When I'm writing, I write. And then it's as if the muse is convinced that I'm serious and says, 'Okay. Okay. I'll… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
The poetry you read has been written for you, each of you - black, white, Hispanic, man, woman, gay, straight. — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
Poetry puts starch in your backbone so you can stand, so you can compose your life. — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
When I write, I tend to twist my hair. Something for my small mind to do, I guess. — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
Making a decision to write was a lot like deciding to jump into a frozen lake. — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
When I try to describe myself to God I say, 'Lord, remember me? Black? Female? Six-foot tall? The writer?' And I almost… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
Some critics will write 'Maya Angelou is a natural writer' - which is right after being a natural heart surgeon. — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
When younger writers and poets, musicians and painters are weakened by a stemming of funds, they come to me saddened, not as… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
I know some people might think it odd - unworthy even - for me to have written a cookbook, but I make… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
Kudos to the educators, athletes, dancers, judges, janitors, politicians, artists, actors, writers, singers, poets, and social activist, to all who dare to… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
I promised myself that I would write as well as I can, tell the truth, not to tell everything I know, but… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
Every experience shapes your writing, being stuck in a car on a lonely bridge, or dancing at a prom, being the it… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
When the storyteller tells the truth, she reminds us that human beings are more alike than unalike... A story is what it's… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
When I'm writing, I am trying to find out who I am, who we are, what we're capable of, how we feel,… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
One of the problems we have as writers is we don't take ourselves seriously while writing; being serious is setting aside a… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
Of course, there are those critics - New York critics as a rule - who say, 'Well, Maya Angelou has a new… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
I love a statement by the apostle Paul, in the Book of Philippians in the Bible. I think the Corinthians had been… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
When I am writing, I am trying to find out who I am, who we are, what we're capable of, how we… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
We need to remember that we are all created creative and can invent new scenarios as frequently as they are needed. — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
It's still scary every time I go back to the past. Each morning, my heart catches. When I get there, I remember… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that,… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
If I wanted to write, I had to be willing to develop a kind of concentration found mostly in people awaiting execution.… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
I agree with Balzac and 19th-century writers, black and white, who say, 'I write for money.' Yes, I think everybody should be… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
I also wear a hat or a very tightly pulled head tie when I write. I suppose I hope by doing that… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
I know that one of the great arts that the writer develops is the art of saying, 'No. No, I'm finished. Bye.'… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
Each time I write a book, every time I face that yellow pad, the challenge is so great. I have written eleven… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
We write for the same reason that we walk, talk, climb mountains or swim the oceans - because we can. We have… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
I certainly do not adore the writer's discipline. I have lost lovers, endangered friendships, and blundered into eccentricity, impelled by a concentration… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
Like a pianist runs her fingers over the keys, I'll search my mind for what to say. Now, the poem may want… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
When I am writing, I am trying to find out who I am, who we are, what we're capable of, how we… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. And… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
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… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
“You are very kind and very intelligent and those elements are not always found together. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, and my… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
I agreed a long time ago, I would not live at any cost. If I am moved or forced away from what I think… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
Intelligence is a separate gift, for the benefit of students, so that they may think of themselves as intellectual and not very intelligent, or… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
Life is going to give you just what you put in it. Put your whole heart in everything you do, and pray, then you… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
“You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may tread me in the very dirt But still, like dust,… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
Life offers us tickets to places which we have not knowingly asked for. — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
