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" If I walked into the kitchen without washing my hands as a kid, I'd hear a loud 'A-hem!' from my mother or grandmother. Now I count on other people to do the same. "

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" I know some people might think it odd - unworthy even - for me to have written a cookbook, but I make no apologies. The U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins thought I had demeaned myself by writing poetry for Hallmark Cards, but I am the people's poet so I write for the people. "

Maya Angelou

I Am

Writing

Poetry

" The language of all the interpretations, the translations, of the Judaic Bible and the Christian Bible, is musical, just wonderful. I read the Bible to myself; I'll take any translation, any edition, and read it aloud, just to hear the language, hear the rhythm, and remind myself how beautiful English is. "

" I never had that feeling that I had to carry the weight of somebody's ignorance around with me. And that was true for racists who wanted to use the 'n' word when talking about me or about my people, or the stupidity of people who really wanted to belittle other folks because they weren't pretty or they weren't rich or they weren't clever. "

Maya Angelou

Ignorance

People

" The only thing is, people have to develop courage. It is most important of all the virtues. Because without courage, you can't practice any other virtues consistently. "

" I don't think there's such a thing as autobiographical fiction. If I say it happened, it happened, even if only in my mind. "

" Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud. "

" Achievement brings its own anticlimax. "

" My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors. "

" I would be stupid not to be on my own side. But I'm a human being, too. And I'm on the side of human beings, rather than on the side of crocodiles. "

" All great artists draw from the same resource: the human heart, which tells us that we are all more alike than we are unalike. "

" Nothing will work unless you do. "

" It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength. "

" I agree with Balzac and 19th-century writers, black and white, who say, 'I write for money.' Yes, I think everybody should be paid handsomely; I insist on it, and I pay people who work for me, or with me, handsomely. "

" There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing. "

" I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself. "

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

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

Maya Angelou

Kid

You

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

" Fighting for one's freedom, struggling towards being free, is like struggling to be a poet or a good Christian or a good Jew or a good Muslim or good Zen Buddhist. You work all day long and achieve some kind of level of success by nightfall, go to sleep and wake up the next morning with the job still to be done. So you start all over again. "

" One of the wonderful things about Oprah: She teaches you to keep on stepping. "

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

" I read the Bible to myself; I'll take any translation, any edition, and read it aloud, just to hear the language, hear the rhythm, and remind myself how beautiful English is. "

" My mom was a terrible parent of young children. And thank God - I thank God every time I think of it - I was sent to my paternal grandmother. Ah, but my mother was a great parent of a young adult. "

" I refuse to allow any man-made differences to separate me from any other human beings. "

" At one time in my life, from the time I was seven until I was about 13, I didn't speak. I only spoke to my brother. The reason I didn't speak: I had been molested, and I told the name of the molester to my brother who told it to the family. "

" My grandmother took me to church on Sunday all day long, every Sunday into the night. Then Monday evening was the missionary meeting. Tuesday evening was usher board meeting. Wednesday evening was prayer meeting. Thursday evening was visit the sick. Friday evening was choir practice. I mean, and at all those gatherings, we sang. "

Maya Angelou

Practice

Night

" Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness. "

" I speak to the black experience, but I am always talking about the human condition. "

" Whenever I want to laugh, I read a wonderful book, 'Children's Letters to God.' You can open it anywhere. One I read recently said, 'Dear God, thank you for the baby brother, but what I prayed for was a puppy.' "

" My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style. "