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“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.”
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“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
― I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
― I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
“What you're supposed to do when you don't like a thing is change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it. Don't complain.”
― Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now
― Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now
“When someone shows you who they are believe them the first time.”
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“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”
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“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently.”
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“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.
(Popular misquote of "You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.")”
― Letter to My Daughter
(Popular misquote of "You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.")”
― Letter to My Daughter
“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.”
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“I don't trust people who don't love themselves and tell me, 'I love you.' ... There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.”
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“I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.”
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“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”
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“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
― Letter to My Daughter
― Letter to My Daughter
“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”
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“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”
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“Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.”
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“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”
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“Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.”
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“You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you.”
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“Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell 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 a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.”
― Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell 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 a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.”
― Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women
“A woman's heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her.”
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“Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.”
― Letter to My Daughter
― Letter to My Daughter
“You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody.”
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“The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.”
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“Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it!”
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“If I am not good to myself, how can I expect anyone else to be good to me?”
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“Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation, which is not nurturing to the whole woman.”
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“Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances. ”
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“No matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.”
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“Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.”
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“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!”
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