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Angelou never identified as a Humanist–she said her faith gave her inspiration to action: “When I was asked to do something good, I often say yes, I’ll try, yes, I’ll do my best. And part of that is believing, if God loves me, if God made everything from leaves to seals and oak trees, then what is it I can’t do?” The quotes which we’ll read of hers, however, take on the ideas of fear and courage as they impact our lives in this world and as we might confront them without looking to something beyond ourselves for support. They’re taken from interviews she’s given about her inspiring life’s work. She said:<\/p>\n What is a fear of living? It\u2019s being preeminently afraid of dying. It is not doing what you came here to do, out of timidity and spinelessness. The antidote is to take full responsibility for yourself \u2013 for the time you take up and the space you occupy. If you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re here to do, then just do some good.<\/p>\n Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can\u2019t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/bknation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Maya-Angelou1.jpg\")
Maya Angelou<\/strong> inspired generations with her poetry, her novels, and her activism throughout the latter half of the 20th century and into the 21st. Born in St. Louis, she worked as a journalist and organizer across the world–from 60s Civil Rights in America to the decolonization of Egypt–before settling in North Carolina as a professor at Wake Forest University. Her 1969 autobiography I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings <\/em>revolutionized the genre of memoir in its literary style, and the recording of her poetry reading at the Clinton inauguration won a Grammy award.<\/p>\n