Skip to content

    “Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.” ~ Chuck Close

    Still I 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.

      Does my sassiness upset you?
      Why are you beset with gloom?
      ‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
      Pumping in my living room.

      Just like moons and like suns,
      With the certainty of tides,
      Just like hopes springing high,
      Still I’ll rise.

      Did you want to see me broken?
      Bowed head and lowered eyes?
      Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
      Weakened by my soulful cries?

      Does my haughtiness offend you?
      Don’t you take it awful hard
      ‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
      Diggin’ in my own backyard.

      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.

      Does my sexiness upset you?
      Does it come as a surprise
      That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
      At the meeting of my thighs?

      Out of the huts of history’s shame
      I rise
      Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
      I rise
      I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
      Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

      Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
      I rise
      Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
      I rise
      Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
      I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
      I rise
      I rise
      I rise.

      ~ Maya Angelou, 1928 – 2014

      —— —— ——

      Click Here to see Maya Angelou Read this Poem herself!

        “When we decide to be happy we accept the responsibility to bring happiness to someone else. Some decide that happiness and glee are the same thing, they are not. When we choose happiness we accept the responsibility to lighten the load of someone else and to be a light on the path to another who may be walking in darkness.” ~ Maya Angelou

        My mission in life:

          My mission in life

          Picture Quote Text:

          “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.” ~ Maya Angelou

            “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.” ~ Maya Angelou

              “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.” ~ Maya Angelou

                “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.” ~ Maya Angelou

                  “The greatest of all miracles is that we need not be tomorrow what we are today. The greatest of all insights is that we cannot be tomorrow what we do not do today. That is why today matters.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Today Matters

                    “I’ve been told that certain species of fish will grow according to the size of their environment. Put them in a tiny aquarium, and they remain small even at adulthood. Release them into a huge natural body of water, and they grow into their intended size. People are similar. If they live in a harsh and limiting environment, they stay small. But put them someplace that encourages growth, and they will expand to reach their potential.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Today Matters

                      “The greatest handicap a person has is not realizing his potential.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Today Matters

                        “To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

                          “By choosing to embrace and practice good values every day, you choose the higher course in life. And your life goes in a direction that you will always feel good about. You may not always get what you desire, but you will always be the person you desire to be.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Today Matters

                            “Nice guys may appear to finish last, but usually they are running in a different race.” ~ Ken Blanchard

                              “If you’re not giving of yourself as much as you’re giving of your wallet, are you really generous down deep? We should work hard to make the Virtuous Circle of Generosity the number-one epidemic in the United States – giving of wealth, giving of self. Unstoppable and unending. ~ Dave Thomas, Wendy’s

                                “People give not from the top of their purses, but from the bottom of their hearts.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Today Matters

                                  “A person’s level of income and their desire to give have nothing to do with one another.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Today Matters

                                    “The purpose of life is not to win. The purpose of life is to grow and to share. When you come to look back on all that you have done in life, you will get more satisfaction from the pleasure you brought to other people’s lives that you will from the times that you outdid and defeated them.” ~ Harold Kushner