American - Poet | April 4, 1928 - May 28, 2014
Writing and cookery are just two different means of communication.
Maya Angelou
CommunicationWritingTwoDifferent
I find in my poetry and prose the rhythms and imagery of the best - I mean, when I'm at my best - of the good Southern black preachers. The lyricism of the spirituals and the directness of gospel songs and the mystery of blues are in my music or in my poetry and prose, or I missed everything.
GoodMusicBestPoetryBlackFind
I never expected anyone to take care of me, but in my wildest dreams and juvenile yearnings, I wanted the house with the picket fence from June Allyson movies. I knew that was yearning like one yearns to fly.
DreamsMeFlyCareTake CareFence
Everybody born comes from the Creator trailing wisps of glory. We come from the Creator with creativity. I think that each one of us is born with creativity.
CreativityThinkBornGloryCreator
The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.
HeartPeopleBrainWriteThrough
Of course, there are those critics - New York critics as a rule - who say, 'Well, Maya Angelou has a new book out and of course it's good but then she's a natural writer.' Those are the ones I want to grab by the throat and wrestle to the floor because it takes me forever to get it to sing. I work at the language.
WorkGoodNew YorkMeBookLanguage
I do like to have guns around. I don't like to carry them. But I like - if somebody is going to come into my house and I have not put out the welcome mat, I want to stop them.
WelcomeHouseStopWantOutGuns
Eating is so intimate. It's very sensual. When you invite someone to sit at your table and you want to cook for them, you're inviting a person into your life.
LifeFoodEatingSomeoneYouTable
I'm a religious woman. And I feel I have responsibility. I have no modesty at all. I'm even afraid of it - it's a learned affectation and it's just stuck on me like decals. Now I pray for humility because that comes from inside out.
ResponsibilityWomanHumilityMeNow
I think Clinton, after getting into office and into Washington, was shocked at being bludgeoned. So he spent time trying to be all things to all people - one way guaranteed not to be successful or respected in a lion's den. You can't just play around with all those big cats - you've got to take somebody on.
TimeCatsLionPeopleThinkYou
If I'm the people's poet, then I ought to be in people's hands - and, I hope, in their heart.
HopeHeartPeopleHandsPoetOught
I like chicken a lot because chicken is generous - that is to say, it's obedient. It will do whatever you tell it to do.
YouSayChickenWillWhateverTell
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