Why Did Maya Angelou Stop Speaking for Five Years?

When Maya Angelou was seven years old, something terrible happened to her. After she told what had happened, the man who hurt her was killed — possibly by her uncles.

She was convinced her voice had done it. That her words had killed someone. And so she stopped speaking.

For five years, Maya Angelou did not talk. Not a word. She moved through the world in silence, watching, listening, absorbing everything.

Then a woman named Bertha Flowers — a teacher, a neighbor, a woman who saw something in a silent girl — sat her down and read aloud from 'A Tale of Two Citites.' She handed Maya the book and said she needed to speak the words out loud to truly own them.

Maya spoke.

Those five years of silence — the years the world lost her voice — became the foundation of everything. She later said her muteness made her a better listener than anyone she ever met. She heard what most people never noticed. Her years of listening became her greatest gift.

The voice that stayed silent for five years went on to speak at a presidential inauguration, to write seven autobiographies, to become one of the most quoted humans who ever lived.

She didn't find her voice in spite of the silence. She found it because of it.