Quotes from Maya Angelou

I stood dumfounded, founded in dumbness.

There is a true yearning to respond to the singing river and wise rock.

Your voice at times a fist Tight in your throat Jabs ceaselessly at phantoms In the room, Your hand a carved and Skimming boat Goes down the Nile To point out Pharaoh's tomb. You're Africa to me At brightest dawn. The Congo's green and Copper's brackish hue, A continent to build With Black Man's brawn. I sit at home and see it all Through you.

Mother whispered, 'See, you don't have to think about doing the right thing, If you're for the right thing, then you do it without thinking.

I want you to write down your blessings.

We, the black people, the most displaced, the poorest, the most maligned and scourged, we had the glorious task of reclaiming the soul and saving the honor of the country. We, the most hated, must take hate into our hands and by the miracle of love, turn loathing into love. We, the most feared and apprehensive must take fear and by love, change it into hope. We, who die daily in large and small ways, must take the demon death and turn it into life.-Martin Luther King Jr.

We wear the mask that grins and lies. It shades our cheeks and hides our eyes. This debt we pay to human guile With torn and bleeding hearts… We smile and mouth the myriad subtleties. Why should the world think otherwise In counting all our tears and sighs. Nay let them only see us while We wear the mask.

one can never leave home...one carries the shadows, the dreams, the dragons of home under one's skin, at the extreme corners of one's eyes...

The Black female is assaulted in her tender years by all those common forces of nature at the same time that she is caught in the tripartite crossfire of masculine prejudice, white illogical hate and Black lack of power. The

I am truly 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 Ã¢â'¬Â¦ And I'm grateful to know it exists in me, and I'm able to share it with so many people.

She used to say that her secret to life was that she "hoped for the best, was prepared for the worst, so anything in between didn't come as a surprise.

If you're going to live, leave a legacy. Make a mark on the world that can't be erased."-Maya Angelou

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing. The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom. from Caged Bird

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.

I asked for the music, then invited it to enter my body and find the broken and sore places and restore them

Thomas Wolfe warned in the title of America's great novel that you can't go home again. I enjoyed the book but I never agreed with the title. I believe that one can never leave home. I believe that one carries the shadows, the dreams, the fears and dragons of home under one's skin, at the extreme corners of one's eyes and possibly in the gristle of the earlobe.

Mother whispered, "See, you don't have to think about doing the right thing. If you're for the right thing, then you do it without thinking.

Sounds came to me dully, as if people were speaking through their handkerchiefs or with their hands over their mouths. Colors weren't true either, but rather a vague assortment of shaded pastels that indicated not so much color as faded familiarities. People's names escaped me and I began to worry over my sanity.

Nothing's wrong with going to jail for something you believe in. Remember, jail was made for people. Not horses.

Your grandmother says you read a lot. Every chance you get. That's good, but not good enough. Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with the shades of deeper meaning.

When old folks laugh, they consider the promise of dear painless death, and generously forgive life for happening to them.

Make sure that everything you say is two-time talk. That means say it in the closet and be prepared to say it on the city hall steps.

We need the courage to say obesity is not funny and vulgarity is not amusing.

Excitement is a drug, and people whose lives are filled with violence are always wondering where the next fix is coming from