“We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders.”
Alone
“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”
MusicAll Quotes by Maya Angelou
“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”
Travel“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.”
Men“Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time.”
Love“There is a very fine line between loving life and being greedy for it.”
Life“Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.”
Courage“All men are prepared to accomplish the incredible if their ideals are threatened.”
Men“Nothing will work unless you do.”
Work“Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.”
Anger“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.”
Attitude“If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love.”
Love“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.”
Truth“There's a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth.”
Truth“The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerance. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors, and deserves respect if not enthusiastic acceptance.”
Respect“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”
Hope“At fifteen life had taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honorable as resistance, especially if one had no choice.”
Life“The sadness of the women's movement is that they don't allow the necessity of love. See, I don't personally trust any revolution where love is not allowed.”
Love“While I know myself as a creation of God, I am also obligated to realize and remember that everyone else and everything else are also God's creation.”
God“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”
Music“One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.”
Courage