Quote

That knowledge humbles me, melts my bones, closes my ears, and makes my teeth rock loosely in their gums. And it also liberates me. I am a big bird winging over high mountains, down into serene valleys. I am ripples of waves on silver seas. I'm a spring leaf trembling in anticipation.

Maya Angelou

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Maya Angelou
Age: 86 †
Born: 1928
Born: April 4
Died: 2014
Died: May 28
Author
Autobiographer
Comedian
Dancer
Essayist
Film Director
Film Producer
Human Rights Activist
Journalist
Novelist
Playwright
Politician
St. Louis
Missouri
Marguerite Annie Johnson
Marguerite Johnson
Marguerite Ann Johnson
Marguerite Anne Johnson
High
Wave
Leaf
Melts
Knowledge
Ears
Anticipation
Gum
Bigs
Bird
Valleys
Closes
Gums
Makes
Sea
Waves
Ripple
Winging
Also
Mountain
Mountains
Seas
Humbles
Rock
Silver
Serene
Liberates
Spring
Teeth
Trembling
Ripples
Rocks
Bones
Leafs
Loosely

More quotes by Maya Angelou

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And one of my absolute favorite quotes of all-time, one that I've adopted as one of my greatest life mottos: Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: I'm with you kid. Let's go.
Maya Angelou
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And if a person is religious, I think it's good, it helps you a bit. But if you're not, at least you can have the sense that there is a condition inside you which looks at the stars with amazement and awe.
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We need to not be in denial about what we've done, what we've come through. It will help us if we all do that.
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My grandmother told me that every good thing I do helps some human being in the world. I believed her 50 years ago and still do.
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The woman who survives intact and happy must be at once tender and tough.
Maya Angelou
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I have great respect for the past. If you don't know where you've come from, you don't know where you're going. I have respect for the past, but I'm a person of the moment. I'm here, and I do my best to be completely centered at the place I'm at, then I go forward to the next place.
Maya Angelou
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You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. Please remember that your difficulties do not define you. They simply strengthen your ability to overcome.
Maya Angelou
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Don't let the man bring you down.
Maya Angelou
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Each of us, famous or infamous, is a role model for somebody, and if we aren't, we should behave as though we are -- cheerful, kind, loving, courteous. Because you can be sure someone is watching and taking deliberate and diligent notes.
Maya Angelou
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By love I don't mean indulgence. I do not mean sentimentality. And in this instance, I don't even mean romance. I mean that condition that allowed humans to dream of God.That condition that allowed the dumb to write spirituals and Russian songs and Irish lilts. That is love, and it's so much larger than anything I can conceive.
Maya Angelou
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The more you know of your history, the more liberated you are.
Maya Angelou
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On this platform of peace, we can create a language to translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.
Maya Angelou
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I, with millions of other Americans, have the same dream Martin Luther King Jr. had when I wake up I wish some of the things I dreamt would be true. I wish that little black and white boys and girls would hold hands without being shocked at their nearness to each other and say in a natural way, we have overcome.
Maya Angelou
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Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us. We need hours of aimless wandering or spates of time sitting on park benches, observing the mysterious world of ants and the canopy of treetops.
Maya Angelou
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The sisters and brothers that you meet give you the materials which your character uses to build itself. It is said that some people are born great, others achieve it, some have it thrust upon them. In truth, the ways in which your character is built have to do with all three of those. Those around you, those you choose, and those who choose you.
Maya Angelou
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Sometimes guns really matter. Protecting those who need protection - children, women, minorities in rough parts of town, old folks living in places where cops aren't nearby. Guns are true empowerment for the powerless.
Maya Angelou
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The charitable say in effect, 'I seem to have more than I need and you seem to have less than you need. I would like to share my excess with you.' Fine, if my excess is tangible, money or goods, and fine if not, for I learned that to be charitable with gestures and words can bring enormous joy and repair injured feelings.
Maya Angelou
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Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it!
Maya Angelou
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You may be pretty or plain, heavy or thin, gay or straight, poor or rich. But remember this: In an election, every voice is equally powerful -- don't underestimate your vote. Voting is the great equalizer.
Maya Angelou
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You will face many defeats in your life, but never let yourself be defeated.
Maya Angelou