Maya Angelou

Nothing will work unless you do.

For Africa to me... is more than a glamorous fact. It is a historical truth. No man can know where he is going unless he knows exactly where he has been and exactly how he arrived at his present place.

There's a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth.

Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.

When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

While the rest of the world has been improving technology, Ghana has been improving the quality of man's humanity to man.

The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerance. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors, and deserves respect if not enthusiastic acceptance.

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

All men are prepared to accomplish the incredible if their ideals are threatened.

As far as I knew white women were never lonely, except in books. White men adored them, Black men desired them and Black women worked for them.

The sadness of the women's movement is that they don't allow the necessity of love. See, I don't personally trust any revolution where love is not allowed.

Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time.

If we lose love and self respect for each other, this is how we finally die.

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

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

At fifteen life had taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honorable as resistance, especially if one had no choice.

There is a very fine line between loving life and being greedy for it.

Life loves the liver of it.

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands you need to be able to throw something back.

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.