Maya Angelou Inspiring Quotations

It's one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody.

We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.

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

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.

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

Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.

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

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.

You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

For a person who grew up in the '30s and '40s in the segregated South, with so many doors closed without explanation to me, libraries and books said, 'Here I am, read me.' Over time I have learned I am at my best around books.

All men are prepared to accomplish the incredible if their ideals are threatened.

Those of us who submitted or surrendered our ideas and dreams and identities to the 'leaders' must take back our rights, our identities, our responsibilities.

Never whine. Whining lets a brute know that a victim is in the neighborhood.

I'm grateful to be of use. I will not be misused or abused, but I will be of use to anybody.

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.

I am a Woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal Woman, that's me.

Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art.

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

We need to remember that we are all created creative and can invent new scenarios as frequently as they are needed.

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

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

When I am writing, I am trying to find out who I am, who we are, what we're capable of, how we feel, how we lose and stand up, and go on from darkness into darkness. I'm trying for that. But I'm also trying for the language. I'm trying to see how it can really sound. I really love language. I love it for wate it does for us, how it allows us to explain the pain and the glory, the nuances and delicacies of our existence. And then it allows us to laugh, allows us to show wit. Real wit is shown in language. We need language.

Each time I write a book, every time I face that yellow pad, the challenge is so great. I have written eleven books, but each time I think, ‘Uh oh, they’re going to find out now. I’ve run a game on everybody and they’re going to find me out.

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

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way (s)he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

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.

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

The problem I have with haters is that they see my glory, but they don't know my story...

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

You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody.

If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be.