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Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou Quotes

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Famous Maya Angelou Quotes

“The needs of a society determine its ethics, and in the Black American ghettos the hero is that man who is offered only the crumbs from his country's table but by ingenuity and courage is able to take for himself a Lucullan feast. Hence the janitor who lives in one room but sports a robin's-egg-blue Cadillac is not laughed at but admired, and the domestic who buys forty-dollar shoes is not criticized but is appreciated. We know that they have put to use their full mental and physical powers. Each single gain feeds into the gains of the body collective.”

KnowsMenLifeNeedsCountryUseBodyAbleSportsBlackRoomsHeroRacismEthicsGainsBlueTablesDollarsShoesDetermineCollectivesFortyEggsLaughedAppreciatedGhettoIngenuityRobinsCrumbsCadillacsJanitorI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Book:I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
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“We write for the same reason that we walk, talk, climb mountains or swim the oceans — because we can. We have some impulse within us that makes us want to explain ourselves to other human beings. That’s why we paint, that’s why we dare to love someone- because we have the impulse to explain who we are. Not just how tall we are, or thin… but who we are internally… perhaps even spiritually. There’s something, which impels us to show our inner-souls. The more courageous we are, the more we succeed in explaining what we know.”

KnowsWantLifeWritingHumansSoulReasonShowsHuman BeingsWalksSucceedMountainOceanPaintDareImpulseWho We AreClimbsCourageousSwimTallExplainingLove Someone
Author:Maya Angelou
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“I’m grateful for being here, for being able to think, for being able to see, for being able to taste, for appreciating love – for knowing that it exists in a world so rife with vulgarity, with brutality and violence, and yet love exists. I’m grateful to know that it exists.”

ThinkingKnowsWorldLoveLifeAbleAbilityExistenceKnowingViolencePositivePositive ThinkingTasteAppreciateGratefulAppreciationAfrican AmericanBe GratefulBlack WomenThankfulBeing ThankfulBrutalityVulgarityWise WomenLife Is GoodPhenomenal WomanAppreciate What You HaveLearn To AppreciateForever Grateful
Author:Maya Angelou
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“...We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated. That sounds goody two-shoes, I know, but I believe that a diamond is the result of extreme pressure and time. Less time is crystal. Less than that is coal. Less than that is fossilized leaves. Less than that it's just plain dirt. In all my work, in the movies I write, the lyrics the poetry, the prose, the essays, I am saying that we may encounter many defeats - maybe it's imperative that we encounter the defeats - but we are much stronger than we appear to be and maybe much better than we allow ourselves to be.”

KnowsWritingBelieveMayTwoMotivationalI BelieveSoundResultsDeterminationStrongerPressureShoesDefeatExtremesEncountersProseDiamondDefeatedDirtCoalEssaysImperativesCrystalsGoody Two Shoes
Author:Maya Angelou
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“Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone. Only when we confess our confusion can we remember that he was a gift to us and we did have him. He came to us from the creator, trailing creativity in abundance. Despite the anguish, his life was sheathed in mother love, family love, and survived and did more than that. He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style. We had him whether we know who he was or did not know, he was ours and we were his.”

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Author:Maya Angelou
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“When asked how she knows when her writing is where she wants it to be: "I know when it's the best I can do. It may not be the best there is. Another writer may do it much better. But I know when it's the best I can do. I know that one of the great arts that the writer develops is the art of saying, 'No. No, I'm finished. Bye.' And leaving it alone. I will not write it into the ground. I will not write the life out of it. I won't do that."”

KnowsWantWritingMayArtI CanCan DoLeavingFinishedLife ChangingBeing The BestGreat ArtByeSaying NoI Can Do It
Author:Maya Angelou
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“What I think it really means is: I'm a teacher. I am a teacher. I teach all the time, as you do and as all of you do-whether we know it or not, whether we take responsibility for it or not. I hold nothing back because I want to see that light go off. I like to see the children say, 'I never thought of that before.' And I think, 'I've got them!'”

ThinkingKnowsWantMeanChildrenLightResponsibilityTeachTeacherTaking ResponsibilityReally Mean
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“Remember this: When you cross my doorstep, you have already been raised. With what you have learned...you know the difference between right and wrong. Do right. Don't anybody raise you from the way you have been raised. Know you will have to make adaptations, in love, in relationships, in friends, in society, in work, but don't let anybody change your mind.”

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Author:Maya Angelou
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“I don't know if I continue, even today, always liking myself. But what I learned to do many years ago was to forgive myself. It is very important for every human being to forgive herself or himself because if you live, you will make mistakes - it is inevitable. But once you do and you see the mistake, then you forgive yourself and say, 'Well, if I'd known better I'd have done better,' that's all.”

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Author:Maya Angelou
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“In order to be a mentor, and an effective one, one must care. You must care. You don't have to know how many square miles are in Idaho, you don't need to know what is the chemical makeup of chemistry, or of blood or water. Know what you know and care about the person, care about what you know and care about the person you're sharing with.”

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Author:Maya Angelou
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“I learned a long time ago the wisest thing I can do is be on my own side, be an advocate for myself and others like me, if I do that well enough, then I'll be able to look after someone else -- the children or the husband or the elderly. But I have to look after myself first. I know that some people think that's being selfish, I think that's being self-full.”

PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsFirstsWellsLooksChildrenLongI CanSelfEnoughAbleSidesCan DoMy OwnHusbandLong TimeSelfishLike MeLong Time AgoElderlyWisestBeing Selfish
Author:Maya Angelou
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“For Africa to me... is more than a glamorous fact. It is a historical truth. No man can know where he is going unless he knows exactly where he has been and exactly how he arrived at his present place.”

KnowsMenInspirationalHas BeensFactsTruthBlackHistoryMonthsHistoricalIntelligenceAmerican HistoryBlack HistoryGlamorousBlack History MonthBlack History Month InspirationalAfrican American HistoryBlack History InspirationalKwanzaaBlack InspirationalHistorical Truth
Author:Maya Angelou
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