I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Quotes

The needs of a society determine its ethics.

In Stamps the segregation was so complete that most Black children didn’t really, absolutely know what whites looked like.

Few, if any, survive their teens. Most surrender to the vague but murderous pressure of adult conformity.

At fifteen life had taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honorable as resistance, especially if one had no choice.

She comprehended the perversity of life, that in the struggle lies the joy.

I know why the caged bird sings.

If you’re for the right thing, you do it without thinking.

Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.

The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education.

I find it interesting that the meanest life, the poorest existence, is attributed to God’s will, but as human beings become more affluent, as their living standard and style begin to ascend the material scale, God descends the scale of responsibility at commensurate speed.

If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. It is an unnecessary insult.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill, of things unknown, but longed for still, and his tune is heard on the distant hill, for the caged bird sings of freedom.

I had read a Tale of Two Cities and found it up to my standards as a romantic novel. She opened the first page and I heard poetry for the first time in my life…her voice slid in and curved down trough and over the words. She was nearly singing.

Anything that works against you can also work for you once you understand the Principle of Reverse.

Of all the needs (there are none imaginary) a lonely child has, the one that must be satisfied, if there is going to be hope and a hope of wholeness, is the unshaking need for an unshakable God. My pretty Black brother was my Kingdom Come.

Without willing it, I had gone from being ignorant of being ignorant to being aware of being aware. And the worst part of my awareness was that I didn’t know what I was aware of. I knew I knew very little, but I was certain that the things I had yet to learn wouldn’t be taught to me at George Washington High School.

The world had taken a deep breath and was having doubts about continuing to revolve.