Maya Angelou Quotes on Beauty

Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.

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.

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

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

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.

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

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

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

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

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

Children’s talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives.

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

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.

Try to be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

I believe that every person is born with talent.

To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power.

Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Invite one to stay.

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.

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

There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you.

Nothing will work unless you do.

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.

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.

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

I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.

You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn’t do anything to the object of its displeasure. So use that anger, yes. You write it. You paint it. You dance it. You march it. You vote it. You do everything about it. You talk it. Never stop talking it.

We need much less than we think we need.

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’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 know why the caged bird sings, ah me, when his wing is bruised and his bosom sore; when he beats his bars and he would be free, it is not a carol of joy or glee, but a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core.

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.

It is what you make out of what you have, not what you are given, that separates one person from another.

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.

It’s being here now that’s important. There’s no past and there’s no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can’t relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don’t know if there is one.

Nothing will work unless you do.

All great achievements require time.

A friend may be waiting behind a stranger’s face.

Determine to kiss the joy as it flies.

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