"Of course, there are those critics - New York critics as a rule - who say, 'Well, Maya Angelou has a..." — Maya Angelou

I know that one of the great arts that the writer develops is the art of saying, 'No. No, I'm finished. Bye.' And leaving it alone. I will not write it into the ground. I will not write the life out of it. I won't do that.

I was born in St. Louis but lived there just for a few minutes in my life.

If you're a human being, you can attempt to do what other human beings have done. We don't understand talent any more than we understand electricity.

I write some country music. There's a song called 'I Hope You Dance.' Incredible. I was going to write that poem; somebody beat me to it.