1,440 Quotes by maya angelou

Mrs. Parks is for me probably what the Statute of Liberty was for immigrants. She stood for the future, and the better future.

If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. It is an unnecessary insult.

The idea of overcoming is always fascinating to me. It's fascinating because few of us realize how much energy we have expended just to be here today. I don't think we give ourselves enough credit for the overcoming.

A joyful spirit is evidence of a grateful heart.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear, I rise. Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear, I rise.

What humility does for one is it reminds us that there are people before me. I have already been paid for. And what I need to do is prepare myself so that I can pay for someone else who has yet to come but who may be here and needs me.

The real difficulty is to overcome how you think about yourself. If we don't have that we never grow, we never learn, and sure as heck we should never teach.

Having courage does not mean we are unafraid.

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.