Introduction,
Maya Angelou was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist who was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. She was the second of three children and grew up in St. Louis and Stamps, Arkansas.
Angelou’s childhood was marked by trauma and adversity, including sexual abuse, racism, and poverty. Despite these challenges, she went on to become one of the most influential and beloved writers of the 20th century.
Angelou is best known for her memoir “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” which tells the story of her childhood and young adulthood. She also wrote numerous other books, including poetry collections and autobiographical works. Her writing was marked by its honesty, resilience, and wisdom, and she became a symbol of hope and inspiration for many.
Angelou died on May 28, 2014, at the age of 86, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Her death was met with widespread grief and tributes from around the world, and she was remembered as one of the most important voices of her generation. Angelou’s legacy continues to be celebrated today, and her writing and activism continue to inspire and empower people around the world.
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.
Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.
If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.
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.
I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as making a ‘life.
I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it.
We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.
Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible.
Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.
We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.
We need much less than we think we need.
I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.
The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.
When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.
I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.
If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.
Nothing will work unless you do.
Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in this world, but it has not solved one yet.
You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.
I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t laugh.
If you’re always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.
When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.
If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.
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 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.
We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.
Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.
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.
If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.
Nothing will work unless you do.
Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.
If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love.
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
The truth is, no one of us can be free until everybody is free.
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.
Won’t it be wonderful when black history and native American history and Jewish history and all of U.S. history is taught from one book. Just U.S. history.
I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.
Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.
Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.
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.
It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody.
The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.
A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim.
Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.
You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.
Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.
I have a son, who is my heart. A wonderful young man, daring and loving and strong and kind.
