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

More quotes by Maya Angelou

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Hope is born again in the faces of children.
Maya Angelou
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I'm convinced of this: Good done anywhere is good done everywhere. For a change, start by speaking to people rather than walking by them like they're stones that don't matter. As long as you're breathing, it's never too late to do some good.
Maya Angelou
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Let choice whisper in your ear and love murmur in your heart. Be ready. Here comes life.
Maya Angelou
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Whether you are happy or whether you are sad, it is wise to remember you are really in process.
Maya Angelou
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Wouldn't take nothing for my journey now.
Maya Angelou
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The happy heart runs with the river, floats on the air, lifts to the music, soars with the eagle, hopes with the prayer.
Maya Angelou
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Precious jewel, you glow, you shine, reflecting all the good things in the world. Just look at yourself.
Maya Angelou
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You might encounter defeats but you must never be defeated... Love a lot. Laugh a lot at the silliest things and be very serious... love life.
Maya Angelou
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All of my history as an African-American woman, as a Jewish woman, as a Muslim woman. I'm bringing everything I ever knew, and all the stories I've read - everything good, strong, kind and powerful. I bring it all with me into every situation, and I will not allow my life to be minimized by anybody's racism or sexism or ageism.
Maya Angelou
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Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for.
Maya Angelou
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I write because I am a Black woman, listening attentively to her people.
Maya Angelou
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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
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I don't trust anyone who doesn't laugh.
Maya Angelou
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Never, never let a person know you're frightened. And a group of them ... absolutely never. Fear brings out the worst in everybody.
Maya Angelou
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There is a kind of strength that is almost frightening in Black women. It's as if a steel rod runs right through the head down to the feet.
Maya Angelou
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Life is a glorious banquet, a limitless and delicious buffet.
Maya Angelou
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At our best, we are all teachers
Maya Angelou
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Live as though life was created for you.
Maya Angelou
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If I'm here, I'll be trying to be a better human being, a better writer, a better friend and a better beloved.
Maya Angelou
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Exchange love for hate...Thereby, making the present comfortable and the future promising.
Maya Angelou