Quotessence
Home / Authors / Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllIfsInspirationalPeopleKnowsLifeThinkingPhenomenal WomanPersonsTryingHumansBlack WomenWritingGivingInspiringWantChildrenMayWorldNeedsAfrican American

Famous Maya Angelou Quotes

“I thought about black women and wondered how we got to be the way we were. In our country, white men were always in superior positions; after them came white women, then black men, then black women, who were historically on the bottom stratum. How did it happen that we could nurse a nation of strangers, be maids to multitudes of people who scorned us, and still walk with some majesty and stand with a degree of pride?”

StrengthPrideBlack WomenAfrican AmericansBlacksSocial Strata
Book:A Song Flung Up to Heaven
Create image

“Black females, for the most part, know by the time they are ten years old that the world is not much concerned with the quality of their lives or even their lives at all. When politicians and salespeople start being kind to black women, seeking them out, offering them largesse, the women accept the soft voices, the simpering statements, the often idle promises, because those are likely to be the only flattering behavior directed to them that day. Behind the women's eyes, however, there is a wisdom that does not pretend to be unaware; nor does it permit gullibility.”

WisdomKindnessBlack WomenAfrican AmericansFlatteryPoliticiansBlacksSalespeople
Book:A Song Flung Up to Heaven
Create image

“The Black female is assaulted in her tender years by all those common forces of nature at the same time that she is caught in the tripartite crossfire of masculine prejudice, white illogical hate and Black lack of power. The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerence. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors and deserves respect if not enthusiastic acceptance.”

BlackFeminismRacismBlack WomenAfrican AmericansBlacksI Know Why The Caged Bird SingsWomen Of ColorMaya AngelouMasculity
Book:I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Create image

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

InspirationalSelfMotivationalHappinessSuccessMotivationFearInspiringBusinessSuccessfulTeacherEntrepreneurPerseveranceAppreciationAccomplishLikesEntrepreneurshipAfrican AmericanMoving OnAccomplishedBeing SuccessfulSelf MotivationLove YourselfSuccessful PeopleSuccess In LifeBlack WomenKey To SuccessBlack HistoryFollow Your HeartRoad To SuccessRecipe For SuccessBe True To YourselfListen To Your HeartBig BusinessMotivational BusinessMotivational SuccessListen To YourselfSuccesWise WomenInspirational SuccessBest SuccessMeasure Of SuccessCareer SuccessGreatest SuccessBest BusinessWill To SucceedDefinition Of SuccessPhenomenal WomanDrive And SuccessLiking SomeoneHard Work SuccessReaching SuccessHard Work Comes SuccessOpportunity For SuccessLife MotivationSuccess And LifeHard Work And SuccessSucceeding In BusinessDefine SuccessBlack MotivationalEnvy And SuccessSpiritual SuccessAmerican SuccessFriday MorningBe The Kind Of Woman
Author:Maya Angelou
Create image

“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”

LifeInspirationalHumorLife IsPassionInspiringPowerfulCompassionStyleInspirational LifeLife PhilosophyEmpathyMissionsAfrican AmericanLive LifeMoving OnMeaning Of LifeThriveSympathyLiving My LifeEnjoy LifeBlack WomenSurvivingMy PassionPhenomenalWise WomenLife Worth LivingLive With PassionFollow Your PassionCelebrate LifeMissions In LifeFollowing DreamsPhenomenal WomanPassion For LifeCourage To LovePassion And SuccessLife Is GreatLove And CourageAim Of LifeDreams And PassionInspirational PassionLife And PassionRemembering HerWill To Survive
Author:Maya Angelou
Create image

“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.”

KnowsMayStillsFactsSpiritualFailureEmpowermentDeterminationAdversityWho You ArePerseveranceDefeatPersistenceMoving OnEncountersHard TimesHardshipKeep GoingWomen EmpowermentDefeatedStrong WomenPersistBlack WomenDifficult TimesEmpowering WomenBad DayPersevereOvercoming AdversityBeing A WomanPowerful WomenEmpowered WomenWomen Empowering WomenInspirational WomenPerserveranceSuccessful WomenInspirational Strong WomenBeing A Strong WomanDetermination And PersistenceStrong Women And LoveGreat PerseveranceI Am StrongGreat DeterminationPhenomenal WomanStrong InspirationalTough ThingsPersistence InspirationalAdversity In LifeBeing Independent WomanGetting Through Tough TimesStrong Powerful WomenStrength And PerseveranceGoing Gets ToughImages Of Strong WomenBlack Women InspirationalGoing StrongStrong IndependentBlack MotivationalPersonal EmpowermentConfident WomanDefeated YouTough WomenEncouragement For WomenMake People Feel Better
Author:Maya Angelou
Create image

“I do not trust people who don't love themselves and yet tell me, 'I love you.' There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.”

PeopleLoveInspirationalPersonsLove YouTrustSelf LoveOffersTrue LoveCarefulNakedShirtsLove YourselfBe CarefulBlack WomenI Love YouTrust MeInsperationalDon't TrustI Loved YouLove And TrustPhenomenal WomanTrust IssuesI Trust YouI Love You So MuchTrust And RespectTrust LoveLoving PersonNot TrustingTrusting YouDon't Trust AnyoneHard To TrustTrusting PeopleI Don't Trust YouWho To TrustDon't Trust People
Author:Maya Angelou
Create image

“In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine.”

WorldLoveLifeHeartLove IsMarriageMinesCoupleRomanticTrue LoveMatesInspirational LoveWeddingSoulmateBlack WomenI Love YouLoving SomeoneSoul MateAnniversaryGetting MarriedNo LoveLove And MarriageWhen You Love SomeoneMarriage LovePhenomenal WomanRomantic Love YouYour SoulmateLove You So MuchMy True LoveRomantic I Love YouSoulmate LoveMy Soul MateRomantic WeddingLove You LikeMy SoulmateMarried LoveI Love You LikeHappy AnniversaryPerfect FitRomantic MarriageYour My SoulmateFlames And LoveSoulmates And LoveSouls In LoveBeautiful MarriageCouple LoveInspirational SoulmateSoulmates Best FriendsMarriage EngagementTouching The HeartOld Couple
Author:Maya Angelou
Create image

“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’m grateful to know that it exists.”

ThinkingKnowsWorldLoveLifeAbleAbilityExistenceKnowingViolencePositivePositive ThinkingTasteAppreciateGratefulAppreciationAfrican AmericanBe GratefulBlack WomenThankfulBeing ThankfulBrutalityVulgarityWise WomenLife Is GoodPhenomenal WomanAppreciate What You HaveLearn To AppreciateForever Grateful
Author:Maya Angelou
Create image

“Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise. I rise. I rise.”

InspirationalDreamHopeBlackHistorySlaveAfrican AmericanHeritageAncestorBlack WomenBlack HistoryBlack History MonthAfrican American WomenBlack History Month InspirationalBlack AmericaAfrican American HistoryDaybreakBlack History InspirationalAfrican American LoveAfrican American InspirationalAfrican American History MonthBlack InspirationalInspirational History
Book:Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women
Create image

“In diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”

InspirationalDifferentKidsParentDifferencesBusinessBeautyStrengthDiversityParentingToleranceVarietyAfrican AmericanInclusionLiteracyBlack WomenBeing DifferentUnity In DiversityMom And DadWise WomenAfrican American WomenParents LoveChildren LearningChildren EducationPhenomenal WomanParents And TeachersIndividual DifferencesInspirational StrengthInspirational DiversityDiversity Of LifeAmazing ParentsStrength And BeautyHuman DiversityTolerance And DiversityWise ParentsYoung ParentsMom Dad
Book:Rainbow in the Cloud: The Wit and Wisdom of Maya Angelou
Create image

“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.”

MenWayNeedsFeelsWellsKindLittlesHas BeensImportantStatesAbleCultureBlackJusticeWhiteUnitedHistoryUnited StatesFieldsDiversitySocial JusticeShouldersBlockWheelsBlack WomenGhettoCottonSuperfluousDecorationAmerican WomanAuctionsWomen RightCotton Fields
Author:Maya Angelou
Create image

“Each one of us has lived through some devastation, some loneliness, some weather superstorm or spiritual superstorm, when we look at each other we must say, I understand. I understand how you feel because I have been there myself. We must support each other and empathize with each other because each of us is more alike than we are unalike.”

LifeFeelsLooksHas BeensSpiritualUnderstandingChallengesCompassionSupportLonelinessWise WordsEmpathyWeatherAfrican AmericanSympathyLiving My LifeBlack WomenHow You FeelFeeling LonelyDevastationPhenomenal WomanWe Need Each Other
Author:Maya Angelou
Create image

“I believed that there was a God because I was told it by my grandmother and later by other adults. But when I found that I knew not only that there was God but that I was a child of God, when I understood that, when I comprehended that, more than that, when I internalized that, ingested that, I became courageous.”

BelieveChildrenGodChristianFaithFoundJesusBeliefI BelieveReligiousLordCourageUnderstoodAdultsBraveChristian InspirationalAfrican AmericanGod LoveGrandmotherCourageousHave FaithTrust In GodFaith In GodMy GrandmotherBlack WomenGrandmaCommitment To GodChild Of GodConfidence In GodIntimacy With GodServant Of GodGreatness Of GodGod Within UsMighty GodComprehendingPhenomenal WomanI Love God
Author:Maya Angelou
Create image

“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.”

IfsInspirationalHumorMotivationalHappinessSuccessChangeBusinessAttitudeCompassionPositivePositive ThinkingPositivityLikesMoving OnPositive AttitudeBlack WomenThings ChangeMaking ChangesTough TimesNever ChangeLike SomethingCan't ChangePositive MindsetDon't ChangeMy AttitudeSassyMental AttitudeChanging Your MindWise WomenChange For The BetterPositive Thinking And AttitudeBest AttitudeKeep A Positive AttitudePositive Thinking AttitudeNegative AttitudeGreat AttitudeLife AttitudePositive Mental AttitudeAttitude And LifeGreat Positive AttitudeChange Your AttitudeHaving A Positive AttitudeShort Positive AttitudeAttitudes And SuccessPositive Attitude In LifeInspirational Positive AttitudePeople ChangingPositive Attitude Towards LifeCourage To ChangeGetting Through Tough TimesStop ComplainingChanging AttitudePeople Can ChangeCan Do AttitudeMind ChangingYou Can't Change PeoplePeople Don't ChangeYou Need To ChangeSome People Never ChangeCan't Change PeopleWork AttitudeBehavior And AttitudePeople Never ChangeAttitude ProblemThings Will Never ChangeGood Change
Author:Maya Angelou
Create image

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

PeopleInspirationalFirstsBelieveShowsMotivationI BelieveInspiringRelationshipTrustFirst TimeI Believe InAfrican AmericanMoving OnEmpoweringBlack WomenHusseinEmpowering WomenPeople In Your LifeMind BlowingWomen Empowering WomenInspirational WomenBeliveWise WomenInspirational Strong WomenMeeting New PeoplePhenomenal WomanChristianity And IslamStrong InspirationalGetting To Know Each OtherMother Wit
Author:Maya Angelou
Create image

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

LoveLifeInspirationalHopeCompassionAchieveWallRomanticBoundariesAfrican AmericanMemorableBarriersDestinationLeapInspirational LoveWeddingRomantic LoveFenceBlack WomenRecognizingJumpingUnconditionalValentine's DayPenetratePhenomenalArrivingGreatest LoveHurdleWhen You Love SomeoneInspiring LovePhenomenal WomanWedding MarriageCourage To LoveWeddings And MarriageWeddings And LoveAmazing LoveRomantic WeddingLove And CouragePoetry By PoetsPowerful LoveBeautiful MarriageHurdling ObstaclesRemembering HerLeaps And BoundsCultural BarriersLanguage BarriersLove Never Fails
Author:Maya Angelou
Create image

“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.”

LifeInspirationalNeedsGivingWisdomHandsAbleWomenInspiringCompassionLearningInspirational LifeLife PhilosophyReturnTrainingParentingCharityAfrican AmericanI've LearnedNever ForgetI Have LearnedStrong WomenVolunteerBlack WomenGiving BackEmpoweredEmpowering WomenSecond ChanceServing OthersPhenomenalForget YouPowerful WomenOpen HeartSassyTangledDonationEmpowered WomenWomen Empowering WomenInspirational WomenWise WomenInspirational Strong WomenDonateThings I've LearnedCatchersInspirational CharityStrong Women And LoveI Am StrongPhenomenal WomanI Am WomanStrong InspirationalGenerosity And GivingGiven A ChanceEmpowering LoveChances In LifeOrgan DonationVolunteer AppreciationVolunteer ServiceVolunteers Making A DifferenceGiven A Second ChanceVolunteering And ServiceInspiring VolunteerKickass WomenForget The PainBeing Strong In LifeInspirational Thank You
Author:Maya Angelou
Create image

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

PeopleIfsLifeInspirationalGivingSelf EsteemCommunicationSmileValentineBlack WomenValentine's DayFamily LoveI SmileYour SmileGrinningJust SmileMy SmileHave A Good DayFunny Valentines DayValentine LoveValentines Day LoveMake You SmilePhenomenal WomanBest SmileRomantic Valentines DaySmile On Your FaceFunny ValentineJust Keep SmilingHappy ValentinesFunny Good MorningHappy Valentines DayMake Me SmileCute Valentines DayHappy Valentines Day FunnySurlyValentines Day CardsBe My ValentineAll SmilesYou Made Me SmileFunny Single Valentines DayValentines Day SpecialSmile MoreCute ValentineFunny SmileValentines GreetingsYou Make Me SmileSmile To The WorldBaby SmileHe Makes Me SmileCute SmileFebruary LoveMake People SmileCute Funny Valentines DayKickass WomenValentines Day GreetingsSmile LoveSweet SmileSmile And Tears
Book:The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou
Create image

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”

InspirationalSpaceHealingMusicLonelinessMusicianMusic IsLonelyNotesMusicalAfrican AmericanRefugeBlack WomenBeing AloneSanctuaryMusic LovePlaying MusicGreat MusicCurlsSpace BetweenFeeling LonelyCrawlingInspirational MusicPower Of MusicWriting MusicLoneliness And SolitudeMusic SoulFunny MusicMusic LifeWorld MusicAmerican MusicPhenomenal WomanSound Of MusicMusic And LifeFamous MusicianI Am LonelyMusic Is LifeMusic Is My LifeOld MusicPoetry And MusicPiano PlayingPowerful MusicMusic And HealingMusic ArtistMusic HealingNotes MusicSpiritual MusicFun MusicMusical NotesMusic WritingCreative MusicMusic And LyricsVocal Music
Author:Maya Angelou
Create image

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

InspirationalWritingStoriesWomenPowerfulGreaterBearsSocial JusticePositivityStorytellingAfrican AmericanMoving OnHard TimesAgonyBlack WomenInsperationalLoving LifeHave CourageRemember YouRemembers YouGreat WritersWriters And WritingTelling StoriesNovel WritingWriting By WritersGreat WritingWise WomenCagedAgonizingCreativity And WritingPhenomenal WomanInspiration To WriteInspirational CourageAspiring WritersCourage To LoveFamous WritersInspiring WritingStory WritersCourage To ChangeCreative WritersWriting From Famous AuthorsLove And CourageStory PeopleCaged BirdsI Know Why The Caged Bird SingsDefeated YouRemembering HerTelling Your StoryEveryone Has A StoryUntold StoriesCreating Stories
Author:Maya Angelou
Create image

“I'm not sure if resilience is ever achieved alone. Experience allows us to learn from example. But if we have someone who loves us-I don't mean who indulges us, but who loves us enough to be on our side-then it's easier to grow resilience, to grow belief in self, to grow self-esteem. And it's self-esteem that allows a person to stand up.”

IfsMeanPersonsSelfEnoughBeliefGrowsSidesSelf EsteemExampleEasierResilienceEsteemNot SureBlack WomenIndulgeNot AloneStand UpBelief In SelfPhenomenal Woman
Author:Maya Angelou
Create image

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

InspirationalMayBlackInspiringBusinessCourageStrengthVictoryLosingDefeatAfrican AmericanEncountersNurseDefeatedBlack WomenNot Giving UpBlack HistoryStay StrongBeing StrongSingle MomTapestryWise WomenGiving Up Is Not An OptionMakes You StrongerNever SurrenderPhenomenal WomanBlack History InspirationalLove And CourageBlack Women InspirationalBlack InspirationalDefeated YouRemembering HerGoody Two Shoes
Author:Maya Angelou
Create image