Maya Angelou Sit Quotations

Something made greater by ourselves and in turn that makes us greater.

The most called-upon prerequisite of a friend is an accessible ear.

You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.

Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.

Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it!

Talent is like electricity. We don't understand electricity. We use it.

It is this belief in a power larger than myself and other than myself which allows me to venture into the unknown and even the unknowable.

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.

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 and say, 'I forgive. I'm finished with it.'

I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.

Don't bring negative to my door.

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

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.

I thought if war did not include killing, I'd like to see one every year.

You are the sum total of everything you've seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot- it's all right there.

What you're supposed to do when you don't like a thing is change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it. Don't complain.

The needs of a society determine its ethics.

People will never forget how you made them feel.

My hope is that we develop enough courage to develop courage. To try to have, try to learn to treat each other fairly, with generosity and kindness.

Light and shadow are opposite sides of the same coin. We can illuminate our paths or darken our way. It is a matter of choice.

You are the sum total of everything you've ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot - it's all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive.

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.

What is a fear of living? It's being preeminently afraid of dying. It is not doing what you came here to do, out of timidity and spinelessness. The antidote is to take full responsibility for yourself - for the time you take up and the space you occupy. If you don't know what you're here to do, then just do some good.

Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.

Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.

Whatever you want to do, if you want to be great at it, you have to love it and be able to make sacrifices for it.

You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.

In spite of everything that was done to me and my race, in spite of the adversity and the bitter moments, again we rise.

She's my sister friend and I pray for her and her children. Everybody, please give a good thought, a positive thought for Coretta.

I will not sit in a room with black people when the N word is used. I know it was meant to belittle a person, so I will not sit there and have that poison put on me. Now a black person can say, 'Oh, you know, I can use this word because I'm black.'

I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.

I encourage courtesy. To accept nothing less than courtesy, and to give nothing less than courtesy. If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. And if we have the effrontery to talk to anybody with less than courtesy, we tell ourselves and the world we are not very intelligent.

Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us. We need hours of aimless wandering or spates of time sitting on park benches, observing the mysterious world of ants and the canopy of treetops.

Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.

One of my lungs is half gone, and the other half, because I smoked for years, has a lesion. So I can't swim anymore and had the swimming pool covered over. Now it's what I call the dance pavilion, and so I and my friends sit out and put music on and watch people dance.

My grandmother took me to church on Sunday all day long, every Sunday into the night. Then Monday evening was the missionary meeting. Tuesday evening was usher board meeting. Wednesday evening was prayer meeting. Thursday evening was visit the sick. Friday evening was choir practice. I mean, and at all those gatherings, we sang.

When I was 8 years old I became a mute and was a mute until I was 13, and I thought of my whole body as an ear, so I can go into a crowd and sit still and absorb all sound. That talent or ability has lasted and served me until today.