Favorite Quotations

[Mikaela]

What a great idea for a thread, and what throught-provoking and lucid quotes here already. The first one that came to my mind, was this very inspirational and emotional poem about invincibility and pride, by Maya Angelou. I don't know, perhaps it speaks first and foremost to African American women... but, it certainly also seems to speak to me.


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 got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

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 my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

[Brown Eyes]

What a great idea for a thread, and what throught-provoking and lucid quotes here already. The first one that came to my mind, was this very inspirational and emotional poem about invincibility and pride, by Maya Angelou. I don't know, perhaps it speaks first and foremost to African American women... but, it certainly also seems to speak to me.


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 got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

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 my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

This is so wonderful Mikaela!  Thank you for posting this poem.  I'd never read it before, so I'm glad you brought it to our attention.

[Brown Eyes]

"I feel like I'm disappearing
Getting smaller everyday
But when I open my mouth to sing
I'm bigger in every way."
-Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth)

[southendmd]

Thank you, Mikaela, for reminding me of Ms. Angelou's marvelous poem.  However, I believe one must hear her recite it, hear her music.

"And Still I Rise"

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqOqo50LSZ0[/youtube]

[Brown Eyes]

"Fear of a female planet?"- Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth)

[Front-Ranger]

My current favourite is:

"Do one thing every day that scares you."

                               ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

I follow this advice, but on a weekly, not a daily basis

[Lumière]

This one made me smile:


Girls who put out are tramps. Girls who don't are ladies. This is, however, a rather archaic usage of the word.
Should one of you boys happen upon a girl who doesn't put out, do not jump to the conclusion that you have found a lady.
What you have probably found is a Lesbian.

~ Fran Lebowitz

[ifyoucantfixit]

      That is a true Gem


Girls who put out are tramps. Girls who don't are ladies. This is, however, a rather archaic usage of the word.
Should one of you boys happen upon a girl who doesn't put out, do not jump to the conclusion that you have found a lady.
What you have probably found is a Lesbian.

~ Fran Lebowitz


    I simply hate generalities.....

[Ellemeno]

This one made me smile:


Girls who put out are tramps. Girls who don't are ladies. This is, however, a rather archaic usage of the word.
Should one of you boys happen upon a girl who doesn't put out, do not jump to the conclusion that you have found a lady.
What you have probably found is a Lesbian.

~ Fran Lebowitz

MiniMeno had ladyfingers for the first time today.  I haven't taught her the word lesbian yet, though she knows that some partners who love each other are both women (like our wonderful next door neighbors), sometimes both men, sometimes a man and a woman (like Mama and Papa).  Anyway, sometimes I wonder if MiniMeno will be (or is, in the future) a lesbian.  When she learns more about sex (not yet!), I will teach her the word. 

[Lumière]

The usual statement is that I am a remarkable woman because I can do it;
the implication is that the average women is too dumb to succeed at a man's task -
and I resent that implication, for it is false.

E. Cora Hind. (1861-1942) Journalist and agriculturist.