I'm interested in women's health because I'm a woman. I'd be a darn fool not to be on my own side. Maya Angelou Health
What is a fear of living? It's being preeminently afraid of dying. It is not doing what you came here to do, out of timidity and spinelessness. The antidote is to take full responsibility for yourself - for the time you take up and the space you occupy. If you don't know what you're here to do, then just do some good. Maya Angelou Fear
History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again. Maya Angelou Courage
I'm just like you - I want to be a good human being. I'm doing my best, and I'm working at it. And I'm trying to be a Christian. I'm always amazed when people walk up to me and say, 'I'm a Christian.' I always think, 'Already? You've already got it?' I'm working at it. And at my age, I'll still be working at it at 96. Maya Angelou Age
Whenever something went wrong when I was young - if I had a pimple or if my hair broke - my mom would say, 'Sister mine, I'm going to make you some soup.' And I really thought the soup would make my pimple go away or my hair stronger. Maya Angelou Mom
You can't forgive without loving. And I don't mean sentimentality. I don't mean mush. I mean having enough courage to stand up and say, 'I forgive. I'm finished with it.' Maya Angelou Courage
Find a beautiful piece of art. If you fall in love with Van Gogh or Matisse or John Oliver Killens, or if you fall love with the music of Coltrane, the music of Aretha Franklin, or the music of Chopin - find some beautiful art and admire it, and realize that that was created by human beings just like you, no more human, no less. Maya Angelou Music
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 Poetry
The poetry you read has been written for you, each of you - black, white, Hispanic, man, woman, gay, straight. Maya Angelou Poetry
I'm working at trying to be a Christian, and that's serious business. It's like trying to be a good Jew, a good Muslim, a good Buddhist, a good Shintoist, a good Zoroastrian, a good friend, a good lover, a good mother, a good buddy - it's serious business. Maya Angelou Business
Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean. Maya Angelou Anger
Politicians must set their aims for the high ground and according to our various leanings, Democratic, Republican, Independent, we will follow. Politicians must be told if they continue to sink into the mud of obscenity, they will proceed alone. Maya Angelou Alone
I learned a long time ago the wisest thing I can do is be on my own side, be an advocate for myself and others like me. Maya Angelou Time
It's still scary every time I go back to the past. Each morning, my heart catches. When I get there, I remember how the light was, where the draft was coming from, what odors were in the air. When I write, I get all the weeping out. Maya Angelou Morning
I had given up some youth for knowledge, but my gain was more valuable than the loss. Maya Angelou Knowledge
We have to confront ourselves. Do we like what we see in the mirror? And, according to our light, according to our understanding, according to our courage, we will have to say yea or nay - and rise! Maya Angelou Courage
I love the song 'I Hope You Dance' by Lee Ann Womack. I was going to write that song, but someone beat me to it. Maya Angelou Hope
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. Maya Angelou Morning
My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return. Maya Angelou Courage