If I am not good to myself, how can I expect anyone else to be good to me?
Maya AngelouRead
When I am writing, I am trying to find out who I am, who we are, what we're capable of, how we feel, how we lose and stand up, and go on from darkness into darkness. I'm trying for that. But I'm also trying for the language. I'm trying to see how it can really sound.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the exploration of identity and resilience through the process of writing.
Maya Angelou's quote emphasizes the profound journey of self-discovery and the human experience that writing entails. She highlights the dual nature of her writing process, which involves both an exploration of personal and collective identity, as well as an artistic pursuit of capturing language's beauty and depth. This complex interplay between grappling with one's emotions and the craft of language illustrates the transformative power of writing.
Themes
WritingIdentityResilienceLanguageSelf-Discovery
In practice
Example use cases
In a creative writing workshop, one might mention this quote to encourage participants to explore their identities through their narratives.
More from Maya Angelou
All quotes βI find it interesting that the meanest life, the poorest existence, is attributed to God's will, but as human beings become more affluent, as their living standard and style begin to ascend the material scale, God descends the scale of responsibility at commensurate speed.
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The white American man makes the white American woman maybe not superfluous but just a little kind of decoration. Not really important to turning around the wheels of the state. Well the black American woman has never been able to feel that way. No black American man at any time in our history in the United States has been able to feel that he didn't need that black woman right against him, shoulder to shoulder-in that cotton field, on the auction block, in the ghetto, wherever.
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I dreamt we walked together along the shore. We made satisfying small talk and laughed. This morning I found sand in my shoe and a seashell in my pocket. Was I only dreaming?
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I know that I'm not the easiest person to live with. The challenge I put on myself is so great that the person I live with feels himself challenged. I bring a lot to bear, and I don't know how not to.
Maya AngelouRead
I think Clinton, after getting into office and into Washington, was shocked at being bludgeoned. So he spent time trying to be all things to all people - one way guaranteed not to be successful or respected in a lion's den. You can't just play around with all those big cats - you've got to take somebody on.
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