I learned that I could be a giver by simply bringing a smile to another person. Style A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song. Ĭompassion How could I explain a young Black boy to a grown man who had been born White? -Īfrican-Americans race Content is of great importance, but we must not underrate the value of style. Talent The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination. Ĭourage I believe that each of us comes from the Creator trailing wisps of glory. Īlternatives children human nature If one has courage, nothing can dim the light which shines from within. Ĭhildren's talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives. Jealousy insecurity A conversation between friends can sound as melodic as a scripted song. Singin’ and Swingin’ and Getting’ Merry Like Christmas Īfrican-Americans slavery Jealousy is conceived only in insecurity and must be nourished in fear. My mother says a woman who will tell her own age will tell anything. įame Here then is my Christian lack: If I'm struck then I'll strike back. įriendship listening If a little learning is dangerous, a little fame can be devastating. Writing The most called-upon prerequisite of a friend is an accessible ear. There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. Ĭreativity I mean to make myself more to deal with than the brute can handle. The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind. History When cane straps flog the body dark and lean, you feel the blow. Love We can only know where we're going if we know where we've been. It doesn't just hold-that's ego-love liberates!. Poetry All great artists draw from the same resource: the human heart. Knowledge Only poets care about what happened to the snows of yesteryear. Ignorance All knowledge is spendable currency depending upon the market. įriendship Blithering ignorance can be found wherever you choose to live. There is an intimate laughter to be found only among friends. I'd rather be an old man's darling than a young man's slave. What child can resist a mother who laughs freely and often?. Honey, tired don't mean lazy, and every goodbye ain't gone. įood Hold those things that tell your history and protect them. ĭoing your best All people use food for more reasons than mere nutrition. Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now I do my best because I'm counting on you counting on me. Speech Spirit is an invisible force made visible in all life. Poetry A person's speech is a mirror to her or his soul. The Language of Life: A Festival of Poets Poetry is music written for the human voice. įuture When old folks laugh, they free the world. įorgiveness One person standing on the Word of God is the majority. įorgiveness Forgiveness is the greatest gift you can give yourself. Living life as art requires a readiness to forgive. Love courage Love, by nature, exacts a pain unequalled on the rack. īigotry prejudice Have enough courage to love. They would give anything for five minutes of what that person was complaining about." -Ĭomplaining The man who is a bigot is the worst thing God has got. After hearing someone complain, my grandmother would say, "There are people all over the world, Black and White, rich and poor, who went to sleep when that person went to sleep, and they have never awakened. Īction motivational I'll protest like the dickens, but I don't complain. Ĭomplaining Nothing will work unless you do. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it. Some of the boys'll be coming over here later.' Even after the slow drag of years, I remember the sense of fear which filled my mouth with hot, dry air and made my body light." - from 1969's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.Most popular Maya Angelou Quotes What you're supposed to do when you don't like a thing is change it. A crazy nigger messed with a white lady today. From the side of the store, Bailey and I heard him say to Momma, 'Annie, tell Willie he better lay low tonight. How much more capable he would be with Negroes. His nonchalance was meant to convey his authority and power over even dumb animals. The used-to-be sheriff sat rakishly astraddle his horse. "Late one day, as we were attending to the pigs, I heard a horse in the front yard (it really should have been called a driveway, except that there was nothing to drive into it), and ran to find out who had come riding up on a Thursday evening. Maya Angelou's letter to her 15-year-old self 04:53
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