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

n” word are like poison, whether you take poison from a vial or pour it into Bavarian crystal, it is still poison.

Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.

While I know myself as a creation of God, I am also obligated to realize and remember that everyone else and everything else are also God’s creation.

We can learn to see each other and see ourselves in each other and recognize that human beings are more alike than we are unalike.

I don’t think there’s such a thing as autobiographical fiction. If I say it happened, it happened, even if only in my mind.

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...

I would be stupid not to be on my own side. But I’m a human being, too. And I’m on the side of human beings, rather than on the side of crocodiles.

The only thing is, people have to develop courage. It is most important of all the virtues. Because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtues consistently.

Human beings love poetry. They don’t even know it sometimes… whether they’re the songs of Bono, or the songs of Justin Bieber… they’re listening to poetry.

I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t laugh.

I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.

I answer the heroic question, ‘Death, where is thy sting?’ with ‘It is in my heart and mind and memories.

You only are free when you realize you belong no place — you belong every place — no place at all.

Language is man’s way of communicating with his fellow man and it is language alone which separates him from the lower animals.

My grandmother took me to church on Sunday all day long, every Sunday into the night. Then Monday evening was the missionary meeting. Tuesday evening was usher board meeting. Wednesday evening was prayer meeting. Thursday...

When the human race neglects its weaker members, when the family neglects its weakest one – it’s the first blow in a suicidal movement. I see the neglect in cities around the country, in poor...

Don’t let the incidents which take place in life bring you low. And certainly don’t whine. You can be brought low, that’s OK, but don’t be reduced by them. Just say, ‘That’s life.’

It’s good to remember that in crises, natural crises, human beings forget for awhile their ignorances, their biases, their prejudices. For a little while, neighbors help neighbors and strangers help strangers.

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.

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

If you were the President of the United States or the Queen of England – you couldn’t have a person who would be more protective than my mother was for me. Which meant really that...

Most people don’t grow up. Most people age. They find parking spaces, honor their credit cards, get married, have children, and call that maturity. What that is, is aging.

The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.

Maya Angelou entered our lives at Virago in 1984, when we first published I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. “Entered our lives” is too tame. She danced, sang, and laughed her way straight into...

If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform a million realities.

Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.

You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot – it’s all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that...

On Saturday afternoons when all the things are done in the house and there’s no real work to be done, I play Bach and Chopin and turn it up real loudly and get a good...

If you’re a human being, you can attempt to do what other human beings have done. We don’t understand talent any more than we understand electricity.

I refuse to allow any man-made differences to separate me from any other human beings.

I love a Hebrew National hot dog with an ice-cold Corona – no lime. If the phone rings, I won’t answer until I’m done.

I was a dancer for many years. I was a premier dancer with ‘Porgy and Bess,’ the opera. And I taught dance some, in different places.

I promised myself that I would write as well as I can, tell the truth, not to tell everything I know, but to make sure that everything I tell is true, as I understand it....

Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.