Maya Angelou was an iconic American writer, poet, and civil rights activist, known for her poignant and inspiring autobiographies.
Her work, particularly her famous book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” broke barriers by shedding light on themes such as identity, racism, and literacy.
Angelou’s influence goes beyond literature, as she has inspired millions to overcome adversity, break stereotypes, and embrace their truths, making her a significant figure in our lives.
1. “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” – Maya Angelou
2. “I’ve learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life.” – Maya Angelou
3. “Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer.” – Maya Angelou
4. “It’s still scary every time I go back to the past. Each morning, my heart catches. When I get there, I remember how the light was, where the draft was coming from, what odors were in the air. When I write, I get all the weeping out.” – Maya Angelou
5. “Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.” – Maya Angelou
6. “I never expected anyone to take care of me, but in my wildest dreams and juvenile yearnings, I wanted the house with the picket fence from June Allyson movies. I knew that was yearning like one yearns to fly.” – Maya Angelou
7. “All men are prepared to accomplish the incredible if their ideals are threatened.” – Maya Angelou
8. “One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.” – Maya Angelou
9. “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.'” – Maya Angelou
10. “The hope, the hope that lives in the breast of the black American, is just so tremendous that it overwhelms me sometimes.” – Maya Angelou
11. “Life loves the liver of it.” – Maya Angelou
12. “If you were the President of the United States or the Queen of England – you couldn’t have a person who would be more protective than my mother was for me. Which meant really that I could dare to do all sorts of things.” – Maya Angelou
13. “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.” – Maya Angelou
14. “All of us knows, not what is expedient, not what is going to make us popular, not what the policy is, or the company policy – but in truth each of us knows what is the right thing to do. And that’s how I am guided.” – Maya Angelou
15. “Growing up, my grandmother did not want worldly music in the house. Then when I went out to California, I started listening to Spanish music, mostly Mexican music. But were I in Egypt, I would listen to the music of the people, or if I was in Italy, I’d listen to Italian music.” – Maya Angelou
16. “Hold those things that tell your history and protect them. During slavery, who was able to read or write or keep anything? The ability to have somebody to tell your story to is so important. It says: ‘I was here. I may be sold tomorrow. But you know I was here.'” – Maya Angelou
17. “Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: ‘I’m with you kid. Let’s go.'” – Maya Angelou
18. “Some critics will write ‘Maya Angelou is a natural writer’ – which is right after being a natural heart surgeon.” – Maya Angelou
19. “I believe that every person is born with talent.” – Maya Angelou
20. “The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind.” – Maya Angelou
21. “You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted lines. You may trod me in the very dirt, but still, like dust, I’ll rise.” – Maya Angelou
22. “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.” – Maya Angelou
23. “I believe we are still so innocent. The species are still so innocent that a person who is apt to be murdered believes that the murderer, just before he puts the final wrench on his throat, will have enough compassion to give him one sweet cup of water.” – Maya Angelou
24. “Human beings love poetry. They don’t even know it sometimes… whether they’re the songs of Bono, or the songs of Justin Bieber… they’re listening to poetry.” – Maya Angelou
25. “I wrote some of the worst poetry west from the Mississippi River, but I wrote. And I finally sometimes got it right.” – Maya Angelou
26. “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.” – Maya Angelou
27. “I think music is one of the hero/sheroes of the African-American existence.” – Maya Angelou
28. “Like a pianist runs her fingers over the keys, I’ll search my mind for what to say. Now, the poem may want you to write it. And then sometimes you see a situation and think, ‘I’d like to write about that.’ Those are two different ways of being approached by a poem, or approaching a poem.” – Maya Angelou
29. “I agree with Balzac and 19th-century writers, black and white, who say, ‘I write for money.’ Yes, I think everybody should be paid handsomely; I insist on it, and I pay people who work for me, or with me, handsomely.” – Maya Angelou
30. “Whenever something went wrong when I was young – if I had a pimple or if my hair broke – my mom would say, ‘Sister mine, I’m going to make you some soup.’ And I really thought the soup would make my pimple go away or my hair stronger.” – Maya Angelou
31. “Everyone has at least one story, and each of us is funny if we admit it. You have to admit you’re the funniest person you’ve ever heard of.” – Maya Angelou
32. “Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time.” – Maya Angelou
33. “I love the song ‘I Hope You Dance’ by Lee Ann Womack. I was going to write that song, but someone beat me to it.” – Maya Angelou
34. “The poetry you read has been written for you, each of you – black, white, Hispanic, man, woman, gay, straight.” – Maya Angelou
35. “I know some people might think it odd – unworthy even – for me to have written a cookbook, but I make no apologies. The U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins thought I had demeaned myself by writing poetry for Hallmark Cards, but I am the people’s poet so I write for the people.” – Maya Angelou
36. “And if a person is religious, I think it’s good, it helps you a bit. But if you’re not, at least you can have the sense that there is a condition inside you which looks at the stars with amazement and awe.” – Maya Angelou
37. “The love of the family, the love of one person can heal. It heals the scars left by a larger society. A massive, powerful society.” – Maya Angelou
38. “I know for sure that loves saves me and that it is here to save us all.” – Maya Angelou
39. “There’s something which impels us to show our inner souls. The more courageous we are, the more we succeed in explaining what we know.” – Maya Angelou
40. “I was married a few times, and one of my husbands was jealous of me writing.” – Maya Angelou
41. “I became the kind of parent my mother was to me.” – Maya Angelou
42. “Children’s talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives.” – Maya Angelou
43. “Once you appreciate one of your blessings, one of your senses, your sense of hearing, then you begin to respect the sense of seeing and touching and tasting, you learn to respect all the senses.” – Maya Angelou
44. “I know that I’m not the easiest person to live with. The challenge I put on myself is so great that the person I live with feels himself challenged. I bring a lot to bear, and I don’t know how not to.” – Maya Angelou
45. “If I walked into the kitchen without washing my hands as a kid, I’d hear a loud ‘A-hem!’ from my mother or grandmother. Now I count on other people to do the same.” – Maya Angelou
46. “The thing to do, it seems to me, is to prepare yourself so you can be a rainbow in somebody else’s cloud. Somebody who may not look like you. May not call God the same name you call God – if they call God at all. I may not dance your dances or speak your language. But be a blessing to somebody. That’s what I think.” – Maya Angelou
47. “I promised myself that I would write as well as I can, tell the truth, not to tell everything I know, but to make sure that everything I tell is true, as I understand it. And to use the eloquence which my language affords me.” – Maya Angelou
Maya’s Wisdom Lives On
Maya Angelou’s words remind us to live with courage, love, and purpose.
Her voice still lifts people and pushes them to believe in themselves.
Whether you’re chasing a dream or facing a hard time, her wisdom is a steady light. Let her quotes inspire you to rise, just like she always did.
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