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The Holy Spirit Upon My Left Leads My Feet Without Ceasing Into The Camp Of The Righteous And Into The Tents Of The Free.
-Maya Angelou
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The Holy Spirit Upon

Maya Angelou
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The Holy Spirit Upon My Left Leads My Feet Without Ceasing Into The Camp Of The Righteous And Into The Tents Of The Free.

Understanding the Quote: "the holy spirit upon my left leads my feet without ceasing into..."

This quote by Maya Angelou reflects deeply on the theme of faith. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Faith, God, Christian, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Maya Angelou interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou is celebrated for insightful thoughts on faith and god. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Faith
God
Christian
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Responsibility
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Block
Ghetto
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I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.
Inspirational
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Book
I'm A Positive Thinker And Actor. I Look At A Glass; A Negative Person Sees The Glass And Says: Too Bad It's Half Empty... I Look At The Same Glass And Say: Hallelujah!! It's Half Full!!!
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I Believe We Are Still So Innocent. The Species Are Still So Innocent That A Person Who Is Apt To Be Murdered Believes That The Murderer, Just Before He Puts The Final Wrench On His Throat, Will Have Enough Compassion To Give Him One Sweet Cup Of Water.
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Sweet
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You Can Never Be Great At Anything Unless You Love It.
Inspirational
Inspiring
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Lonely
Gratitude
Attitude
Politicians Must Set Their Aims For The High Ground And According To Our Various Leanings, Democratic, Republican, Independent, We Will Follow. Politicians Must Be Told If They Continue To Sink Into The Mud Of Obscenity, They Will Proceed Alone.
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Mud
Republican
You Can Only Become Truly Accomplished At Something You Love. Don’t Make Money Your Goal. Instead Pursue The Things You Love Doing And Then Do Them So Well That People Can’t Take Their Eyes Off Of You.
Inspirational
Motivational
Moving On
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Breathing
Long
Too Late
I Admire People Who Dare To Take The Language, English, And Understand It And Understand The Melody.
People
Language
Admire
To Describe My Mother Would Be To Write About A Hurricane In Its Perfect Power. Or The Climbing, Falling Colors Of A Rainbow.
Mothers Day
Mom
Mother Daughter
You Want Me To Do Something... Tell Me I Can't Do It.
Fitness
Motivational Workout
Work Out
Have Enough Courage To Love.
Enough
Courage To Love
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Writing
Who I Am
Darkness
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Positive
Hate
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Choices
Caged Birds
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World
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Survival
Encounters
I Am A Woman Phenomenally, Phenomenal Woman That Is Your Grandmother, That Is Your Mother, That Is Your Sister, That Is You And That Is Me.
Mother
Phenomenal Woman
Grandmother
To Describe My Mother Would Be To Write About A Hurricane In Its Perfect Power. Or The Climbing, Falling Colors Of A Rainbow.
Mothers Day
Mom
Mother Daughter
I Believe In Living A Poetic Life, An Art Full Life. Everything We Do From The Way We Raise Our Children To The Way We Welcome Our Friends Is Part Of A Large Canvas We Are Creating.
Art
Children
Inspirational Life
Take A Month And Show Some Kindness For The Folks Who Thought That Blindness Was An Illness That Affected Eyes Alone.
Kindness
Eye
Months
If God Put The Rainbows Right In The Clouds Themselves, Each One Of Us In The Direst And Dullest And Most Dreaded And Dreary Moments Can See A Possibility Of Hope ... Each One Of Us Has The Chance To Be A Rainbow In Somebody's Cloud.
Clouds
Rainbow
Chance
If You Find It In Your Heart To Care For Somebody Else, You Will Have Succeeded.
Love
Inspirational
Broken Heart
Music Was My Refuge. I Could Crawl Into The Space Between The Notes And Curl My Back To Loneliness.
Inspirational
Music
Lonely
History, Despite Its Wrenching Pain, Cannot Be Unlived, But If Faced With Courage, Need Not Be Lived Again.
Inspirational
Life
Encouragement
My Mother Is So Full Of Joy And Life. I Am Her Child. And That Is Better Than Being The Child Of Anyone Else In The World.
Mother
Children
Joy
Forgive Yourself - No One Else Will.
Forgiving
Forgive Yourself
I'm Working At Trying To Be A Christian, And That's Serious Business. It's Like Trying To Be A Good Jew, A Good Muslim, A Good Buddhist, A Good Shintoist, A Good Zoroastrian, A Good Friend, A Good Lover, A Good Mother, A Good Buddy: It's Serious Business.
Christian
Mother
Buddhist
Poetry Is Music Written For The Human Voice.
Voice
Poetry
Humans
You May Be Pretty Or Plain, Heavy Or Thin, Gay Or Straight, Poor Or Rich. But Remember This: In An Election, Every Voice Is Equally Powerful -- Don't Underestimate Your Vote. Voting Is The Great Equalizer.
Powerful
Gay
Voice
Cooking Certain Dishes, Like Roast Pork, Reminds Me Of My Mother.
Mother
Cooking
Pork
I Thank God That I've Lived Long Enough To See What I Have Seen, And I Pray That People Will Continue To Do Better. We Are Doing Better, It May Not Seem So, But There Was A Time When People Were Lynched In The Middle Of The Street And It Was Not Against The Law. We Are Doing Better, But We Have So Much More To Do.
Inspiring
Law
Long
The Root Cause Of All The Problems We Have In The World Today Is Ignorance Of Course. But Most, Polarization.
Ignorance
Roots
World
I Think Music Is One Of The Hero/sheroes Of The African-american Existence.
Hero
Thinking
African American
Christians Already? It Seems To Me That It Takes A Lifetime Of Work.
Christian
Lifetime
Seems
Forgive Yourself - No One Else Will.
Forgiving
Forgive Yourself
The Trouble For The Thief Is Not How To Steal The Chief’s Bugle, But Where To Blow It.
Life
Blow
Thieves
I've Learned That You Shouldn't Go Through Life With A Catcher's Mitt On Both Hands; You Need To Be Able To Throw Something Back.
Inspirational
Life
Inspiring
We Are Growing Up. We Are Growing Up! Out Of The Idiocies - The Ignorances Of Racism And Sexism And Ageism And All Those Ignorances.
Growing Up
Ignorance
Racism
The Most Called-upon Prerequisite Of A Friend Is An Accessible Ear.
Love
Friendship
Dream
My Great Blessing Is My Son, But I Have Daughters. I Have White Ones And Black Ones And Fat Ones And Thin Ones And Pretty Ones And Plain. I Have Gay Ones And Straight. I Have Daughters. I Have Asian Ones, I Have Jewish Ones, I Have Muslim Ones.
Daughter
Son
Gay
I Did Then What I Knew How To Do. Now That I Know Better, I Do Better.
Inspirational
Life Changing
Failure
I Believe What I Have To Say Is Important, And I Believe The People Coming To Hear Me Are Important, And So The Occasion Of Itself Alone Has An Importance, Which Forces Me To Stare Down My Nerves.
Believe
People
Important
You Alone Are Enough. You Have Nothing To Prove To Anybody.
Inspirational
Inspiring
Moving On
I've Had People Explain To Me What One Of My Poems Meant, And I've Been Surprised That It Means That To Them. If A Person Can Use A Poem Of Mine To Interpret Her Life Or His Life, Good. I Can't Control That. Nor Would I Want To.
Good Life
Mean
People
All Of My History As An African-american Woman, As A Jewish Woman, As A Muslim Woman. I'm Bringing Everything I Ever Knew, And All The Stories I've Read - Everything Good, Strong, Kind And Powerful. I Bring It All With Me Into Every Situation, And I Will Not Allow My Life To Be Minimized By Anybody's Racism Or Sexism Or Ageism.
Strong
Powerful
Racism
Don't Bring Negative To My Door.
Inspirational
Positive
Attitude
The Needs Of A Society Determine Its Ethics.
Positive
Needs
Caged Birds
I Believe That One Can Never Leave Home. I Believe That One Carries The Shadows, The Dreams, The Fears And The Dragons Of Home Under One's Skin, At The Extreme Corners Of One's Eyes And Possibly In The Gristle Of The Earlobe.
Dream
Believe
Home
...we May Encounter Many Defeats, But We Must Not Be Defeated. That Sounds Goody Two-shoes, I Know, But I Believe That A Diamond Is The Result Of Extreme Pressure And Time. Less Time Is Crystal. Less Than That Is Coal. Less Than That Is Fossilized Leaves. Less Than That It's Just Plain Dirt. In All My Work, In The Movies I Write, The Lyrics The Poetry, The Prose, The Essays, I Am Saying That We May Encounter Many Defeats - Maybe It's Imperative That We Encounter The Defeats - But We Are Much Stronger Than We Appear To Be And Maybe Much Better Than We Allow Ourselves To Be.
Motivational
Determination
Believe
Hold Those Things That Tell Your History And Protect Them.
Protect
Love Liberates. Love - Not Sentimentality, Not Mush - But True Love Gives You Enough Courage That You Can Say To Somebody, "don't Do That, Baby." And The Person Will Know You're Not Preaching But Teaching.
Baby
Teaching
Giving
Each Of Us Has The Power And Responsibility To Become A Rainbow In The Clouds.
Responsibility
Clouds
Rainbow
Each Time A Dancer Moves Devoutly Or A Composer Faithfully Searches The Silence For The Veiled Melodies, Eternity Is Engaged.
Moving
Silence
Dancer
I Love Wisdom. And You Can Never Be Great At Anything Unless You Love It. Not Be In Love With It, But Love The Thing, Admire The Thing. And It Seems That If You Love The Thing, And You Don't Just Want To Possess It, It Will Find You. But If You're In Love With The Thing, It May Run Like Hell Away From You.
Running
May
Want
I Agreed A Long Time Ago, I Would Not Live At Any Cost. If I Am Moved Or Forced Away From What I Think Is The Right Thing, I Will Not Do It.
Moving
Thinking
Long
Poetry Is Music Written For The Human Voice.
Voice
Poetry
Humans
It's One Of The Greatest Gifts You Can Give Yourself, To Forgive. Forgive Everybody.
Inspirational
Inspiring
Forgiveness
We May Encounter Many Defeats, But We Must Not Be Defeated. It May Even Be Necessary To Encounter The Defeat So That We Can Know Who We Are. So That We Can See, "oh, That Happened, And I Rose. I Did Get Knocked Down Flat In Front Of The Whole World, And I Rose. I Didn't Run Away; I Rose Right Where I'd Been Knocked Down." That's How You Get To Know Yourself.
Running
Strong Women
Rose
Being Physically Close To Extreme Power Causes One To Experience A Giddiness, An Intoxication.
Power
Causes
Intoxication
One Isn't Necessarily Born With Courage, But One Is Born With Potential.
Motivational
Running
Courage
People Are Too Busy Putting Things Under Microscopes And So Forth. Creativity Is Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts.
Creativity
People
Busy
When Someone Shows You Who They Are, Believe Them The First Time. People Know Themselves Much Better Than You Do. That's Why It's Important To Stop Expecting Them To Be Something Other Than Who They Are
Believe
People
Important
I'm Convinced That I'm A Child Of God. That's Wonderful, Exhilarating, Liberating, Full Of Promise. But The Burden Which Goes Along With That Is, I'm Convinced That Everybody Is A Child Of God. . . . I Weep A Lot. I Thank God I Laugh A Lot, Too. The Main Thing In One's Own Private World Is To Try To Laugh As Much As You Cry.
Children
Godly
Laughing
If More Africans Had Eaten Missionaries, The Continent Would Be In Better Shape.
Life Changing
Would Be
Shapes
At Fifteen Life Had Taught Me Undeniably That Surrender, In Its Place, Was As Honorable As Resistance, Especially If One Had No Choice.
Life
Choices
Caged Birds
Being Free Is Being Able To Accept People For What They Are, And Not Try To Understand All They Are Or Be What They Are.
People
Being Free
Trying
Don't Face The Day Until You've Faced God.
Faces
I Could Fall In Love With A Sumo Wrestler If He Told Stories And Made Me Laugh. Obviously, It Would Be Easier If Someone Was African-american And Lived Next Door And Went To The Same Church. Because Then I Wouldn't Have To Translate.
Falling In Love
Doors
Laughing
Happiness Is A Chance To Talk To A Friend, To Hear Good Music, To Have A Good Glass Of Wine. Happiness Is A Chance To Be Myself And To Find People With Whom I Agree Or Who I Don't Agree But I Can Learn Something.
Wine
Glasses
People
One Must Learn To Care For Oneself First, So That One Can Then Dare To Care For Someone Else.
Care
Firsts
Dare
My Life Has Been Long, And Believing That Life Loves The Liver Of It, I Have Dared To Try Many Things, Sometimes Trembling, But Daring Still.
Inspiring
Believe
Love Life
Blacks Concede That Hurrawing, Jibing, Jiving, Signifying, Disrespecting, Cursing, Even Outright Insults Might Be Acceptable Under Particular Conditions, But Aspersions Cast Against One's Family Call For Immediate Attack.
Family
Might
Insult
When I Try To Describe Myself To God I Say, 'lord, Remember Me? Black? Female? Six-foot Tall? The Writer?' And I Almost Always Get God's Attention.
Feet
Black
Trying
Love Is That Condition In The Human Spirit So Profound That It Allows Me To Survive, And Better Than That, To Thrive With Passion, Compassion, And Style.
Love
Passion
Profound
Continue To Be Bold, Courageous. Try To Choose The Wisest Thing And Once You've Chosen The Wisest Thing Go Out And Try To Achieve It. Be It.
Inspiring
Loving Life
Thoughtful
Step Off The Road. Build Yourself A Brand New Path.
Path
Steps
Brands
Timidity Makes A Person Modest. It Makes Him Or Her Say, "i'm Not Worthy Of Being Written Up In The Record Of Deeds In Heaven Or On Earth." Timidity Keeps People From Their Good. They Are Afraid To Say, "yes, I Deserve It."
Compassion
People
Heaven
Wouldn't Take Nothing For My Journey Now.
Inspirational Life
Journey
My Journey
A Joyful Spirit Is Evidence Of A Grateful Heart.
Grateful
Heart
Spirit
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