There's a place in you that you must keep inviolate. You must keep it pristine. Clean. So that nobody has a right to curse you or treat you badly. Nobody. No mother, father, no wife, no husband, no­­­-nobody. You have to have a place where you say: 'Stop it. Back up. Don't you know I'm a child of God?

One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential.

Each of us has the power and responsibility to become a rainbow in the clouds.

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

Be courageous, but not foolhardy. Walk proud as you are.

You can't use up creativity, creative thinking builds on itself and increases the creativity of the thinker...You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.

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