Powerful Maya Angelou Quotes

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.

Powerful Maya Angelou Quotes part 2

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.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

We need much less than we think we need.

Nothing can dim the light that shines from within.

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.

Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.

I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know that I’m going to be positive and not wake up feeling desperate.

I’ve learned that in order to be free, you have to let go.

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

We spend precious hours fearing the inevitable, instead of getting busy living or dying.

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

We can learn to see each other and see ourselves in each other and recognize that human beings are more alike than we are unalike.

My mother said I must always be tolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy.

You may not know what you have to do, and that’s okay. Sometimes you have to jump, and then grow wings on the way down.

Forgive yourself for not knowing what you didn’t know before you learned it.

We are only as blind as we want to be.

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.

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

If you’re going down a road and you’re not liking what’s in front of you, and look behind you and there’s nothing there either, and you don’t want to be where you are, you have two choices. You can either take the first step, or you can hang around and wait for a miracle to happen.

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

To be left alone on the tightrope of youthful unknowing is to experience the excruciating beauty of full freedom and the threat of eternal indecision.

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

Don’t bring negative to my door.