Who is Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Ann Johnson April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri, was an American poet, memoirist, actress and an important figure in the American Civil Rights Movement. In 2001 she was named one of the 30 most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal. Maya Angelou is known for her series of six autobiographies, starting with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, (1969) which was nominated for a National Book Award and called her magnum opus. Her volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Die (1971) was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
Maya Angelou Quotes
1. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
2. There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
3. What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.
4. When someone shows you who they are believe them; the first time.
5. We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.
6. Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.
7. I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.
8. I don’t trust people who don’t love themselves and tell me, ‘I love you.’ … There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.
9. Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.
10. I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.
11. You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.
12. Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.
13. My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style
14. Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.
15. Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.
16. 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.
17. You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.
18. A woman’s heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her.
19. Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.
20. You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody.
21. Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it!
22. The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.
23. If I am not good to myself, how can I expect anyone else to be good to me?
24. Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation, which is not nurturing to the whole woman.
25. Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances.
26. No matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.
27. Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.
28. 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!
29. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.
30. Most people don’t grow up. Most people age. They find parking spaces, honor their credit cards, get married, have children, and call that maturity. What that is, is aging.
31. I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t laugh.
32. My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return.
33. Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.
34. There’s a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure truth.
35. Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.
36. Be a rainbow in somebody else’s cloud.
37. Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.
38. Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.
39. Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.
40. Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art.
41. When you learn, teach, when you get, give.
42. A friend may be waiting behind a stranger’s face.
43. I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.
44. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life.
45. If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love. Don’t be surly at home, then go out in the street and start grinning ‘Good morning’ at total strangers.
46. Let’s tell the truth to people. When people ask, ‘How are you?’ have the nerve sometimes to answer truthfully. You must know, however, that people will start avoiding you because, they, too, have knees that pain them and heads that hurt and they don’t want to know about yours. But think of it this way: If people avoid you, you will have more time to meditate and do fine research on a cure for whatever truly afflicts you.
47. When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young.
48. We need much less than we think we need.
49. Surviving is important. Thriving is elegant.
50. When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.
51. Be present in all things and thankful for all things.
52. Without courage we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.
53. I sustain myself with the love of family.
54. When we find someone who is brave, fun, intelligent, and loving, we have to thank the universe.
55. First best is falling in love. Second best is being in love. Least best is falling out of love. But any of it is better than never having been in love.
56. Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning.
57. You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.
58. The problem I have with haters is that they see my glory, but they don’t know my story.
59. The ship of my life may or may not be sailing on calm and amiable seas. The challenging days of my existence may or may not be bright and promising. Stormy or sunny days, glorious or lonely nights, I maintain an attitude of gratitude. If I insist on being pessimistic, there is always tomorrow. Today I am blessed.
60. The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.
