Maya Angelou Quotes

A collection of quotes by Maya Angelou.

Maya Angelou (1928-2014) was an American poet, author, and civil rights activist. She was born Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. Angelou grew up in a racially divided society where she faced prejudice and discrimination. Despite a challenging childhood, she found solace in literature and discovered the power of words.

Angelou's literary works are characterized by her ability to express the strength, resilience, and beauty of the African American experience. Her most renowned work, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" (1969), is an autobiographical novel that explores themes of racism, identity, and personal transformation. It quickly became a bestseller and is considered a classic of American literature.

Throughout her life, Angelou used her talent with words to advocate for equality and social justice. She worked closely with prominent civil rights activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Angelou's commitment to civil rights and her contributions to the arts earned her numerous awards and honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Maya Angelou's legacy as a poet, writer, and activist continues to inspire people around the world. Her profound insights into the human condition and her ability to give voice to the marginalized have made her an iconic figure in American literature and a symbol of strength and resilience.

You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted l

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.

I got my own back.

I got my own back.

That knowledge humbles me, melts my bones, closes my ears, a

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.

How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our he

How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!

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

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

Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you c

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'm just someone who likes cooking and for whom sharing food

I'm just someone who likes cooking and for whom sharing food is a form of expression.

The white American man makes the white American woman maybe

The white American man makes the white American woman maybe not superfluous but just a little kind of decoration. Not really important to turning around the wheels of the state. Well the black American woman has never been able to feel that way. No black American man at any time in our history in the United States has been able to feel that he didn't need that black woman right against him, shoulder to shoulder -- in that cotton field, on the auction block, in the ghetto, wherever.

A bizarre sensation pervades a relationship of pretense. No

A bizarre sensation pervades a relationship of pretense. No truth seems true. A simple morning's greeting and response appear loaded with innuendo and fraught with implications. Each nicety becomes more sterile and each withdrawal more permanent.

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

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.

Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: I'm with you k

Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: I'm with you kid. Let's go.

The need for change bulldozed road down the center of my min

The need for change bulldozed road down the center of my mind.

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change

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

Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking h

Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it

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

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

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

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.

If we are bold, love strikes away the chains of fear from ou

If we are bold, love strikes away the chains of fear from our souls.

A Woman in harmony with her spirit is like a river flowing.S

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

kudos to the educators, athletes, dancers, judges, janitors,

kudos to the educators, athletes, dancers, judges, janitors, politicians, artists, actors, writers, singers, poets, and social activist, to all who dare to look at like with humor, determination and respect

A certain person wondered whya big strong girl like mewouldn

A certain person wondered whya big strong girl like mewouldn't keep a jobwhich paid a normal salary.I took my time to lead herand to read her every page.Even minimal peoplecan't survive on minimal wage.A certain person wondered whyI wait all week for you.I didn't have the wordsto describe just what you do.I said you had the motionof the ocean in your walk,and when you solve my riddlesyou don't even have to talk.