The incident scared Angelou deeply and convinced her that he was indeed as ornery as he had proclaimed himself. Weeks later, he purposely stopped on railroad tracks while Angelou was in his car, taking off just in time to narrowly miss an approaching train. In context, Angelou was referring to a man named Phil, who told her that he was ornery and a crazy liar when they first met. This quote appeared in Angelou's sixth autobiography, "A Song Flung Up to Heaven," which chronicles her life between 19. Let's delve deeper into the life of this renowned author, using five of the best Maya Angelou quotes. "Maya Angelou reminds us all of our better selves," says Wagner-Martin. "I am the dream and the hope of the slave," said Jackson, referencing a line in Angelou's poem "Still I Rise." Linda Wagner-Martin, author of the books " Maya Angelou: Adventurous Spirit" and " The Life of the Author: Maya Angelou," notes that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson quoted Angelou at the White House after her recent Supreme Court confirmation. media without hitting one of the late author's quotes.ĭr. Angelou's words are so resonant that you can't throw a stone in U.S. She earned dozens of honorary degrees a Presidential Medal of Freedom and a legacy that has endured via class curricula, contemporary Black feminist writers and even internet memes. The success of that first memoir spurred Angelou to write six more autobiographies, in addition to three books of essays, several books of poetry, plays, screenplays and even two cookbooks.