Quotes by Maya Angelou

About Maya Angelou:

Maya Angelou is best known for her series of seven autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her international recognition and acclaim.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

When I write, I tend to twist my hair. Something for my small mind to do, I guess.

Maya Angelou

It is a no-fail, incontrovertible reality: If you get, give. If you learn, teach. You can't do anything with that except do it.

Maya Angelou

I was married a few times, and one of my husbands was jealous of me writing.

Maya Angelou

The terrorist action of 9/11 gave birth to President Obama's entry to the White House. Not directly, but indirectly.

Maya Angelou

It's very important to know the neighbor next door and the people down the street and the people in another race.

Maya Angelou

I like to have guns around. I don't like to carry them.

Maya Angelou

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

Maya Angelou

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.

Maya Angelou

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.

Maya Angelou

I like chicken a lot because chicken is generous - that is to say, it's obedient. It will do whatever you tell it to do.

Maya Angelou

I want to write so well that a person is 30 or 40 pages in a book of mine... before she realizes she's reading.

Maya Angelou

I believe we are still so innocent. The species are still so innocent that a person who is apt to be murdered believes that the murderer, just before he puts the final wrench on his throat, will have enough compassion to give him one sweet cup of wat...

Maya Angelou

I do like to have guns around. I don't like to carry them. But I like - if somebody is going to come into my house and I have not put out the welcome mat, I want to stop them.

Maya Angelou

That's the biggest gift I can give anybody: 'Wake up, be aware of who you are, what you're doing and what you can do to prevent yourself from becoming ill.'

Maya Angelou

I read the Bible to myself; I'll take any translation, any edition, and read it aloud, just to hear the language, hear the rhythm, and remind myself how beautiful English is.

Maya Angelou

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 I could dare to do all sorts of things.

Maya Angelou

Black people comprehend the South. We understand its weight. It has rested on our backs... I knew that my heart would break if ever I put my foot down on that soil, moist, still, with old hurts. I had to face the fear/loathing at its source or it wou...

Maya Angelou

I think a number of the leaders are, whether you like it or not, in the hip-hop generation. And when they understand enough, they'll do wonders. I count on them.

Maya Angelou

Like a pianist runs her fingers over the keys, I'll search my mind for what to say. Now, the poem may want you to write it. And then sometimes you see a situation and think, 'I'd like to write about that.' Those are two different ways of being approa...

Maya Angelou

I'm a religious woman. And I feel I have responsibility. I have no modesty at all. I'm even afraid of it - it's a learned affectation and it's just stuck on me like decals. Now I pray for humility because that comes from inside out.

Maya Angelou

In a long meter hymn, a singer - they call it 'lays out a line.' And then the whole church joins in in repeating that line. And they form a wall of harmony so tight, you can't wedge a pin between it.

Maya Angelou

Author Bio

  • NameMaya Angelou
  • DescriptionAmerican author and poet
  • BornApril 4, 1928
  • DiedMay 28, 2014
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionPoet; Actor; Dancer; Film Producer; Television Producer; Playwright; Film Director; Professor; Screenwriter; Writer; Essayist; Songwriter; Autobiographer
  • WorksI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings; On The Pulse Of Morning
  • AwardsMarian Anderson Award; National Women's Hall Of Fame