We write for the same reason that we walk, talk, climb mountains or swim the oceans - because we can. We have some impulse within us that makes us want to explain ourselves to other human beings.

Precious jewel, you glow, you shine, reflecting all the good things in the world. Just look at yourself.

I make writing as much a part of my life as I do eating or listening to music.

Among other things, I'm thinking "I'm a child of God." That's amazing. And "I'm not only a child of God, but God loves me." The hardest part for me is to realize that while God loves me, and I am a child of God, I have to see the bigot and the brute and the rapist, and whether he or she knows it or not, I have to know that that person is a child of God. That is part of the responsibility - and it's hard.

I have great respect for the past. If you don't know where you've come from, you don't know where you're going. I have respect for the past, but I'm a person of the moment. I'm here, and I do my best to be completely centered at the place I'm at, then I go forward to the next place.

Some critics will write 'Maya Angelou is a natural writer' - which is right after being a natural heart surgeon.

We are the victims of the world's most comprehensive robbery. Life demands a balance. It's all right if we do a little robbing now.