Maya Angelou, a remarkable poet, writer, and civil rights activist, left an indelible mark on the literary world with her captivating words and profound insights. Her work continues to resonate deeply with readers of all ages, inspiring them to find strength, embrace their identity, and foster a sense of empathy for humanity. Throughout her illustrious career, Maya Angelou crafted numerous timeless quotes that encapsulate the essence of her wisdom and experiences.
Today, we embark on a journey through some of her most memorable quotes, exploring their profound meanings and the lasting impact they hold. From love and resilience to equality and the power of words, Maya Angelou’s words continue to ignite a flame within our hearts and guide us toward personal growth, understanding, and embracing our shared humanity. Join us as we delve into the profound wisdom of Maya Angelou and discover the transformative power of her words that transcend time and touch the deepest corners of our souls.
What is Maya Angelou’s most famous quote?
“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.”
In my opinion, this is one of Maya Angelou’s most famous quotes because it emphasizes the lasting impact of our actions and interactions with others, highlighting the significance of empathy, kindness, and compassion in our relationships.
What is an important quote from Still I Rise?
“Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.”
This quote is from Maya Angelou’s iconic poem “Still I Rise.” It captures the empowering essence of the poem, expressing resilience, determination, and the ability to overcome adversity. The lines evoke a sense of triumph and pride, emphasizing the speaker’s refusal to be defeated or defined by the struggles of the past. The metaphor of a “black ocean” conveys strength, vastness, and the capacity for profound change.
I hope you enjoy these Maya Angelou quotes…
1) “A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy: A wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim.” – Maya Angelou
2) “All great achievements require time.” – Maya Angelou
3) “You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody.” – Maya Angelou
4) “If you’re always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” – Maya Angelou
5) “If I am not good to myself, how can I expect anyone else to be good to me?” – Maya Angelou
6) “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.” – Maya Angelou
7) “I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t laugh.” – Maya Angelou
8) “You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot – it’s all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive.” – Maya Angelou
9) “You can ask forgiveness of others, but in the end the real forgiveness is in one’s own self.” – Maya Angelou
Do something wonderful for humanity…
10) “Be certain that you do not die without having done something wonderful for humanity.” – Maya Angelou
11) “I believe that the most important single thing, beyond discipline and creativity is daring to dare.” – Maya Angelou
12) “You can never be great at anything unless you love it.” – Maya Angelou
13) “I’m convinced of this: Good done anywhere is good done everywhere. For a change, start by speaking to people rather than walking by them like they’re stones that don’t matter. As long as you’re breathing, it’s never too late to do some good.” – Maya Angelou
14) “Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.” – Maya Angelou
15) “The desire to reach the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise and most possible.” – Maya Angelou
16) “Develop enough courage so that you can stand up for yourself and then stand up for somebody else.” – Maya Angelou
17) “I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” – Maya Angelou
18) “Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.” – Maya Angelou
19) “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” – Maya Angelou
Short Quotes by Maya Angelou on Courage
20) “Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.” – Maya Angelou
21) “Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances.” – Maya Angelou
22) “If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.” – Maya Angelou
23) “The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them.” – Maya Angelou
24) “Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it!” – Maya Angelou
25) “A friend may be waiting behind a stranger’s face.” – Maya Angelou, Letter to my Daughter
- Audible Audiobook
- Maya Angelou (Author) – Maya Angelou (Narrator)
- English (Publication Language)
- 10/13/2008 (Publication Date) – Random House Audio (Publisher)
26) “Grace is like a lake of drinkable water right outside your door. But you stay inside and die of thirst.” – Maya Angelou
27) “I am grateful to be a woman. I must have done something great in another life.” – Maya Angelou
28) “Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.” – Maya Angelou
29) “I have great respect for the past. If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you don’t know where you’re going. I have respect for the past, but I’m a person of the moment. I’m here, and I do my best to be completely centered at the place I’m at, then I go forward to the next place.” – Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou Quotes About Love
30) “A woman’s heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her.” – Maya Angelou
31) “Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.” – Maya Angelou
32) “I do not trust people who don’t love themselves and yet tell me, ‘I love you.’ There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.” – Maya Angelou
33) “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.” – Maya Angelou
34) “Love life. Engage in it. Give it all you’ve got. Love it with a passion because life truly does give back, many times over, what you put into it.” – Maya Angelou
35) “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.” – Maya Angelou
36) “Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art.” – Maya Angelou
37) “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.” – Maya Angelou
38) “Success is loving life and daring to live it.” – Maya Angelou
39) “Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking. You might find a new solution.” – Maya Angelou
Inspirational Maya Angelou Quotes
40) “We may encounter many defeats but we 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.” – Maya Angelou
41) “Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.” – Maya Angelou
42) “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.” – Maya Angelou
43) “We need much less than we think we need.” – Maya Angelou
44) “The needs of a society determine its ethics.” – Maya Angelou
45) “Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.” – Maya Angelou
46) “No matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.” – Maya Angelou
47) “Nothing will work unless you do.” – Maya Angelou
48) “I’m grateful to be of use. I will not be misused or abused, but I will be of use to anybody.” – Maya Angelou
49) “It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself: to forgive. Forgive everybody.” – Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou Quotes about Success
50) “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
51) “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.” – Maya Angelou
52) “Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” – Maya Angelou
53) “Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.” – Maya Angelou
54) “Be present in all things and thankful for all things.” – Maya Angelou
55) “Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.” – Maya Angelou
56) “Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.” – Maya Angelou
57) “I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life.” – Maya Angelou
58) “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
59) “When we find someone who is brave, fun, intelligent, and loving, we have to thank the universe.” – Maya Angelou
Right here, right now…
60) “Some people cannot see a good thing when it is right here, right now. Others can sense a good thing coming when it is days, months, or miles away.” – Maya Angelou
61) “We spend precious hours fearing the inevitable. It would be wise to use that time adoring our families, cherishing our friends, and living our lives.” – Maya Angelou
62) “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.” – Maya Angelou
63) “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” – Maya Angelou
64) “Talent is like electricity. We don’t understand electricity. We use it.” – Maya Angelou
65) “I thank God that I’ve lived long enough to see what I have seen, and I pray that people will continue to do better. We are doing better, it may not seem so, but there was a time when people were lynched in the middle of the street and it was not against the law. We are doing better, but we have so much more to do.” – Maya Angelou
66) “I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as ‘making a life.'” – Maya Angelou
67) “The truth is, no one of us can be free until everybody is free.” – Maya Angelou
68) “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” – Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
- Angelou, Maya (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 304 Pages – 04/21/2009 (Publication Date) – Ballantine Books (Publisher)
69) “The first thing I do in the morning when I awaken is say, ‘Thank you, Lord!’ I’m grateful to be alive, and I’m going to try to tell the truth as well as I know and tell it as eloquently as I can so that people can hear it.” – Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou Quotes About Life
70) “You don’t have to think about doing the right thing. If you’re for the right thing, then you do it without thinking.” – Maya Angelou
71) “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.” – Maya Angelou
72) “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” – Maya Angelou
73) “If you’re always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be.” – Maya Angelou
74) “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” – Maya Angelou
75) “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.” – Maya Angelou, Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Angelou, Maya (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 161 Pages – 11/23/2011 (Publication Date) – Bantam (Publisher)
76) “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” – Maya Angelou
77) “When you wish someone joy, you wish them peace, love, prosperity, happiness… all the good things.” – Maya Angelou
78) “Never whine. Whining lets a brute know that a victim is in the neighborhood.” – Maya Angelou
79) “A woman who is convinced that she deserves to accept only the best challenges herself to give the best. Then she is living phenomenally.” – Maya Angelou
Resilience and strength in the face of adversity…
80) “You may write me down in history, With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt, But still, like dust, I’ll rise.” – Maya Angelou
81) “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” – Maya Angelou
Please share these Maya Angelou quotes with your friends and family.
Last update on 2024-04-25 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
