Maya Angelou Letter to My Daughter (2009).Celia Cruz.All great artists draw from the same resource: the human heart, which tells us all that we are more alike than we are unalike. The list of singers, musicians, and poets must include David the harpist from the Old Testament, Aesop the Storyteller, Omar Khayyam the Tent Maker, Shakespeare the Bard of Avon, Louis Armstrong the genius of New Orleans, Om Kalsoum the soul of Egypt, Frank Sinatra, Mahalia Jackson, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles. There are certain artists who belong to all the people, everywhere, all the time.You are fat and thin and pretty and plain, gay and straight, educated and unlettered, and I am speaking to you all. You are Black and White, Jewish and Muslim, Asian, Spanish-speaking, Native American and Aleut. I gave birth to one child, a son, but I have thousands of daughters. Be certain that you do not die without having done something wonderful for humanity. Whining lets a brute know that a victim is in the neighborhood. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking. Make every effort to change things you do not like. My life has been long, and believing that life loves the liver of it, I have dared to try many things, sometimes trembling, but daring, still…You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.As quoted in Goal Mapping : How to Turn Your Dreams into Realities (2006) by Brian Mayne, p.This is one of the great lessons of war and life. I am capable of what every other human is capable of.As quoted in The Truth in Words (2005) by Neal Zero.There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now (1993) p.Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.As quoted in Diversity : Leaders Not Labels (2006) by Stedman Graham, p.You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage. Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently.We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest. Without courage we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency.Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976), chapter 5. Each nicety becomes more sterile and each withdrawal more permanent. A simple morning's greeting and response appear loaded with innuendo and fraught with implications.
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