Sometimes, the smallest words carry the deepest truths. That makes Dr. Maya Angelou’s quotes so special – they speak straight to the heart in a language everyone can understand.

These quotes are like a small light that helps us see ourselves and our lives more clearly.

When you’re stuck, scared, happy, or hopeful, Dr. Angelou’s wisdom meets you there.

Her quotes have been shared at kitchen tables, written on graduation cards, and whispered as encouragement in tough times. They’ve helped people stand a little taller, love a little deeper, and dream a little bigger.

Before we explore her timeless words of wisdom, let’s look at the remarkable life that shaped them.

The Extraordinary Life of Dr. Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou was born in 1928. Her birth name was Marguerite Annie Johnson. St. Louis, Missouri was her first home.

Life changed when she was three. Her parents split up, and her brother moved to Stamps, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother.

At seven, something terrible happened. She stopped talking. The silence lasted nearly five years. But she fell in love with books and poetry during those quiet years.

This was where her writing journey began.

Growing up, she took on many roles. She made history as San Francisco’s first Black female streetcar conductor. She sang, danced, wrote for newspapers, fought for civil rights, and traveled far, learning new languages and collecting stories.

Then came 1969. Her book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” changed everything. It told hard truths about Black life in the American South. The book opened doors.

She wrote 36 books, spoke at a president’s inauguration, and taught thousands of students. Her voice became a beacon of truth and hope.

Dr. Angelou died in 2014. But her impact lives on.

Her words still guide people through dark times. Her life proves that our past shapes us but doesn’t limit us. She showed us that telling our story can help others find their voice.

Life & Purpose

1. “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.”
2. “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”
3. “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”
4. “Nothing will work unless you do.”
5. “We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.”
6. “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.”
7. “I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it.”
8. “The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind.”
9. “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”
10. “My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept love in return.”
11. “The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.”
12. “Living well is an art which can be developed.”
13. “I try to see every day as a celebration.”
14. “Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances.”
15. “Every storm runs out of rain.”
16. “I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as making a ‘life.'”
17. “Surviving is important. Thriving is elegant.”
18. “Stand up straight and realize who you are.”
19. “Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that, the sooner we will be able to treat life as art.”
20. “Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel.”

Courage & Strength

21. “Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency.”
22. “I am a woman. Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, that’s me.”
23. “I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels.”
24. “Develop enough courage so that you can stand up for yourself and then stand up for somebody else.”
25. “I not only have the right to stand up for myself, but I have the responsibility.”
26. “Courage is the most important of all virtues, because without courage, you cannot practice any other virtue consistently.”
27. “Each time a woman stands up for herself, she stands up for all women.”
28. “If you’re always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.”
29. “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”
30. “Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.”
31. “I got my own back.”
32. “A wise woman puts a grain of sugar in everything she says to a man, and takes a grain of salt with everything he says to her.”
33. “I created myself. I have taught myself so much.”
34. “Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.”
35. “If we lose love and self-respect for each other, this is how we finally die.”
36. “It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive.”
37. “I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.”
38. “I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.”
39. “It is a no-fail recipe. Just try, and fail, and try again, and fail better.”
40. “Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space. Invite one to stay.”

Love & Relationships

41. “Love recognizes no barriers.”
42. “If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love.”
43. “I know for sure that love saves me and that it is here to save us all.”
44. “Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.”
45. “Love liberates. It doesn’t bind.”
46. “A friend may be waiting behind a stranger’s face.”
47. “Loving someone liberates the lover as well as the beloved.”
48. “We are only as blind as we want to be.”
49. “If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.”
50. “When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.”
51. “You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody.”
52. “Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it.”
53. “I respect myself and insist upon it from everybody. And because I do it, I then respect everybody, too.”
54. “No one can take the place of a friend.”
55. “Let nothing dim the light that shines from within.”
56. “Try to live your life in a way that you will not regret years of useless virtue and inertia.”
57. “A mother’s love liberates.”
58. “I think a hero is any person really intent on making this a better place for all people.”
59. “We need much less than we think we need.”
60. “We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.”

Learning & Growth

61. “When you learn, teach. When you get, give.”
62. “I believe that every person is born with talent.”
63. “Seek patience and passion in equal amounts. Patience alone will not build the temple. Passion alone will destroy its walls.”
64. “The more you know of your history, the more liberated you are.”
65. “A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim.”
66. “We need joy as we need air.”
67. “All great achievements require time.”
68. “Education helps one cease being intimidated by strange situations.”
69. “Everything influences each of us, and because of that, I try to make sure that my experiences are positive.”
70. “I work very hard, and I play very hard. I’m grateful for life.”
71. “Words mean more than what is set down on paper.”
72. “A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”
73. “If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities.”
74. “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
75. “Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God.”
76. “Some people cannot see a good thing when it is right here, right now.”
77. “Never whine. Whining lets a brute know that a victim is in the neighborhood.”
78. “Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it.”
79. “I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.”
80. “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

Wisdom & Perspective

81. “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”
82. “The best way to get something done is to begin.”
83. “If you must look back, do so forgivingly. If you must look forward, do so prayerfully.”
84. “The desire to reach hearts is wise.”
85. “Bitterness eats upon the host. But anger burns it all clean.”
86. “A hero is anyone intent on making this a better place for all.”
87. “Success is liking yourself and liking what you do.”
88. “Nothing succeeds like success. Get a little success, and then just get a little more.”
89. “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
90. “Let gratitude be your guide.”
91. “If you’re always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.”
92. “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.”
93. “Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space. Invite one to stay.”
94. “It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”
95. “The best way to make a dream come true is to wake up.”
96. “We are only as blind as we want to be.”
97. “Ain’t nothin’ to it, but to do it.”
98. “If we lose love and self-respect for each other, this is how we finally die.”
99. “Try to live your life in a way that you will not regret years of useless virtue and inertia.”
100. “Hate has caused a lot of problems in the world, but it has not solved one yet.”

A Legacy That Lives On

Dr. Maya Angelou’s story isn’t just about her success. It’s about how one life, lived with courage and truth, can light the way for others.

Her path from a silent little girl to a powerful voice for change shows what’s possible when we face our fears. She turned hard times into hope, pain into poetry, and silence into song.

Today, her words still bring comfort and courage to people worldwide. 

Dr. Angelou taught us that every story matters, every voice counts, and every life has meaning. Her greatest gift wasn’t just her words; it showed us how to use our own.

This was Maya Angelou: poet, teacher, truth-teller, and proof that our stories can change the world.