Achievement brings its own anticlimax.

Women should be tough, tender, laugh as much as possible, and live long lives.

When my grandmother died, I realized that even if I had millions of dollars, I couldn't find her anywhere on earth. My next thought was that I would die. I looked at my life and thought, "I'm afraid to die." I concluded that whether I was afraid or not, I would die. It was one of the most important crossroads in my life, once I realized that no matter what, I would do this thing, the next step was to think, "If I am going to do the most difficult and frightening thing - dying - is it possible that I could do some difficult and impossible things that are good?"

Do not be wedded forever to fear, yoked eternally to brutishness.

I don't know how much longer I'll be around. I'll probably be writing when the Lord says, 'Maya, Maya Angelou, it's time.'

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.

I admire people who dare to take the language, English, and understand it and understand the melody.