--- title: "6 Finished Quotes By Maya Angelou" description: "6 Finished quotes by Maya Angelou. Plus more from Maya Angelou and more Finished sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be5/maya-angelou-104_art_when-asked-how-she-knows-when-her-writin_913662.jpg" --- > [When asked how she knows when her writing is where she wants it to be: "I know when it's the best I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/when-asked-how-she-knows-when-her-writing-is-where-she-wants-it-to-be/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be5/maya-angelou-104_art_when-asked-how-she-knows-when-her-writin_913662.jpg) > [I've tried to be totally present, so that when I'm finished with a piece of work, I'm finished. ... The work, once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-ve-tried-to-be-totally-present-so-that-when-i-m-finished-with-a/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93b/maya-angelou-104_concentration_i-ve-tried-to-be-totally-present-so-that_1106118.jpg) > [The subject of the poem usually dictates the rhythm or the rhyme and its form. Sometimes, when you finish the poem and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/the-subject-of-the-poem-usually-dictates-the-rhythm-or-the-rhyme-and/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c3/maya-angelou-104_finished_the-subject-of-the-poem-usually-dictates_1126156.png) > [I know that one of the great arts that the writer develops is the art of saying, 'No. No, I'm finished. Bye.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-know-that-one-of-the-great-arts-that-the-writer-develops-is-the-art/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/459/maya-angelou-104_alone_i-know-that-one-of-the-great-arts-that-t_1361859.png) > [You can't forgive without loving. And I don't mean sentimentality. I don't mean mush. I mean having enough courage to stand up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-can-t-forgive-without-loving-and-i-don-t-mean-sentimentality-i/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b6/maya-angelou-104_courage_you-can-t-forgive-without-loving-and-i-d_2325411.jpg) > [Then the question began to live under my blankets: How did lesbianism begin? What were the symptoms? The public library gave information…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/then-the-question-began-to-live-under-my-blankets-how-did-lesbianism/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b3/maya-angelou-104_blanket_then-the-question-began-to-live-under-my_2434485.jpg) ## Other authors on Finished ## More by Maya Angelou > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/if-we-accept-being-talked-to-any-kind-of-a-way-then-we-are-telling/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“You are very kind and very intelligent and those elements are not always found together. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-are-very-kind-and-very-intelligent-and-those-elements-are-not/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I agreed a long time ago, I would not live at any cost. If I am moved or forced away from what I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-agreed-a-long-time-ago-i-would-not-live-at-any-cost-if-i-am-moved/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [You want me to do something... tell me I can't do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-want-me-to-do-something-tell-me-i-can-t-do-it/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Intelligence is a separate gift, for the benefit of students, so that they may think of themselves as intellectual and not very intelligent, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/intelligence-is-a-separate-gift-for-the-benefit-of-students-so-that/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Life is going to give you just what you put in it. Put your whole heart in everything you do, and pray, then you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/life-is-going-to-give-you-just-what-you-put-in-it-put-your-whole/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may tread me in the very dirt But still, like dust,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-may-write-me-down-in-history-with-your-bitter-twisted-lies-you/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [The more you know of your history, the more liberated you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/the-more-you-know-of-your-history-the-more-liberated-you-are/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Life offers us tickets to places which we have not knowingly asked for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/life-offers-us-tickets-to-places-which-we-have-not-knowingly-asked-for/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/every-person-needs-to-take-one-day-away-a-day-in-which-one/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm working at trying to be a Christian, and that's serious business. It's like trying to be a good Jew, a good Muslim, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-m-working-at-trying-to-be-a-christian-and-that-s-serious-business/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Nathaniel Hawthorne once said that easy reading is damn hard writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/nathaniel-hawthorne-once-said-that-easy-reading-is-damn-hard-writing/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Sunday, if I'm lucky, I'll go to church or listen to some good spiritual advice on the television or on the radio. I take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/sunday-if-i-m-lucky-i-ll-go-to-church-or-listen-to-some-good/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finished/maya-angelou/#itemlist", "name": "6 Finished Quotes By Maya Angelou", "numberOfItems": 6, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When asked how she knows when her writing is where she wants it to be: \"I know when it's the best I can do. It may not be the best there is. Another writer may do it much better. But I know when it's the best I can do. I know that one of the great arts that the writer develops is the art of saying, 'No. No, I'm finished. Bye.' And leaving it alone. I will not write it into the ground. I will not write the life out of it. 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