An Evening Conversation with Dr. Maya Angelou

Our Junior League Book Club (Reading Between the Wines) just finished Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. It is part one of her memoirs and one of my all-time favorite books—if you haven’t read it yet, you should definitely add it to your list!

Friday night, I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Angelou speak at a benefit for one of our local charities, The Women’s Resource Center. What a fascinating, inspiring, brilliant, creative, influential, talented, elegant, entertaining, wise and spunky woman! I took my mother (part of my Christmas present to her was a copy of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and a ticket to the event) and we were both just awestruck by Dr. Angelou. Her presentation was phenomenal. That she has accomplished so much in her lifetime—and she’s still going strong!—is such an inspiration. One of my heroes for sure!

A couple of my pictures from the evening (we had great, close-to-the-front seats but I was so wishing we would have been able to meet Dr. Angelou or get a picture with her!)

Favorite Maya Angelou Quotes and Words of Wisdom:

"Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently."

(this was the focus of Dr. Angelou's presentation Friday night)

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."

"I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass." (I get so tickled hearing quotes like this come from an elegant 82-year old woman!)

"A woman's heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her."

"I do not trust people who don't love themselves and yet tell me, 'I love you.' There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt."

"Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option."

"If funkytown was a trailer park, this guy would be a double-wide"

"Nothing will work unless you do."

"Children's talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives."

"Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between."

"I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it."

"Each of us, famous or infamous, is a role model for somebody, and if we aren't, we should behave as though we are -- cheerful, kind, loving, courteous. Because you can be sure someone is watching and taking deliberate and diligent notes."

"We need much less than we think we need."

"Hate. It has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet"

"I don't trust anyone who doesn't laugh."

"I find it interesting that the meanest life, the poorest existence, is attributed to God's will, but as human beings become more affluent, as their living standard and style begin to ascend the material scale, God descends the scale of responsibility at commensurate speed."

"I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. 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 regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life. I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life." I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. 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 something back. 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. I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."