Maya Angelou Quotes | Spirit Up Your Hope and Passion
Maya Angelou’s magnetic words from her publications and speeches were summed up as ‘Maya Angelou Quotes’. People say that her words are like melodies. She spoke about all dips of life. Her struggle was against falsehood, injustice, racism, and oppression. She raised her voice for equality and civil rights.
She sprinkled her words for us. Her words are lighting people’s hearts whenever they need them. For civil rights, her approach was over and above all discrimination and divisions. She was Maya Angelou.
Maya Angelou Quotes
Through Pain & Publications
The famous American poet, dancer, singer, activist, and scholar Maya Angelou, opened her eyes on April 04, 1928.
It was a Wednesday.
She was famous for her unique and fascinating autobiographical writing skills and style. Her initial life tragedies put her to learn hard lessons. But, the pain and hardship made her strong enough to start writing autobiographies.
Maya Angelou showed a love for writing and English literature when she was young. She produced essays, and poetry, and kept a journal during her teens.
She was also in the Civil Rights Movement, helping to lead the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a group that fights for civil rights.
The book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” has been translated into many languages and has sold over a million copies.
Maya Angelou published six more autobiographies, concluding in 2013’s Mom & Me & Mom. She wrote many masterclass poetry albums and won many spoken albums of poetry around the world.
Maya also gave many commencement speeches and was awarded more than 30 honorary degrees in her lifetime.
She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the year 2011. It is the highest civilian honor in the United States. It was the best fitting recognition of what people can present to her.
Maya Angelou is famous for her remarkable and inspiring services in the arts. Her golden words remain alive as ‘Maya Angelou Quotes’ for the rest of the world.
Angelou left the world alone on May 28, 2014.
Again, It was a Wednesday.
Maya Angelou Quotes About Life
Throw Something Back
“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 something back.”
— Maya Angelou
My Mission in Life
“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
Eating is Very Sensual
“Eating is so intimate. It’s very sensual. When you invite someone to sit at your table, and you want to cook for them, you’re inviting a person into your life.”
— Maya Angelou
I’m Grateful to be a Woman
“I am grateful to be a woman. I must have done something great in another life.”
— Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou Quotes About Love
Here is a collection of Maya Angelou quotes on love and passion.
Only One Smile
“If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love.”
— Maya Angelou
No Barriers
“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”
— Maya Angelou
My Great Hope
“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.”
— Maya Angelou
Sacrifice
“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
Love is Like a Virus
“Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time.”
— Maya Angelou
When We Lose Love and Self Respect
“If we lose love and self-respect for each other, this is how we finally die.”
— Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou Quotes About Change
If You Don’t Like Something
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”
— Maya Angelou 
The Beauty of the Butterfly
“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”
— Maya Angelou
You can also take advantage to read short and inspirational Helen Keller quotes about love and friendship.
Maya Angelou Gratitude Quotes
When We Find Someone
“When we find someone who is brave, fun, intelligent, and loving, we have to thank the universe.”
— Maya Angelou
Give & Accept
“When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.”
— Maya Angelou
Gratitude
“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.”
— Maya Angelou
Life is Pure Adventure
“Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that the quicker we will be able to treat life as art.”
— Maya Angelou
When You Have an Attitude
“When you have an attitude of gratitude, you wake up saying thank you.”
— Maya Angelou
Gratitude Turns
“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.”
— Maya Angelou
You can also take advantage to read short and inspirational Nelson Mandela quotes about courage and leadership.
Maya Angelou Quotes About Woman
Here is the best collection of Maya Angelou quotes about woman.
A Wise Women’s Wish
“A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim.”
— Maya Angelou
Standing Up For All Women
“Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, she stands up for all women.”
— Maya Angelou
Grateful To Be A Woman
“I am grateful to be a woman. I must have done something great in another life.”
— Maya Angelou
Phenomenal Woman
“I am a woman phenomenally, phenomenal woman that is your grandmother, that is your mother, that is your sister, that is you and that is me.”
— Maya Angelou
Virtues of A Woman
“I would like to be known as an intelligent woman, a courageous woman, a loving woman, a woman who teaches by being.”
— Maya Angelou
Tough & Tender
“Women should be tough, tender, laugh as much as possible, and live long lives.”
— Maya Angelou
A Young Girl & The World
“I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels.”
— Maya Angelou
Virtuous & Opportunities
“Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise.”
— Maya Angelou
A Woman In Harmony
“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.”
— Maya Angelou
To Be Bodacious Enough
“Each of us has that right, that possibility, to invent ourselves daily. If a person does not invent herself, she will be invented. So, to be bodacious enough to invent ourselves is wise.”
— Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou Quotes About Family
Here is the best collection of Maya Angelou about family.
My Mother
“My mother raised me, and then freed me.”
— Maya Angelou
Love of Family
“I sustain myself with the love of family.”
— Maya Angelou
Mother is Full of Joy
“My mother is full of joy and life, I am her child, and that is better than being the child of anyone else in the world.”
— Maya Angelou
If You Only Have One Smile
“If you only have 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.”
— Maya Angelou
To Describe My Mother
“To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colors of a rainbow.”
— Maya Angelou
Simple Stories
“The children to whom we read simple stories may or may not show gratitude, but each boon we give strengthens the pillars of the world.”
— Maya Angelou
Step Off The Road
“I was told many years ago by my grandmother who raised me: If somebody puts you on a road and you don’t feel comfortable on it and you look ahead and you don’t like the destination and you look behind and you don’t want to return to that place, step off the road.”
— Maya Angelou
Families are Held Together by Choice
“Families are held together by choice. Members are alike and unalike, yet there is comfort in the sameness and excitement in the differences. When we respect and relish both conditions, we can call ourselves family.”
— Maya Angelou
Home is a Refuge
“Home is a refuge, not only from the world but a refuge from my worries, my terrible concerns.”
— Maya Angelou
Love the Family
“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
Maya Angelou Quotes About Success
Here is a collection of the best Maya Angelou quotes about success.
You Will Never Know
“If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be.”
— Maya Angelou
Still…
“I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.”
— Maya Angelou
You will face many defeats
“You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated.”
— Maya Angelou
When You Know
“When you know better, you do better.”
— Maya Angelou
Giving Liberates the Soul
“Among other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.”
— Maya Angelou
Courage, Courage, Courage
“Courage is the most important of all virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.”
— Maya Angelou
My Mission in Life
“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
I’ve Learned That Making
“I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as making a ‘life’.”
— Maya Angelou
Need Time
“All great achievements require time.”
— Maya Angelou
Nothing Can Dim
“Nothing can dim the light which shines within.”
— Maya Angelou
Ambition and Wise
“The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.”
— Maya Angelou
Unless You Do
“Nothing will work unless you do.”
— Maya Angelou
I got
“I got my own back.”
— Maya Angelou
We Are Only
“We are only as blind as we want to be.”
— Maya Angelou
Don’t Make Money Your Goal
“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.”
— Maya Angelou
A Wonderful Day
“This is a wonderful day, and I have never seen this one ever before.”
— Maya Angelou
You Have to Love
“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
Change It
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.”
— Maya Angelou
Every Person
“I believe that every person is born with talent.”
— Maya Angelou
If One Is Lucky
“If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform a million realities.”
— Maya Angelou
You Can Decide
“You may not control the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
— Maya Angelou
Do the Best You Can
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.”
— Maya Angelou
If I’m Not Good to Myself
“If I am not good to myself, how can I expect anyone else to be good to me?”
— Maya Angelou
“Success is Loving & Daring”
— Maya Angelou
Hope and Fear
“Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Invite one to stay. ”
— Maya Angelou
Must Look Past
“We must look past complexion and see community.”
— Maya Angelou
Try to be
“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.”
— Maya Angelou
Successful Woman
“Courage allows the successful woman to fail, and to learn powerful lessons from the failure so that in the end, she didn’t fail at all. ”
— Maya Angelou
Night Prayer
“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer.”
— Maya Angelou
We Need Joy
“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.”
— Maya Angelou
People Will Never Forget
“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
Only Courage
“The only thing is, people have to develop courage.”
— Maya Angelou
Trust Life
“Trust life a little bit.”
— Maya Angelou
Untold Story Inside You
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
— Maya Angelou
You can also take advantage to read short and inspirational Faisal Kiani quotes about courage and leadership.
Maya Angelou Quotes About Strength
Here is the best collection of Maya Angelou quotes about strength.
Practice Any Other Virtue
“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
Must Not be Defeated
“We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.”
— Maya Angelou
Every Person
“I believe that every person is born with talent.”
— Maya Angelou
It is Time for Parents
“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”
— Maya Angelou
Nothing Can Dim
“Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.”
— Maya Angelou
Beauty and Strength
“In diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”
— Maya Angelou
Unbeatable Combination
“The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education.”
— Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou Quotes About Education
Here is the best collection of Maya Angelou quotes about education.
Know Better, Do Better
“When you know better you do better.”
— Maya Angelou
When You Learn
“When you learn, teach, when you get, give.”
— Maya Angelou
Any Book That Helps
“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
Education Helps
“Education helps one case cease being intimidated by strange situations.”
— Maya Angelou
The Quality of Strength
“The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education.”
— Maya Angelou
We Must Create
“We must create a climate where people agree that human beings are more alike than unalike. The only way to do that is through education.”
— Maya Angelou
Education is a Process
“Education is a process that goes on ’till death. The moment you see someone who knows she has found the one true way and can call all the others false, then you know you’re in the company of an ignoramus.”
— Maya Angelou
Intolerant of Ignorance
“My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance, but the understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors.”
— Maya Angelou
Short Maya Angelou Quotes and Sayings
Here are some short Maya Angelou quotes and saying.
Learn to Teach and Get to Give
“When you learn, teach. When you get, give.”
— Maya Angelou
Blind by Choice
“We are only as blind as we want to be.”
— Maya Angelou
All Great Achievements
“All great achievements require time.”
— Maya Angelou
We Need Much Less
“We need much less than we think we need.”
— Maya Angelou
Love is Like a Virus
“Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time.”
— Maya Angelou
Nothing Will Work
“Nothing will work unless you do.”
— Maya Angelou
There’s No Greater Agony
“There’s no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
— Maya Angelou
Be Present
“Be present in all things, and thankful for all things.”
— Maya Angelou
Live as Though
“Live as though life was created for you.”
— Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou Quotes About Kindness
Here is the best collection of Maya Angelou quotes about kindness.
I’ve Learned
“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
My Wish For You
“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.”
— Maya Angelou
I’ve Found
“I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.”
— Maya Angelou
I’ve Learned That
“I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug or just a friendly pat on the back.”
— Maya Angelou
People Will Never Forget
“People will never forget how you made them feel.”
— Maya Angelou
Kindness for the Folks
“Take a month and show some kindness for the folks who thought that blindness was an illness that affected eyes alone.”
— Maya Angelou
My Hope
“My hope is that we develop enough courage to develop courage. To try to have, try to learn to treat each other fairly, with generosity and kindness.”
— Maya Angelou
Strong and Kind
“I have a son, who is my heart. A wonderful young man, daring and loving and strong and kind.”
— Maya Angelou
The Power of Courage
“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
Maya Angelou Quotes About Writing
Here is the best collection of Maya Angelou quotes about writing.
I’ll Rise
“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
The idea is to Write
“The idea is to write it so that people hear it, and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.”
— Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou Quotes About Friendship
Here is the best collection of Maya Angelou quotes about friendship.
When Someone Shows
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”
— Maya Angelou
I’ve Great Respect for the Past
“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
The Truth
“The truth is, no one of us can be free until everybody is free.”
— Maya Angelou
Try to be Rainbow
“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.”
— Maya Angelou
Courage is the Most Important
“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
Prejudice
“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible.”
— Maya Angelou
Music Was My Refuge
“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”
— Maya Angelou
Caring for Somebody else
“If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.”
— Maya Angelou
A Wise Woman
“A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim.”
— Maya Angelou
The Ache for Home
“The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”
— Maya Angelou
It is Impossible
“It is impossible to struggle for civil rights, equal rights for blacks, without including whites. Because equal rights, fair play, and justice, are all like the air: we all have it, or none of us has it. That is the truth of it.”
— Maya Angelou
Success Needs Time
“All great achievements require time.”
— Maya Angelou
Human Voice
“Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.”
— Maya Angelou
Heroes
“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!”
— Maya Angelou
History and Liberty
“The more you know of your history, the more liberated you are.”
— Maya Angelou
Need to Live Again
“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”
— Maya Angelou
Truth & Facts
“There’s a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth.”
— Maya Angelou
Illiteracy
“Elimination of illiteracy is as serious an issue to our history as the abolition of slavery.”
— Maya Angelou
Giving
“I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.”
— Maya Angelou
Defeat
“We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.”
— Maya Angelou
Unless You Do
“Nothing will work unless you do.”
— Maya Angelou
Untold Story
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
— Maya Angelou
Advocate
“I learned a long time ago the wisest thing I can do is be on my own side, be an advocate for myself and others like me.”
— Maya Angelou
You Can Decide
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
— Maya Angelou
Empathy
“I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.”
— Maya Angelou
Greatest Gift
“It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody.”
— Maya Angelou
Bitterness
“Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.”
— Maya Angelou
Beauty & Strength
“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”
— Maya Angelou
Strong Women
“We are braver and wiser because they existed, those strong women and strong men… We are who we are because they were who they were. It’s wise to know where you come from, and who called your name.”
— Maya Angelou
Own Back
“I got my own back.”
— Maya Angelou
I Respect Myself
“I respect myself and insist upon it from everybody. And because I do it, I then respect everybody, too.”
— Maya Angelou
Myself
“I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.”
— Maya Angelou
Equal Distribution of Talent
“I believe that every person is born with talent.”
— Maya Angelou
Stand Up
“You have to develop ways so that you can take up for yourself, and then you take up for someone else. And so sooner or later, you have enough courage to really stand up for the human race and say, ‘I’m a representative.’”
— Maya Angelou
Don’t Get Older
“Don’t get older just to get wiser. If you get older, you will be wiser, I believe that – if you dare. But get older because it’s fun!”
— Maya Angelou
Confront
“We have to confront ourselves. Do we like what we see in the mirror? And, according to our light, according to our understanding, according to our courage, we will have to say yea or nay – and rise!”
— Maya Angelou
If One is Lucky
“If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities.”
— Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou’s Famous Poem “Still I Rise”
Still I Rise
BY MAYA ANGELOU
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.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.
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.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
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.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Credits: Maya Angelou, “Still I Rise” from And Still I Rise: A Book of Poems.
Summing Up
All humans are equal in rights no matter what religion, creed, language, territory, tribe, or color they have. There is no doubt that we all bleed red and have the same nature of hearts.
All of us like peace, love, dignity, and respect. All of us need love, equality, justice, and loyalty. We like courage, truthfulness, gratitude, and kindness. Discrimination and inequality cause imbalance in society.
Spotless, great character and good deeds can bring freedom and liberty through equality and Justice. Maya Angelou quotes on life, love, courage, leadership, success, and education revolve around this.
FAQ’s
Maya Angelou Quotes When Someone
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”
— Maya Angelou
Find more about Maya Angelou inspirational short quotes.
Maya Angelou Quotes I’ve Learned
“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
Find more about Maya Angelou quotes about life, friendship, leadership, fear, and Love.
Maya Angelou Quotes How You Feel
“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
Find more about Maya Angelou quotes about Life, love, success, courage, change, and friendship.
Maya Angelou Quotes Do Better
“When you know better, you do better.”
— Maya Angelou
Find more about Maya Angelou quotes about success.
