May Quotes

• You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.

  Maya Angelou

  Inspirational, Life, Positive

  Maya Angelou (2008). “Letter to My Daughter”, p.5, Random House

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• Where we belong is often where we least expect to find ourselves—a place that we may have willed ourselves to forget, but that the heart remembers forever.

  Emily Giffin

  Heart, Forever, Remember

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  A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.

  Mark Twain

  Inspirational, Leadership, Character

  Mark Twain (2014). “Mark Twain on Common Sense: Timeless Advice and Words of Wisdom from America's Most-Revered Humorist”, p.50, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

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• Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.

  Abraham Lincoln

  Inspirational, Motivational, Success

  Attributed in "Forbes", Volume 102, 1968.

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• Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

  Albert Camus

  Love, Friendship, Happy

  625 Copy quote

• We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.

  Maya Angelou

  Inspirational, Strength, Inspiring

  Interview with Marianne Schnall, www.psychologytoday.com. February 17, 2009.

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• You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.

  Maya Angelou

  Moving On, Spiritual, Strong Women

  FaceBook post by Maya Angelou from May 01, 2009

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• The world's favorite season is the spring.
  All things seem possible in May.

  Edwin Way Teale

  Spring, World, All Things

  Edwin Way Teale (1951). “North With the Spring”

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• Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.

  Maya Angelou

  Life, Travel, Laughter

  Maya Angelou (2011). “Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now”, p.8, Bantam

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• The chief danger in life is that you may take too many precautions.

  Alfred Adler

  Self Esteem, Life Is Good, Danger In Life

  139 Copy quote

• Each generation has to stand up for democracy. It can't take anything for granted and may have to fight fundamental battles anew.

  Margaret Thatcher

  Inspirational, Motivational, Success

  "Why democracy will last". Margaret Thatcher's second Carlton Lecture at the Carlton Club in central London, www.margaretthatcher.org. November 26, 1984.

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• To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day.

  Winston Churchill

  Philosophy, Not Giving Up, Years

  Winston S. Churchill (2014). “The Unwritten Alliance”, p.412, RosettaBooks

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• Sweet May hath come to love us,
  Flowers, trees, their blossoms don;
  And through the blue heavens above us
  The very clouds move on.

  Heinrich Heine

  Sweet, Flower, Moving

  Heinrich Heine (1866). “The Poems of Heine: Complete”, p.182

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• When April steps aside for May,
  Like diamonds all the rain-drops glisten;
  Fresh violets open every day:
  To some new bird each hour we listen.

  Lucy Larcom

  Rain, Bird, Violet

  20 Copy quote

• May, queen of blossoms,
  And fulfilling flowers,
  With what pretty music
  Shall we charm the hours?
  Wilt thou have pipe and reed,
  Blown in the open mead?
  Or to the lute give heed
  In the green bowers.

  Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow

  Queens, Flower, Giving

  Edward Thurlow, “May”

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• Now the bright morning-star, Day's harbinger,
  Comes dancing from the East, and leads with her
  The flowery May, who from her green lap throws
  The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose.
  Hail, bounteous May, that dost inspire
  Mirth, and youth, and warm desire!
  Woods and groves are of thy dressing;
  Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing.
  Thus we salute thee with our early song,
  And welcome thee, and wish thee long.

  John Milton

  Song, Morning, Stars

  John Milton (1859). “The poems of John Milton”, p.43

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• Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.

  Louisa May Alcott

  Love, Inspirational, Motivational

  Louisa May Alcott (2009). “Work: A Story of Experience: Easyread Large Bold Edition”, p.305, ReadHowYouWant.com

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• May the Force be with you.

  George Lucas

  Movie, Film History, Psychics

  Star Wars (motion picture) (1977)

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• What potent blood hath modest May.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Spring, Blood, Modest

  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1875). “May-day and Other Pieces”, p.12

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• Every year, back comes Spring, with nasty little birds yapping their fool heads off and the ground all mucked up with plants.

  Dorothy Parker

  Spring, Women, Memorable

  102 Copy quote

• In the under-wood and the over-wood there is murmur and trill this day, For every bird is in lyric mood, And the wind will have its way.

  Clinton Scollard

  Inspirational, Wind, Bird

  Clinton Scollard (1916). “Ballads, Patriotic & Romantic”

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• But winter lingering chills the lap of May.

  Oliver Goldsmith

  Winter, Lap, Chill

  Oliver Goldsmith (1856). “The Works of Oliver Goldsmith: Comprising His Poems, Comedies, Essays, and Vicar of Wakefield”, p.6

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• A delicate fabric of bird song
  Floats in the air,
  The smell of wet wild earth
  Is everywhere.
  Oh I must pass nothing by
  Without loving it much,
  The raindrop try with my lips,
  The grass with my touch;
  For how can I be sure
  I shall see again
  The world on the first of May
  Shining after the rain?

  Sara Teasdale

  Song, Spring, Rain

  Sara Teasdale, William Drake (1984). “Mirror of the Heart: Poems of Sara Teasdale”, MacMillan Publishing Company

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• All things seem possible in May.

  Edwin Way Teale

  Spring, Seems, All Things

  Edwin Way Teale (1951). “North With the Spring”

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• The country ever has a lagging Spring,
  Waiting for May to call its violets forth,
  And June its roses-showers and sunshine bring,
  Slowly, the deepening verdure o'er the earth;
  To put their foliage out, the woods are slack,
  And one by one the singing-birds come back.
  
  Within the city's bounds the time of flowers
  Comes earlier. Let a mild and sunny day,
  Such as full often, for a few bright hours,
  Breathes through the sky of March the airs of May,
  Shine on our roofs and chase the wintry gloom-
  And lo! our borders glow with sudden bloom.

  William C. Bryant

  Country, Spring, Flower

  William Cullen Bryant, “Spring In Town”

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