Inspirational 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.

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I’ve learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life.

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

Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.

Inspirational Maya Angelou Quotes part 2

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

Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.

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.

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

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’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 can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.

You are the best thing that’s ever been mine.

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

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

Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.

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

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, when its wings are bruised and its bosom sore. It beats its bars and would be free. It’s not a carol of joy or glee, but a prayer that it sends from its heart’s deep core.

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

Most people don’t grow up. Most people age. They find parking spaces, honor their credit cards, get married, have children, and call that maturity. What that is, is aging.

I believe that each of us comes from the creator trailing wisps of glory.

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.

We need much less than we think we need.

Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.

I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.

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

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

I’m grateful for being here, for being able to think, for being able to see, for being able to taste, for appreciating love – for knowing that it exists in a world so rife with vulgarity, with brutality and violence, and yet love exists.

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 learned a long time ago that there is something worse than missing the goal, and that’s not pulling the trigger.

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

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

Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.

The truth is, no one of us can be free until everybody is free.

Nothing will work unless you do.

You are the ancestor of tomorrow, and what you do matters.