Maya Angelou On Resilience and Children

"If children are given the chance to believe they're worth something-- if they truly believe that-- they will insist upon it. That is in Rome, Italy, or Rome, Arkansas; in Paris, France, or Paris, Texas. Children don't have to be born with a silver spoon in their mouths, but if they can be convinced they're the best, they become resilient. They themselves will resist any attempts to belittle them. But it's also a bouncing forward, going beyond what the naysayers said, saying, 'No, it's not true that I'm nobody. I know that not only is that not true, but I'm more than you can imagine!'"

http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=5720