I met that lovely Detroit lady and thought my time had come But just before I said "I do" I said "I got to run" and started to Pickin em up and layin em down, Pickin em up and layin em down, Pickin em up and layin em down, gettin to the next town Baby.

She said that I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and even more intelligent than college professors.

The saying that people who have nothing to do become busybodies is not the only truth. Excitement is a drug, and people whose lives are filled with violence are always wondering where the next fix is coming from.

I was going to look like one of the sweet little white girls who were everybody's dream of what was right with the world.

Trust your brain to suggest a solution, then have the courage to follow through." The

Prejudice is a burden which confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible. I