"All great achievements require time"
About this Quote
A quiet rebuke hides inside Angelou's calm sentence: stop demanding that greatness arrive on your schedule. "All great achievements require time" isn't motivational glitter; it's a boundary. It pushes back against the frantic American fantasy that talent should pay off instantly, that struggle is a detour rather than the road itself. By making the claim absolute ("all", "require"), Angelou removes the loopholes we use to excuse impatience: the viral breakthrough, the overnight success, the myth that the right shortcut equals destiny.
The line also carries the lived authority of her biography without needing to name it. Angelou's public stature came after years of work across forms and identities - performer, writer, activist, witness. Time here isn't just a neutral ingredient; it's where craft is forged and character is tested. The subtext is almost maternal, but not soft: you don't get to skip the becoming. If you want "great", you accept the slow weathering of revision, failure, and stamina.
As a poet, Angelou chooses plain language with ceremonial weight. "Achievements" points to public outcomes, but "require time" points to private labor - the unphotogenic hours that don't trend. The sentence functions like a cultural corrective in an era that confuses visibility with accomplishment. It dignifies patience without romanticizing it, framing time not as the enemy of ambition but its necessary partner.
The line also carries the lived authority of her biography without needing to name it. Angelou's public stature came after years of work across forms and identities - performer, writer, activist, witness. Time here isn't just a neutral ingredient; it's where craft is forged and character is tested. The subtext is almost maternal, but not soft: you don't get to skip the becoming. If you want "great", you accept the slow weathering of revision, failure, and stamina.
As a poet, Angelou chooses plain language with ceremonial weight. "Achievements" points to public outcomes, but "require time" points to private labor - the unphotogenic hours that don't trend. The sentence functions like a cultural corrective in an era that confuses visibility with accomplishment. It dignifies patience without romanticizing it, framing time not as the enemy of ambition but its necessary partner.
Quote Details
| Topic | Perseverance |
|---|
More Quotes by Maya
Add to List
