Quotes from Maya Angelou

When I find myself filling with rage over the loss of a beloved, I try as soon as possible to remember that my concerns and questions should be focused on what I learned or what I have yet to learn from my departed love. What legacy was left which can help me in the art of living a good life?

Stormy or sunny days, glorious or lonely nights, I maintain an attitude of gratitude. If i insist on being pessimistic, there is always tomorrow. Today I am blessed.

The wise woman thinks twice and speaks once or, better yet, does not speak at all.

I've had rainbows in my clouds.

You may encounter many defeats. But you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats so you can know who you are, what you can rise from and how you can still come out of it.

The act of rape on an eight-year-old body is a matter of the needle giving because the camel can't. The child gives, because the body can, and the mind of the violator cannot.

Sugar cane reach up to God And every baby crying Shame the blanket of my night And all my days are dying

The man who is a bigot, is the worst thing God has got, except his match, his woman, who really is Ms. Begot.

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.

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.

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