Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928. She was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist.

She published seven autobiographies, starting with the landmark 1969 memoir “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”. It detailed her childhood and youth up to age 17. She also wrote renowned poetry collections, such as “And Still I Rise” (containing the poem “Still I Rise”).

Before her literary fame, she worked as San Francisco’s first black female streetcar conductor, a calypso dancer and singer, an actress, and a director.

Further, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010, the National Medal of Arts in 2000, more than 50 honorary degrees, and became the first black woman depicted on a U.S. quarter.

After leaving a successful and well-accomplished life, she died on May 28, 2014.

What we can learn from her life?

1. Always speak with confidence.

2. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable and share your story.

3. See hard times as opportunities for growth.

4. Develop your courage.

5. Have hope for the future.

Best Maya Angelou Quotes About Life

Life can be so tough and challenging at times. And there are times we feel like giving up on life. But all we need is quotes to keep us moving.

Let’s get through these quotes.

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

2. “A leader sees greatness in other people; you can’t be much of a leader if all you see is in yourself.”

3. “I can be changed by what happens to me. I refused to be reduced by it.”

4. “Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.” 

5. “If you’re always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.”

Read More: 50 Inspiring Quotes About Peace of Mind to Calm Your Soul

Maya Angelou Quotes About Love and Relationships

Here are some quotes to help you build a quality relationship.

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

7. “I sustain myself with the love of family.”

8. “The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”

9. “The problem I have with haters is that they see my glory, but they don’t know my story.”

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

Read More: 60 Short Encouraging Quotes to Help You Stay Positive Through Challenges

Maya Angelou Quotes About Courage and Strength

Courage and strength work hand in hand together; we need strength to have courage, we need courage to have strength. Let’s take a look at some of these quotes about courage together.

11. “History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be  unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”

12. “Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.”

13. “Having courage does not mean that we are unafraid. Having courage and showing courage means we face our fears. We are able to say, ‘I have fallen, but I will get up.”

14. “How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes.”

15. “You have to have courage to love somebody. Because you risk everything. Everything.”

16. “Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.”

17. “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 the love in return.”

18. “Develop enough courage so that you can stand up for yourself and then stand up for somebody else.”

19. “I believe that the most important single thing beyond discipline and creativity is daring to dare.”

20. “Without courage we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency.”

Read More: 100 Inspiring Best Life Quotes to Live By Daily

Maya Angelou Quotes About Success and Personal Growth

Personal growth is important in our daily lives. We need to grow ourselves daily.

21.”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.”

22. “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

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

24. “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.”

25. “The loss of a young first love is so painful that it borders on the ludicrous.”

26. “If we are bold, love strikes away the chains of fear from our souls.”

27. “Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.”

28. “If our children are to approve of themselves, they must see that we approve of ourselves.”

29. “But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage.”

30. “I am grateful to be a woman. I must have done something great in another life.”

Read More: 120 Inspired Good Morning Quotes to Begin Your Day With Positivity

Maya Angelou Quotes About Women, Confidence, and Self- worth

Women mean a lot and contribute to the daily growth of society. But most people don’t see these values. 

Here are some Maya Angelou quotes that remind us about the value of a woman.

31.“Determined to live life with flair and laughter.”

32. “Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.”

33. “You have your humanity, and you must not allow anything to reduce that.”

34. “Continue to be bold, courageous. Try to choose the wisest thing, and once you’ve chosen the wisest thing, go out and try to achieve it. Be it.”

35. “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.”

36. “My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness.”

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

38. “The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.”

39. “Hate has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.”

40. “Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances.”

Read More: 40 Women Inspirational Quotes to Empower You

Short Maya Angelou Quotes for Daily Inspiration

If you are looking for daily inspiration, continue reading:

41. “Life offers us tickets to places which we have not knowingly asked for.”

42. “Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it!”

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

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

45. “Making a decision to write was a lot like you deciding to jump into a frozen lake.”

46. “Creativity or talent, like electricity, is something I don’t understand but something great I’m able to harness and use.”

47. “Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and

continuing needs is good for him.”

48. “If we are bold, love strikes away the chains of fear from our souls.”

49. “Love liberates. It doesn’t just hold; that’s ego. Love liberates.”

50. “In a world so rife with vulgarity, with brutality and violence, love exists. I’m grateful to know that it exists.”

Read More: 60+ Quotes About Being Thankful: Finding Gratitude in Everyday Moments.

Maya Angelou Quotes About Hope, Kindness, and Happiness

Peace of mind is when you are happy and content with what you have; here are some quotes about that.

51. “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.”

52. “My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness.”

53. “I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.”

54. “I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.”

55. “People will never forget how you made them feel.”

56. “Take a month and show some kindness for the folks who thought that blindness was an illness that affected eyes alone.”

57. “Every Day you should reach out and touch someone.”

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

59. “I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make it.”

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

Read More: 60+ Encouraging Quotes for a Woman Balancing Career, Family, and Everything In Between

Final Thoughts on Maya Angelou Quotes

Maya Angelou was a very successful woman who accomplished many of her dreams and never gave up in life.

We all can be like Maya, in one way or the other, if we don’t just give up on life; keep moving, keep pushing, don’t give up.

Life has more in store for you and me.

Let’s be bold enough to confront life no matter what. 

If life gives you lemons, you can make lemonade out of it. Also, if people throw stones at you in life, make a bridge with them and cross over to your next level.

Maya Angelou quotes mostly teach us never to give up and to keep our eyes on the goal ahead; in the end, persistence will pay off.