Maya Angelou

I would like to be known as an intelligent woman, a courageous woman, a loving woman, a woman who teaches by being.

There are some nights when sleep plays coy, aloof and disdainful. And all the wiles that I employ to win its service to my side are useless as wounded pride, and much more painful.

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.

Life is going to give you just what you put in it. Put your whole heart in everything you do, and pray, then you can wait.

Your life is much more important that you can imagine... it is your first treasure.

I like to speak on matters which matter to human beings, and almost everything matters to human beings.

I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

Eating is so intimate. It's very sensual. When you invite someone to sit at your table and you want to cook for them, you're inviting a person into your life.

Love is a condition so powerful; it may be that which pulls the stars in the firmament. It may be that which pushes and urges the blood in the veins. Courage: you have to have courage to love somebody because you risk everything-ever ything.

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.'

Faith is the evidence of the unseen.

One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential.

The most noble _x000D_ cause known to man _x000D_ is the liberation _x000D_ of the human mind _x000D_ and spirit.

Someone was hurt before you, wronged before you, hungry before you, frightened before you, beaten before you, humiliated before you, raped before you... yet, someone survived... You can do anything you choose to do.

We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.

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

It is important that we learn humility, which says there was someone else before me who paid for me. My responsibility is to prepare myself so that I can pay for someone else who is yet to come.

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

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.

How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!

One must know not just how to accept a gift, but with what grace to share it.