Quotes by Maya Angelou
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History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.

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.

I'm very, very serious -- I'm serious enough not to take myself too seriously. That means I can be completely wedded to the moment. But when I leave that moment, I want to be completely wedded to the next moment.

Independence is a heady draught, and if you drink it in your youth, it can have the same effect on the brain as young wine does. It does not matter that its taste is not always appealing. It is addictive and with each drink you want more.

Self-pity in its early stage is as snug as a feather mattress. Only when it hardens does it become uncomfortable.

I like chicken a lot because chicken is generous -- that is to say, it's obedient. It will do whatever you tell it to do.

Black people comprehend the South. We understand its weight. It has rested on our backs... I knew that my heart would break if ever I put my foot down on that soil, moist, still, with old hurts. I had to face the fear loathing at its source or it would consume me whole.

I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.

Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: 'I'm with you kid. Let's go.'

Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise.

A wise woman wishes to be no one's enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone's victim.

You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.

I have a son, who is my heart. A wonderful young man, daring and loving and strong and kind.

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love.