Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Excerpt - Oprah's cut with Maya A

An excerpt from an Oprah interview with Maya Angelou:
(sometimes you find gems - even when u r not consciously looking!)

MA: Because that person is not reliable. She may not know it, but modesty speaks volumes about falseness.
O: Pretending.
MA: Lying.

O: I once heard you say, "If you want to liberate someone, love them."

MA: That's it. Not be in love with them—that's dangerous. If you're in love with your children, you're in their lives all the time. Leave them alone! Let them grow and make some mistakes. Tell them, "You can come home. My arms are here—and my mouth is too." Tell them, "I'm going to leave you alone. You want to listen to rock and rap? Well, I think it's stupid, but help yourself." When you really love them, you don't want to possess them. You don't say, "I love you and I want you here with me." Naturally, if you love somebody, you do want to see their face every now and again, but that's not a condition of your love. People often get possession mixed up with love, and they say, "If you really loved me, you would call me." How—when life is going on? I think of you all the time, and the thought of you always lifts my spirits. But I'm not right at the phone! O: Have you been able to manage that kind of love even in romance? MA: It's hard, but I do it—and I don't know how. When I love somebody, I like him to be around; I like him to take me out to dinner; I like to look at the sunset with him. But if not, I love him and I hope he's looking at the same sun I am. Loving someone liberates the lover as well as the beloved. And that kind of love comes with age. Some of this wisdom came to me after I was 50 or 60.

O: What's the best age?

MA: Seventy-two! The seventies are hot.

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