Maya Angelou quotes about family & inheritance

Never give up on him. Never deny him. And remember, he is freer than those who hold him behind bars.

At last, I'll be able to eat the whole breast of a roast chicken by myself.

Let me leave first, baby. I hate to see the back of someone I love.

There is a silent scream, which tears through the veins, separating the muscles, pinching the nerves, yet the body seems to remain immobile.

Everything in this society is geared to keeping a black boy from growing to manhood. You've got to let him try for himself.

I love you, Mom. Maybe now you'll have a chance to grow up.

My son could rely on my love, but never expect our lives to be unchanging.

It'll be O.K., Mom. Don't cry. I love you, Mom. Lots of people love you.

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave

I was your sister.

I never heard them holler ’cause the work was hard.

I gave birth to one child, a son, but I have thousands of daughters.

I learned to love my son without wanting to possess him and I learned how to teach him to teach himself.

If you can force one smile on your face for strangers, do it for me.

If our children are to approve of themselves, they must see that we approve of ourselves.

When people are young, they desperately need to conform, and no one can embarrass a young person in public so much as an adult to whom he or she is related.

Remember, you were looking for a job when you found the one you just lost.

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

Of all the needs (there are none imaginary) a lonely child has, the one that must be satisfied, if there is going to be hope and a hope of wholeness, is the unshaking need for an unshakable God.

My pretty Black brother was my Kingdom Come.

God is love. Just worry about whether you're being a good girl, then He will love you.

Knowing Momma, I knew that I never knew Momma.

Bailey was the greatest person in my world.

I swear to God, I rather you have a good mind than a cute behind.

And my seven-year-old world humpty-dumptied, never to be put back together again.