Maya Angelou Quotes

Maya Angelou

Biography

Type: Poet, Civil rights activist

Born: April 4, 1928

Died: May 28, 2014

Marguerite Annie Johnson (Maya Angelou) was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928, the second child of Bailey Johnson, a doorman and navy dietitian, and Vivian (Baxter) Johnson, a nurse and card dealer. Angelou's older brother, Bailey Jr., nicknamed Marguerite "Maya". Unable to pronounce her name because of a stutter, Bailey called her "My" for "My sister".

Maya Angelou Quotes

Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.. Maya Angelou
Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.

First best is falling in love. Second best is being in love. Least best is falling
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.

The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise..
The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.

Making a decision to write was a lot like deciding to jump into a frozen lake..
Making a decision to write was a lot like deciding to jump into a frozen lake.

I don't trust people who don't love themselves and tell me, 'I love you.' ... There
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.

My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done
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.

Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination
Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.

I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels.
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.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.. Maya Angelou
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

Living well is an art that can be developed: a love of life and ability to
Living well is an art that can be developed: a love of life and ability to take great pleasure from small offerings and assurance that the world owes you nothing and that every gift is exactly that, a gift.

There's a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure truth.. Maya Angelou
There's a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure truth.

I speak to the Black experience, but I am always talking about the human condition-about what
I speak to the Black experience, but I am always talking about the human condition-about what we can endure, dream, fail at and survive.

Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to
Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning.

The“b” word and the “n” word are like poison, whether you take poison from a vial
The“b” word and the “n” word are like poison, whether you take poison from a vial or pour it into Bavarian crystal, it is still poison.

In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world,
In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours.
In all the world, there is no love for you like mine.

Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time.. Maya Angelou
Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time.

I am convinced that most people do not grow up...We marry and dare to have children
I am convinced that most people do not grow up...We marry and dare to have children and call that growing up. I think what we do is mostly grow old. We carry accumulation of years in our bodies, and on our faces, but generally our real selves, the children inside, are innocent and shy as magnolias.

My life has been one great big joke, A dance that's walked, A song that's spoke,
My life has been one great big joke,
A dance that's walked,
A song that's spoke,
I laugh so hard I almost choke,
When I think about myself.

There is a very fine line between loving life and being greedy for it.. Maya Angelou
There is a very fine line between loving life and being greedy for it.

Wouldn't take nothing for my journey now.. Maya Angelou
Wouldn't take nothing for my journey now.

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.

I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.

(Popular misquote of "You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.")

Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it!

Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation,
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.

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.

I sustain myself with the love of family.. Maya Angelou
I sustain myself with the love of family.

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 want to thank you, Lord, for life and all that's in it.

Thank you for the day and for the hour, and the minute.

All great achievements require time.

Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for.

Nothing will work unless you do.. Maya Angelou
Nothing will work unless you do.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill,
of things unknown, but longed for still,
and his tune is heard on the distant hill,
for the caged bird sings of freedom.

Life is going to give you just what you put in it. Put your whole heart in everything you do, and pray, then you can wait.

It is this belief in a power larger than myself and other than myself which allows me to venture into the unknown and even the unknowable.

That's what you want to do? Then nothing beats a trial but a failure. Give it everything you've got. I've told you many times, 'Cant do is like Dont Care.' Neither of them have a home.

I am overwhelmed by the grace and persistence of my people.

I want all my senses engaged. Let me absorb the world's variety and uniqueness.. Maya Angelou
I want all my senses engaged. Let me absorb the world's variety and uniqueness.

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.

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back.

I find relief from the questions only when I concede that I am not obliged to know everything. I remind myself it is sufficient to know what I know, and that what I know, may not always be true.

I answer the heroic question, 'Death, where is thy sting?' with 'It is in my heart and mind and memories.

It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.

Poetry puts starch in your backbone so you can stand, so you can compose your life.

I couldn't tell fact from fiction,
Or if the dream was true
My only sure prediction
In this world was you.
I'd touch your features inchly. Beard love and dared the cost, The sented spiel reeled me unreal And I found my senses lost.

I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.

Segregation shaped me; education liberated me.

No matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

To those who are given much, much is expected.

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.

Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently.

When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.

Whining is not only graceless, but can be dangerous. It can alert a brute that a victim is in the neighborhood.

Since time is the one immaterial object which we cannot influence - neither speed up nor slow down, add to nor diminish - it is an imponderably valuable gift.

Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.

What is a fear of living? It's being preeminently afraid of dying. It is not doing what you came here to do, out of timidity and spinelessness. The antidote is to take full responsibility for yourself - for the time you take up and the space you occupy. If you don't know what you're here to do, then just do some good.

In the flush of love's light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

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.

It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.

That knowledge humbles me, melts my bones, closes my ears, and makes my teeth rock loosely in their gums. And it also liberates me. I am a big bird winging over high mountains, down into serene valleys. I am ripples of waves on silver seas. I'm a spring leaf trembling in anticipation.

When things were very bad his soul just crawled behind his heart and curled up and went to sleep

If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform a million realities.

All great artists draw from the same resource: the human heart, which tells us all that we are more alike than we are unlike.

On this platform of peace, we can create a language
to translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.

While the rest of the world has been improving technology, Ghana has been improving the quality of mans humanity to a man.

We wear the mask that grins and lies.
It shades our cheeks and hides our eyes.
This debt we pay to human guile
With torn and bleeding hearts…
We smile and mouth the myriad subtleties.
Why should the world think otherwise
In counting all our tears and sighs.
Nay let them only see us while
We wear the mask.

There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.

Don't let the man bring you down.

You only are free when you realize you belong no place - you belong every place - no place at all.

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.

Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances.

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it change your attitude. Don't complain

When someone shows you who they are believe them; the first time.

A friend may be waiting behind a stranger's face.

I dreamt we walked together along the shore. We made satisfying small talk and laughed. This morning I found sand in my shoe and a seashell in my pocket. Was I only dreaming?

I believe that the most important single thing, beyond discipline and creativity is daring to dare.

My life has been long, and believing that life loves the liver of it, I have dared to try many things, sometimes trembling, but daring, still.

There is nothing quite so tragic as a young cynic, because it means the person has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.

Continue to be bold, courageous. Try to chose the wisest thing and once you’ve chosen the wisest thing go out and try to achieve it. Be it.

I did then what I knew best, when I knew better, I did better. Maya Angelo

You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.

You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.

The customs are as formalised as an eighteenth-century minuet, and a child at the race's knee learns the moves and twirls by osmosis and observation.

What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat,’.... And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, ‘Okay. Okay. I’ll come.

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