Maya Angelou Heart Quotations

If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.

Black people comprehend the South. We understand its weight. It has rested on our backs... I knew that my heart would break if ever I put my foot down on that soil, moist, still, with old hurts. I had to face the fear/loathing at its source or it would consume me whole.

All great artists draw from the same resource: the human heart, which tells us that we are all more alike than we are unalike.

I have a son, who is my heart. A wonderful young man, daring and loving and strong and kind.

If I'm the people's poet, then I ought to be in people's hands - and, I hope, in their heart.

It's still scary every time I go back to the past. Each morning, my heart catches. When I get there, I remember how the light was, where the draft was coming from, what odors were in the air. When I write, I get all the weeping out.

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

I answer the heroic question "Death, where is they sting?" with "It is here in my heart and mind and memories.

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one. I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.

Remember, people will judge you by your actions not your intentions. You may have a heart of gold but so does a hard-boiled egg.

I think when we don't know what to do it's wise to do nothing. Sit down quietly; quiet our hearts and minds and breathe deeply.

The human heart is so delicate and sensitive that it always needs some tangible encouragement to prevent it from faltering in its labour.

When things were very bad his soul just crawled behind his heart and curled up and went to sleep

Martin Luther King was a human being with a brilliant mind, a powerful heart, and insight, and courage and also with a sense of humor. So he was accessible.

As a nurse, we have the opportunity to heal the heart, mind, soul and body of our patients, their families and ourselves. They may not remember your name but they will never forget the way you made them feel.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights. I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as 'making a life'. I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back.

Let the brain go to work, let it meet the heart and you will be able to forgive.

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.

Life is going to give you just what you put in it. Put your whole heart in everything you do, and pray, then you can wait.

Open your eyes to the beauty around you, open your mind to the wonders of life, open your heart to those who love you, and always be true to yourself.

[Librarians] study their field with as much determination and as much delight as open-heart surgeons.

The desire to reach hearts is wise

A joyful spirit is evidence of a grateful heart.

But from a distance. I would have left you whole and wholly for the delectation of those who wanted more and cared less.

Let choice whisper in your ear and love murmur in your heart. Be ready. Here comes life.

Lift up your eyes upon This day breaking for you. Give birth again To the dream. Women, children, men, Take it into the palms of your hands. Mold it into the shape of your most Private need. Sculpt it into The image of your most public self. Lift up your hearts Each new hour holds new chances For a new beginning.

Beneath the skin, beyond the differing features and into the true heart of being, fundamentally, we are more alike, my friend, than we are unalike.

The difference between charity and philanthropy is the distance of the soul... To be philanthropic is to give something, to be charitable is to give one's own heart.

Soft you day, be velvet soft, My true love approaches, Look you bright, you dusty sun, Array your golden coaches. Soft you wind, be soft as silk My true love is speaking. Hold you birds, your silver throats, His golden voice I'm seeking. Come you death, in haste, do come My shroud of black be weaving, Quiet my heart, be deathly quiet, My true love is leaving.

Had I known that the heart breaks slowly, dismantling itself into unrecognizable plots of misery... had I known yet I would have loved you, your brash and insolent beauty, your heavy comedic face and knowledge of sweet delights, but from a distance I would have left you whole and wholly for the delectation of those who wanted more and cared less.

My heart is so heavy when I see the reality of the Indian reservation and as an American, I know I am, too, responsible.

Poetry and music are the best at the highest level of the human mind. Out of poetry, out of their need for poetry, human beings have developed the idea of God. And so when we sing, when we dance, when we speak poetry we are speaking out of God's mouth, each other out of the music from God's heart.

The Maya Angelou Research Center on Minority Health has a national conference every other year. This year the focus of our conference is on cardiovascular disease or heart disease and how to translate research into practice.