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" Until blacks and whites see each other as brother and sister, we will not have parity. It's very clear. "

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" During bad circumstances, which is the human inheritance, you must decide not to be reduced. You have your humanity, and you must not allow anything to reduce that. We are obliged to know we are global citizens. Disasters remind us we are world citizens, whether we like it or not. "

" Cooking certain dishes, like roast pork, reminds me of my mother. "

" Hold those things that tell your history and protect them. During slavery, who was able to read or write or keep anything? The ability to have somebody to tell your story to is so important. It says: 'I was here. I may be sold tomorrow. But you know I was here.' "

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

" At 50, I began to know who I was. It was like waking up to myself. "

" Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning. "

" Children's talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives. "

" I created myself. I have taught myself so much. "

" I think that that's the wisest thing - to prevent illness before we try to cure something. "

" I've conducted the Boston Pops! Imagine that! Me! Maya Angelou! I've sang and danced at La Scala! "

" If you will have a person enslaved, the first thing you must do is convince yourself that the person is subhuman. The second thing you have to do is convince your allies so you'll have some help, and the third and probably unkindest cut of all is to convince that person that he or she is subhuman and deserves it. "

" I am never proud to participate in violence, yet I know that each of us must care enough for ourselves that we can be ready and able to come to our own defense when and wherever needed. "

" We are braver and wiser because they existed, those strong women and strong men... We are who we are because they were who they were. It's wise to know where you come from, who called your name. "

" I long for the time when all human history is taught as one history, because it really is. "

" The truth is, no one of us can be free until everybody is free. "

" Modesty is a learned affectation. And as soon as life slams the modest person against the wall, that modesty drops. "

" Somehow, we have come to the erroneous belief that we are all but flesh, blood, and bones, and that's all. So we direct our values to material things. "

Material Things

" Achievement brings its own anticlimax. "

" 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. "

" I want to write so well that a person is 30 or 40 pages in a book of mine... before she realizes she's reading. "

" Effective action is always unjust. "

" 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. "

" I had given up some youth for knowledge, but my gain was more valuable than the loss. "

" I'm grateful to intelligent people. That doesn't mean educated. That doesn't mean intellectual. I mean really intelligent. What black old people used to call 'mother wit' means intelligence that you had in your mother's womb. That's what you rely on. You know what's right to do. "

" There's something which impels us to show our inner souls. The more courageous we are, the more we succeed in explaining what we know. "

" History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" I write some country music. There's a song called 'I Hope You Dance.' Incredible. I was going to write that poem; somebody beat me to it. "

" 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. "