“ When younger writers and poets, musicians and painters are weakened by a stemming of funds, they come to me saddened, not as full of dreams and excitement and ideas. I am then weakened and diminished,… Maya Angelou
“ We need to develop courage, and we need to develop it in small ways first..... You develop a little courage, so that if you decide, "I will not stay in rooms where women are belittled; I will not stay… Maya Angelou
“ There were people who went to sleep last night, poor and rich and white and black, but they will never wake again. And those dead folks would give anything at all for just five minutes of this weather… Maya Angelou
“ As far as I knew white women were never lonely, except in books. White men adored them, Black men desired them and Black women worked for them. Maya Angelou
“ At fifteen life had taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honorable as resistance, especially if one had no choice. Maya Angelou
“ My life has been one great big joke, a dance that's walked a song that's spoke, I laugh so hard I almost choke when I think about myself. Maya Angelou
“ Still I RiseYou may write me down in historyWith your bitter, twisted lies,You may trod me in the very dirtBut still, like dust, I'll rise.Does my sassiness upset you?Why are you beset with gloom?'Cau… Maya Angelou
“ Here on the pulse of this new dayYou may have the grace to look up and outAnd into your sister's eyes,Into your brother's face, your countryAnd say simplyVery simply Maya Angelou
“ I liked to write from the time I was about 12 or 13. I loved to read. And since I only spoke to my brother, I would write down my thoughts. And I think I wrote some of the worst poetry west of the Roc… Maya Angelou
“ Whatever you want to do, if you want to be great at it, you have to love it and be able to make sacrifices for it. Maya Angelou
“ 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. Maya Angelou
“ Courage is the most important of all virtues because without it we can't practice any other virtue with consistency. Maya Angelou
“ I couldn't tell fact from fiction,Or if the dream was trueMy only sure predictionIn this world was you.I'd touch your features inchly. Beard love and dared the cost, The sented spiel reeled me unreal… Maya Angelou
“ I find relief from the questions only when I concede that I am not obliged to know everything. I remind myself it is sufficient to know what I know, and that what I know, may not always be true. Maya Angelou
