"Words are things. You must be careful, careful about calling people out of their names, using racial pejoratives and sexual pejoratives and all that ignorance. Don’t do that. Some day we’ll be able to measure the power of words. I think they are things. They get on the walls. They get in your wallpaper. They get in your rugs, in your upholstery, and your clothes, and finally in to you."

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Source: Maya Angelou (2011). “Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now”, p.11, Bantam

About the author

Maya Angelou

Poet, Memoirist

Maya Angelou was an influential American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist known for her powerful works like 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.'

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