Required Reading

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Why I sing.

Poet, activist, icon Maya Angelou


This morning I am reflecting on these words by the great Maya Angelou:

"When you learn, teach. When you get, give."

"What I think it really means is: I'm a teacher. I am a teacher. I teach all the time, as you do and as all of you do—whether we know it or not, whether we take responsibility for it or not."

"One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest."

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song." 




Word.

3 comments:

  1. "What I think it really means is: I'm a teacher. I am a teacher. I teach all the time, as you do and as all of you do—whether we know it or not, whether we take responsibility for it or not."

    Wow, I love this. It's so true too. Every single one of us teaches every day, whether we realise it or not - because we all act as role models to other people. We teach not only good things, but bad things too - because no one is completely perfect or completely terrible - we are all somewhere in between. And even though most of us do not purposely teach bad things, it is important that we are mindful of the culture that we create, and the things that we tolerate and allow to be acceptable. We teach other people how it is acceptable to treat us, and how it is acceptable to treat other people. We teach in every role that we take on in our lives - parents, children, partners, friends, and colleagues.

    I read this when I got up at 6 this morning, and I was reflecting on it all day while I was at school. Thank you for such a lovely, thought provoking start to my day, Kim. :)

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  2. Definitely needed this today to keep me on track.

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"Tell me something good. . . tell me that you like it, yeah." ~ Chaka Khan