Air Quotes
You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I’ll rise!
"You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I’ll rise!"— Maya Angelou
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Meaning of this quote
The poem’s speaker insists on rising despite attempts to shame, injure, or suppress her.
Key takeaway:
Maintain dignity in the face of hostility.
Origin of the quote
Still I Rise, collected in And Still I Rise (1978).
Who actually said this?
VerifiedThe post quotes one stanza with punctuation changes. The defiant speaker’s language is part of the poem’s response to oppression.
