Best Maya Angelou Quotes

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.

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.

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.

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.

Nothing will work unless you do.

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

I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

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

Best Maya Angelou Quotes part 2

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

I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

You did then what you knew how to do. When you knew better, you did better.

A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim.

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

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible.

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.

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.

If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.

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

Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.

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

I work really hard to just stay in the now. That’s what I have control over.

My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more intelligent and more educated than college professors.

You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot – it’s all there.

I am grateful to be a woman. I must have done something great in another life.

I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.

You can’t forgive without loving. And I don’t mean sentimentality. I don’t mean mush. I mean having enough courage to stand up and say, ‘I forgive. I’m finished with it.’

In all my work, I try to say – ‘You may be given a load of sour lemons, why not try to make a dozen lemon meringue pies?’

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.

I know for sure that love saves me and that it is here to save us all.

I do my best because I’m counting on you counting on me.

When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.

If I am not good to myself, how can I expect anyone else to be good to me?

The love of the family, the love of the person, can heal. It heals the scars left by a larger society. A massive, powerful society.

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.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

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.

If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love.

The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.

I am a woman, phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, that’s me.

Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation that is not nurturing to the whole woman.

Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time.

When you know better, you do better.

I don’t trust people who don’t love themselves and tell me, ‘I love you.’ There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.

I’m convinced of this: Good done anywhere is good done everywhere. For a change, start by speaking to people rather than walking by them like they’re stones that don’t matter. As long as you’re breathing, it’s never too late to do some good.

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.

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.

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.

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.

Nothing will work unless you do.

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

I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

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

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

I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

You did then what you knew how to do. When you knew better, you did better.

A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim.

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

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible.

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.

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.

If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.

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

Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.

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

I work really hard to just stay in the now. That’s what I have control over.

My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more intelligent and more educated than college professors.

You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot – it’s all there.

I am grateful to be a woman. I must have done something great in another life.

I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.

You can’t forgive without loving. And I don’t mean sentimentality. I don’t mean mush. I mean having enough courage to stand up and say, ‘I forgive. I’m finished with it.’

In all my work, I try to say – ‘You may be given a load of sour lemons, why not try to make a dozen lemon meringue pies?’

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.

I know for sure that love saves me and that it is here to save us all.

I do my best because I’m counting on you counting on me.

When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.

If I am not good to myself, how can I expect anyone else to be good to me?

The love of the family, the love of the person, can heal. It heals the scars left by a larger society. A massive, powerful society.

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.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

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.

If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love.

The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.

I am a woman, phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, that’s me.

Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation that is not nurturing to the whole woman.

Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time.

When you know better, you do better.

I don’t trust people who don’t love themselves and tell me, ‘I love you.’ There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.

I’m convinced of this: Good done anywhere is good done everywhere. For a change, start by speaking to people rather than walking by them like they’re stones that don’t matter. As long as you’re breathing, it’s never too late to do some good.