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I believe what I have to say is important, and I believe the people coming to hear me are important, and so the occasion of itself alone has an importance, which forces me to stare down my nerves.

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
Alone
Occasion
Force
Nerves
Important
Staring
Believe
Occasions
People
Forces
Importance
Coming
Hear
Stare

More quotes by Maya Angelou

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Of all the needs (there are none imaginary) a lonely child has, the one that must be satisfied, if there is going to be hope and a hope of wholeness, is the unshaking need for an unshakable God. My pretty Black brother was my Kingdom Come.
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You don't need another person, place or thing to make you whole. God already did that. Your job is to know it.
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Stormy or sunny days, glorious or lonely nights, I maintain an attitude of gratitude.
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We are the victims of the world's most comprehensive robbery. Life demands a balance. It's all right if we do a little robbing now.
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The plague of racism is insidious, entering into our minds as smoothly and quietly and invisibly as floating airborne microbes enter into our bodies to find lifelong purchase in our bloodstreams.
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We are loved by Love itself. There is nothing good that we can't do.
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You will face many defeats in your life, but never let yourself be defeated.
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Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking. You might find a new solution.
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When we cast our bread upon the waters we can presume that someone downstream whose face we will never know will benefit from our action, as we who are downstream from another will profit from the grantor's gift.
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I'm just someone who likes cooking and for whom sharing food is a form of expression.
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All great acheivements require time.
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When the human race neglects its weaker members, when the family neglects its weakest one - it's the first blow in a suicidal movement.
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If I wanted to write, I had to be willing to develop a kind of concentration found mostly in people awaiting execution. I had to learn technique and surrender my ignorance.
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.
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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 bottle of chardonnay and sit out on my deck and look out at the garden.
Maya Angelou
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Intelligence is a separate gift, for the benefit of students, so that they may think of themselves as intellectual and not very intelligent, or intelligent and not very intellectual. One hopes, of course, that they try to bring the two virtues, the two elements, into their lives at the same time.
Maya Angelou
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No one has ever become poor from giving.
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The intensity with which young people live demands that they blank out as often as possible.
Maya Angelou
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What I think it really means is: I'm a teacher. I am a teacher. I teach all the time, as you do and as all of you do-whether we know it or not, whether we take responsibility for it or not. I hold nothing back because I want to see that light go off. I like to see the children say, 'I never thought of that before.' And I think, 'I've got them!'
Maya Angelou
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Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation, which is not nurturing to the whole woman.
Maya Angelou