Maya Angelou Quotes: Maya Angelou was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees
Following are popular and most famous Maya Angelou quotes and sayings with images. We’ve compiled a list of the best Maya Angelou quotes on love, life, courage, being a woman, loving and respecting yourself, and happiness.
Inspiring Maya Angelou Quotes
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
“If you’re a human being, you can attempt to do what other human beings have done. We don’t understand talent any more than we understand electricity.”
“I am grateful to be a woman. I must have done something great in another life.”
“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.”
“Stand up straight and realize who you are. That you tower over your circumstances. You are a child of God. Stand up straight.”
“I got my own back.”
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away.”
“I’ve learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life.”
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
“I respect myself and insist upon it from everybody. And because I do it, I then respect everybody, too.”
“Determine to live life with flair and laughter.”
“Seek patience and passion in equal amounts. Patience alone will not build the temple. Passion alone will destroy its walls.”
“I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.”
“We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.”
“I work very hard, and I play very hard. I’m grateful for life. And I live it – I believe life loves the liver of it. I live it.”
“Nothing can dim the light that shines from within.”
“I created myself. I have taught myself so much.”
“We need joy as we need air. We need love as we need water. We need each other as we need the earth we share.”
“Faith is the evidence of the unseen.”
“Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.”
“Nothing succeeds like success. Get a little success, and then just get a little more.”
“Whatever you want to do, if you want to be great at it, you have to love it and be able to make sacrifices for it.”
“Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.”
“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 you.”
“If you get, give. If you learn, teach.”
“This is a wonderful day, and I have never seen this one ever before.”
“Whatever you want to do, if you want to be great at it, you have to love it and be able to make sacrifices for it.”
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.”
“If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform a million realities.”
“I believe that every person is born with talent.”
“We are only as blind as we want to be.”
“The only thing is, people have to develop courage.”
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”
“A woman in harmony with her spirit is like a river flowing. She goes where she will without pretense and arrives at her destination prepared to be herself and only herself.”
“I know for sure that loves saves me and that it is here to save us all.”
“If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be.”
“You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated.”
“When you know better, you do better.”
“Among other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.”
“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do and liking how you do it.”
“All great achievements require time.”
“Courage – you develop courage by doing small things like just as if you wouldn’t want to pick up a 100-pound weight without preparing yourself.”
“Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time.”
“In all my work, in the movies I write, the lyrics, the poetry, the prose, the essays, I am saying that we may encounter many defeats – maybe it’s imperative that we encounter the defeats – but we are much stronger than we appear to be and maybe much better than we allow ourselves to be.”
“If we lose love and self respect for each other, this is how we finally die.”
“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”
“The desire to reach the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise and most possible.”
“Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Invite one to stay.”
“I’m always disappointed when people don’t live up to their potential. I know that a number of people look down on themselves and consequently on everybody who looks like them. But that, too, can change.”
“If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.”
“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”
“If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be.”
“I would like to be known as an intelligent woman, a courageous woman, a loving woman, a woman who teaches by being.”
“If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love.”
“My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness. Continue to allow humor to lighten the burden of your tender heart.”
“Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.”
“Hate. It has caused a lot of problems in this world but it has not solved one yet.”
“People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.”
“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”
“A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim.”
“I’ve never had a dislike for men. I’ve been badly treated by some. But I’ve been loved greatly by some. I married a lot of them.”
“Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: “I’m with you kid. Let’s go.”
“My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done, to try and love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return.”
“Ask for what you want, and be prepared to get it.”
“There is a very fine line between loving life and being greedy for it.”
“Having courage does not mean we are unafraid.”
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”
“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.”
“Home is a refuge, not only from the world but a refuge from my worries, my terrible concerns. I like beautiful things around me. I like to be beautiful because it delights my eyes and my soul is lifted up.”
“I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.”
“There’s a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth.”
“I think a hero is any person really intent on making his a better place for all people.”
Courage is the most important of all virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.”
“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.”
“I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as making a ‘life’.”
“It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody.”
“Don’t let the incidents which take place in life bring you low. And certainly don’t whine. You can be brought low, that’s OK, but don’t be reduced by them. Just say, “That’s life.”
“To grow up is to stop putting blame on parents.”
“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”
“At 50, I began to know who I was. It was like waking up to myself.”
“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”
“My mission in life is not to merely survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
“Nothing will work unless you do.”
“You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody.”
“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer.”
“We need joy as we need air. We need love as we need water. We need each other as we need the earth we share.”
“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.”
“The only thing is, people have to develop courage.”
“Trust life a little bit.”
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
“Courage is the most important of all virtues, because without courage, you cannot practice any of the other virtues consistently.”
“Be present in all things, and thankful for all things.”
“Each time a woman stands up for herself, she stands up for all women.”
“A cynical young person is almost the saddest sight to see, because it means that he or she has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.”