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Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou Quotes

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Famous Maya Angelou Quotes

“I believe that people want the scent of love, more than anything else. And I don't mean sentimentality, I don't mean mush. I mean that idea, that human beings are more alike than we are different. And that means that I can love you. I don't mean support you in bad things you do, that I can understand because you're a human being.”

PeopleWantBelieveHumansMeanI CanIdeasDifferentI BelieveHuman BeingsSupportLove YouBad ThingsScentSentimentalitySupport You
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“Even here in America, we felt the cool, refreshing breeze of freedom when Nelson Mandela took the seat of Presidency in his country where formerly he was not even allowed to vote. We were enlarged by tears of pride as we saw Nelson Mandela's former prison guards invited, courteously, by him to watch from the front rows his inauguration.”

CountryWisdomRealityAmericaPoliticsFeltCommunityLeadershipJusticeClassWatchesHistorySawsGenerationsFrontsTearsPrideEqualEthicsVotePrisonUnityHuman RightsIndividualityIdeologyFormerSeatsPresidencyInvitedBreezeEqual RightsCivilityDisobedienceCivil DisobedienceRefreshingNelsonInaugurationPrison GuardsMandela S
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“Strictly speaking, one cannot legislate love, but what one can do is legislate fairness and justice. If legislation does not prohibit our living side by side, sooner or later your child will fall on the pavement and I'll be the one to pick her up. Or one of my children will not be able to get into the house and you'll have to say, "Stop here until your mom comes here." Legislation affords us the chance to see if we might love each other.”

IfsLoveChildrenDoeMightAbleLawFallHouseSidesCan DoJusticeChanceMomPicksRelationOur ChildrenMy ChildrenYour ChildrenFairnessSooner Or LaterLegislationRace RelationsLove Each OtherYour MomPavement
Author:Maya Angelou
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“Then the question began to live under my blankets: How did lesbianism begin? What were the symptoms? The public library gave information on the finished lesbian--and that woefully sketchy--but on the growth of a lesbian, there was nothing. I did discover that the difference between hermaphrodites and lesbians was that hermaphrodites were "born that way." It was impossible to determine whether lesbians budded gradually, or burst into being with a suddenness that dismayed them as much as it repelled society.”

WayGrowthBornDifferencesImpossibleInformationLibraryDetermineFinishedSymptomsBlanketPublic LibraryDismayedLesbianismSketchyHermaphrodites
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“Oh, the holiness of always being the injured party. The historically oppressed can find not only sanctity but safety in the stateof victimization. When access to a better life has been denied often enough, and successfully enough, one can use the rejection as an excuse to cease all efforts. After all, one reckons, "they" don't want me, "they" accept their own mediocrity and refuse my best, "they" don't deserve me.”

WantHas BeensEnoughUsePartyEffortAcceptingDeserveSafetyRefuseExcuseAccessCeaseRejectionHolinessMediocrityDeniedWant MeOppressedBetter LifeInjuredSanctityVictimization
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“Just do right. Right may not be expedient, it may not be profitable, but it will satisfy your soul. It brings you the kind of protection that bodyguards can’t give you. So try to live your life in a way that you will not regret years of useless virtue and inertia and timidity. Take up the battle. Take it up. It’s yours. This is your life. This is your world.”

WorldWayGivingTryingYearsKindMaySoulVirtueRegretBattleProtectionYour SoulUselessLive Your LifeProfitableInertiaTimidityBodyguard
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“We need to remember to teach our children that solitude can be a much-to-be-desired condition. Not only is it acceptable to be alone; at times it is positively to be wished for.....In the silence we listen to ourselves. Then we ask questions of ourselves. We describe ourselves to ourselves, and in the quietude we may even hear the voice of God.”

NeedsMayChildrenRememberAsksVoiceSilenceTeachConditionsSolitudeOur ChildrenAcceptablePositivelyVoice Of God
Author:Maya Angelou
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