Maya Angelou

I have need of a friend.There is one and only one

who will give the air

from his failing lungs

for my body's mend.And that one is my love.

Many people wonder where my secret lies,

I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model size.

When I try to show them they think I'm telling lies.

I say, it's in the reach of my arms,

the span of my hips,

the stride of my step,

the curl of my lips I'm Woman,

Phenominally .

I walk in a room just as cool as you please,

And to a man the fellows stand,

or fall down on their knees.

And then they swarm around me; a hive of honey bees.

I say,

oh it's the fire in my eyes,

the flash of my teeth,

the swing in my waist,

the joy in my feet.

Men themselves have wondered what they see in me.

They try so much but they can't touch my inner mystery.

When I try to show them they say they still can't see.

I say oh, it's in the arch of my back.

And now you understand just why my head's not bowed.

I don't shout or jump about,

or have to talk too loud.

When you see me walking out it ought to make you proud.

I say it's in the click of my heels.

The bend of my hair.

The palm of my hands.

The need for my care,

because I'm a woman.

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal Woman.

That's my mother,

and all your mothers.

And then my grandmothers.

And all your grandmothers.

And my great grandmothers,

And all your great grandmothers.

And my great great great,

And all your great great...

And all you women here,

And me.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I'll rise.

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

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

I believe most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise.

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.

You don't have to think about doing the right thing. If you're for the right thing, then you do it without thinking.

The needs of a society determine its ethics.

At fifteen life had taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honorable as resistance, especially if one had no choice.