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"When people show you who they are, believe them."
- Dr. Maya Angelou
Mary Angelou was wise from bitter experiences with those less wise and kind than she ...
and from a heart that refused to hate.
"Words are things of great power, I'm convinced," she once told Oprah Winfrey.
"You must be careful about the words you use or the words you allow to be used in your house."
"In the Old Testament, we are told in Genesis that in the beginning was the word. And the word was God, and the word was with God," she explained.
"That's in Genesis. Words are things of power."
Words, she felt, have the power to seep into everything around you.
"I think they get on the walls, they get in your wallpaper, they get in your rugs and your upholstery and your clothes."
Perhaps that is the genesis of ghosts?
Dr. Angelou said. "And, finally, words get into you."
The words you feed into your mind shapes your soul, and your soul fuels your actions, your words, and your dealings with the people in your life.
“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.”
"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.
I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision."
― Maya Angelou
What have you learned this week?
Open heart to me means without malice or intent. Those are usually intuitive reactions.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it can be hard not to hate some things in life. A passionate personality will be passionate about many things including 'remembering how a person made them feel'. What we work for is balance once again, and take time to analyze why we hate ambiguous things like how our homeless populations grow, our govt sponsored education and funding for the needy shrinks. . .
That kind of thinking doesn't do much to calm me.
I try and live my life with an open heart, mind and eyes. And am richer for it.
ReplyDeleteI love this quote by Dr.Maya Angelou - “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.” So very true.
ReplyDeleteAlthough living without hate is easily said than done. She will be greatly missed by many.
D.G.:
ReplyDeleteI believe hate is a fire that consumes the hater. Anger on the other hand can be a positive motivator.
We can become so angry that we seek ways to combat those things that hurt the helpless without becoming consumed with hatred.
But then, I am a romantic. :-)
Elephant's Child:
We must truly see the world around us else our blindness to it will injure ourselves and others, right? :-)
Wendy:
Living without hate is easy to say, but so difficult to do.
I like that quote by her, too. And the world seemed a better place just because I knew she still lived in it. :-(
We can be angry at the increasing number of homeless, greedy medical professionals,
How I loved Maya Angelous. Our world is a poorer place without her.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Janie:
ReplyDeleteBut she left us echoes of her soul in her prose and poetry at least. :-)
Yes. We are so fortunate to have her writing.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Janie:
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading my replies. :-)