Inspiring Quotes by Maya Angelou
(Page 4 of 6)

Just like moons and suns,
With certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Making a decision to write was a lot like deciding to jump into a frozen lake.

It is this belief in a power larger than myself and other than myself which allows me to venture into the unknown and even the unknowable.

Strong women- precious jewels all- their humanness is evident in their accessibility. We are able to enter into the spirit of these women and rejoice in their warmth and courage.

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.

Ritie, don't worry 'cause you ain't pretty. Plenty pretty women I seen digging ditches or worse. You smart. I swear to God, I rather you have a good mind than a cute behind.

Ain't nothin' to it, but to do it.

I dreamt we walked together along the shore. We made satisfying small talk and laughed. This morning I found sand in my shoe and a seashell in my pocket. Was I only dreaming?

Each of us, famous or infamous, is a role model for somebody, and if we aren't, we should behave as though we are -- cheerful, kind, loving, courteous. Because you can be sure someone is watching and taking deliberate and diligent notes.

If you're for the right thing, you do it without thinking.

Poetry puts starch in your backbone so you can stand, so you can compose your life.

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies.
You may trod me in the very dirt, but still like dust, I'll rise.

I believe most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise.

My life has been one great big joke,
A dance that's walked,
A song that's spoke,
I laugh so hard I almost choke,
When I think about myself.

Love life. Engage in it. Give it all you've got. Love it with a passion because life truly does give back, many times over, what you put into it.

To those who are given much, much is expected.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
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.

Whining is not only graceless, but can be dangerous. It can alert a brute that a victim is in the neighborhood.

Success is loving life and daring to live it.

A woman who is convinced that she deserves to accept only the best challenges herself to give the best. Then she is living phenomenally.

Living well is an art that can be developed: a love of life and ability to take great pleasure from small offerings and assurance that the world owes you nothing and that every gift is exactly that, a gift.

If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.

Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can't take their eyes off you.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill,
of things unknown, but longed for still,
and his tune is heard on the distant hill,
for the caged bird sings of freedom.

Some people cannot see a good thing when it is right here, right now. Others can sense a good thing coming when it is days, months, or miles away.

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

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

I am a Woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal Woman,
that's me.

A Woman in harmony with her spirit
is like a river flowing.
She goes where she will without pretense and arrives at her destination
prepared to be herself
and only herself.

The problem I have with haters is that they see my glory, but they don't know my story.

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

I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.

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

I don't trust anyone who doesn't laugh.

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.

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

Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it!

What you're supposed to do when you don't like a thing is change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it. Don't complain.

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

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

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.

I don't believe an accident of birth makes people sisters or brothers. It makes them siblings, gives them mutuality of parentage. Sisterhood and brotherhood is a condition people have to work at.

The human heart is so delicate and sensitive that it always needs some tangible encouragement to prevent it from faltering in its labour.

I encourage you to live with life. Be courageous, adventurous. Give us a tomorrow, more than we deserve.

I would like to be known as an intelligent woman, a courageous woman, a loving woman, a woman who teaches by being.

Without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently.

It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.

There's a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure truth.

Let choice whisper in your ear and love murmur in your heart. Be ready. Here comes life.

Since time is the one immaterial object which we cannot influence neither speed up nor slow down add to nor diminish it is an imponderably valuable gift.

When you know better you do better.

Now, after years of observation and enough courage to admit what I have observed, I try to plant peace if I do not want discord; to plant loyalty and honesty if I want to avoid betrayal and lies.

If you have done the best you can do and if you have gotten all you could extract from something, you have given all you had to give, then the time has come when you can do no more than say thank you and move on.

Freedom is never free.

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

A great soul serves everyone all the time. A great soul never dies. It brings us together again and again.

Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer.

Don't believe an accident of birth makes people sisters or brothers. It makes them siblings, gives them mutuality of parentage. Sisterhood and brotherhood is a condition people have to work at.

I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.

You don't have to tell everything you know, but let what you do say be the truth as you understand it.

Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking. You might find a new solution.

You can't get too high for somebody to bring you down.

I want you to learn that you cannot have anything without working for it.

I will look after you and I will look after anybody you say needs to be looked after, any way you say. I am here. I brought my whole self to you. I am your mother.

Life is going to give you just what you put in it. Put your whole heart in everything you do, and pray, then you can wait.

As far as I knew white women were never lonely, except in books. White men adored them, Black men desired them and Black women worked for them.

I am overwhelmed by the grace and persistence of my people.

My heart is so heavy when I see the reality of the Indian reservation and as an American, I know I am, too, responsible.

The most difficult thing in the world, it seems to me, is to realize that I am a child of God; to keep that in my mind all the time.

God puts rainbows in the clouds so that each of us -- in the dreariest and most dreaded moments -- can see a possibility of hope.

Each child belongs to all of us and they will bring us a tomorrow in direct relation to the responsibility we have shown to them.

I am a woman phenomenally, phenomenal woman that is your grandmother, that is your mother, that is your sister, that is you and that is me.

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

My pride had been starched by a family who assumed unlimited authority in its own affairs.

Every day I awaken I am grateful. My intent is to be totally present in that day. And laugh as much as possible.

If you must look back, do so forgivingly. If you will look forward, do so prayerfully. But the wisest course would be to be present in the present gratefully.

Stormy or sunny days, glorious or lonely nights, I maintain an attitude of gratitude.

Be present in all things and thankful for all things.

I have respect for the past, but I'm a person of the moment.

The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education.

When we find someone who is brave, fun, intelligent, and loving, we have to thank the universe.

We spend precious hours fearing the inevitable. It would be wise to use that time adoring our families, cherishing our friends and living our lives.

I believe in living a poetic life, an art full life. Everything we do from the way we raise our children to the way we welcome our friends is part of a large canvas we are creating.

I think a hero is any person really intent on making this a better place for all people.

A leader sees greatness in other people. He nor she can be much of a leader if all she sees is herself.

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

Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God.

We are not just flesh and blood. And our hungers are not going to be set aside as just flesh and blood.

Grace is like a lake of drinkable water right outside your door. But you stay inside and die of thirst.