"People feel guilty. And guilt is stymieing...." - Quote by Maya Angelou

“Don't hesitate to learn the most painful aspects of our history, understand it.”

“I thought if I could face the worst danger voluntarily, and triumph, I would forever have power over it.”

“Dr. [Martin Luther] King was a human being. He had a sense of humor which was wonderful.”

“...we rarely confide in those who are better than we. Rather, we are more inclined to flee their society. Most often, on the other hand, we confess to those who are like us and who share our weaknesses. Hence we don't want to improve ourselves and be bettered, for we should first have to be judged in default. We merely wish to be pitied and encouraged in the course we have chosen. In short, we should like, at the same time, to cease being guilty and yet not to make the effort of cleansing ourselves.”

“Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.”

“To cut short this question of the law of retaliation, we must note that even in its primitive form it can operate only between two individuals of whom one is absolutely innocent and the other absolutely guilty. The victim, to be sure, is innocent. But can the society that is supposed to represent the victim lay claim to innocence?”

“He wanted to hear her concerns and alleviate them, he wanted to hold her and kiss her and convince her that he would find a way to make their relationship work, no matter how hard that might be. He wanted to to make her hear his words: that he couldn't imagine a lofe without her,that his feelings for her were real. But most of all, he wanted to reassure himself that she felt the same way about him.”

“Through the senses, anger comes, and sorrow comes.”

“First you will smile, and then you will cry -- don't say you haven't been warned.”