Maya Angelou Quotes

The best comfort food will always be greens, cornbread, and fried chicken.

I did what I knew.. when I knew better, I did better

Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art.

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

Our stories come from our lives and from the playwright's pen, the mind of the actor, the roles we create, the artistry of life itself and the quest for peace.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way (s)he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

While the rest of the world has been improving technology, Ghana has been improving the quality of man's humanity to man.

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

I respect myself and insist upon it from everybody. And because I do it, I then respect everybody, too.

I'm a feminist. I've been a female for a long time now. It'd be stupid not to be on my own side.

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.

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

You can't forgive without loving. And I don't mean sentimentality. I don't mean mush. I mean having enough courage to stand up and say, 'I forgive. I'm finished with it.'

Light and shadow are opposite sides of the same coin. We can illuminate our paths or darken our way. It is a matter of choice.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear, I rise. Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear, I rise.

I think when we don't know what to do it's wise to do nothing. Sit down quietly; quiet our hearts and minds and breathe deeply.

Give yourself time just to be with yourself.

We are here to love each other. That is why you are alive. That is what life is for.

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.

I know why the caged bird sings.

It is only out of ignorance that people are cruel, because they really don't think it will come back.

It's one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody.

Spirit is an invisible force made visible in all life.

I don't trust any revolution where love is not allowed.

You want me to do something... tell me I can't 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?

Be certain that you do not die without having done something wonderful for humanity.

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

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

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

We need to haunt the house of history and listen anew to the ancestors' wisdom.

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

When was the last time anyone ever told you how important you are?

Every journey begins with a single step.

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

I know that when I pray, something wonderful happens. Not just to the person or persons for whom I'm praying, but also something wonderful happens to me. I'm grateful that I'm heard.

To know and not to do is in fact not to know. We need to be active instruments against evil. We need to do.

We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated. It may even be necessary to encounter the defeat, so that we can know who we are.

You think you may not be heard. Speak anyway.

We need much less than we think we need.

Nothing hurts more than realizing they meant everything to you, but you meant nothing to them.

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

The happy heart runs with the river, floats on the air, lifts to the music, soars with the eagle, hopes with the prayer.

Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.

Seek patience and passion in equal amounts. Patience alone will not build the temple. Passion alone will destroy its walls.

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

As soon as healing takes place, go out and heal somebody else.

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.

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.

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.