WIST

I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.

Maya Angelou (b. 1928) American poet, memoirist, activist [b. Marguerite Ann Johnson]
“Kicking Ass” (interview), Girl About Town (13 Oct 1986)
Reprinted in Jeffrey M. Elliot (ed.), Conversations with Maya Angelou (1989)

Strictly speaking, one cannot legislate love, but what one can do is legislate fairness and justice. If legislation does not prohibit our living side by side, sooner or later your child will fall on the pavement and I’ll be the one to pick her up. Or one of my children will not be able to get into the house and you’ll have to say, “Stop here until your mom comes here.” Legislation affords us the chance to see if we might love each other.

Maya Angelou (b. 1928) American poet, memoirist, activist [b. Marguerite Ann Johnson]
(Attributed)

Quoted in B. Lanker, I Dream a World (1989)

There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.

Maya Angelou (b. 1928) American poet, memoirist, activist [b. Marguerite Ann Johnson]
(Attributed)

People will forget what you said
People will forget what you did
But people will never forget how you made them feel.

Maya Angelou (b. 1928) American poet, memoirist, activist [b. Marguerite Ann Johnson]
(Attributed)

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Maya Angelou (b. 1928) American poet, memoirist, activist [b. Marguerite Ann Johnson]
And Still I Rise, “Still I Rise” (1978)

Self-pity in its early stage is as snug as a feather mattress. Only when it hardens does it become uncomfortable.

Maya Angelou (b. 1928) American poet, memoirist, activist [b. Marguerite Ann Johnson]
Gather Together in My Name, vol. 2, ch. 6 (1974)

Oh, the holiness of always being the injured party. The historically oppressed can find not only sanctity but safety in the state of victimization. When access to a better life has been denied often enough, and successfully enough, one can use the rejection as an excuse to cease all efforts. After all, one reckons, “they” don’t want me, “they” accept their own mediocrity and refuse my best, “they” don’t deserve me.

Maya Angelou (b. 1928) American poet, memoirist, activist [b. Marguerite Ann Johnson]
Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas, Vol. 3, ch. 9 (1976)

Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.

Maya Angelou (b. 1928) American poet, memoirist, activist [b. Marguerite Ann Johnson]
Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now (1993)

Without courage we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.

Maya Angelou (b. 1928) American poet, memoirist, activist [b. Marguerite Ann Johnson]
Quoted USA Today (5 Mar 1988)

 

Nature has no mercy at all. Nature says, “I’m going to snow. If you have on a bikini and no snowshoes, that’s tough. I am going to snow anyway.”

Maya Angelou (b. 1928) American poet, memoirist, activist [b. Marguerite Ann Johnson]
“Maya Angelou: An Interview,” (Oct 1974) in Conversations with Maya Angelou (1989),

I believe we are still so innocent. The species are still so innocent that a person who is apt to be murdered believes that the murderer, just before he puts the final wrench on his throat, will have enough compassion to give him one sweet cup of water.

Maya Angelou (b. 1928) American poet, memoirist, activist [b. Marguerite Ann Johnson]
“Work in Progress,” Conversations with Maya Angelou (1989; first published Jun 1973).