American poet (1928-2014)
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
A bizarre sensation pervades a relationship of pretense. No truth seems true.
MAYA ANGELOU
Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas
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
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
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
Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.
MAYA ANGELOU
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
There's a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure truth.
MAYA ANGELOU
attributed, Sheroes
I don't trust anyone who doesn't laugh.
MAYA ANGELOU
Maya Angelou: 365 Quotes and Sayings of Phenomenal Woman
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
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"
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
A friend may be waiting behind a stranger's face.
MAYA ANGELOU
Letter to My Daughter
Be certain that you do not die without having done something wonderful for humanity.
MAYA ANGELOU
Letter to My Daughter
I believe that each of us comes from the creator trailing wisps of glory.
MAYA ANGELOU
interview, Academy of Achievement
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"
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
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!
History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.
MAYA ANGELOU
On the Pulse of the Morning
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
Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning.
MAYA ANGELOU
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings