I don't know how much longer I'll be around. I'll probably be writing when the Lord says, 'Maya, Maya Angelou, it's time.'

Nothing will work unless you do.

A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.

Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.

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

Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.

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.

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. Please remember that your difficulties do not define you. They simply strengthen your ability to overcome.

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

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

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!

People say that a dog can sense the longing of a person, so perhaps he's barking in response to your heart.

Do your damnedest in an ostentatious manner all the time.

I still call Texas home. It is where I spent most of my life growing up.

Thinking evil is making evil.

Only the ideas that we really live have any value.

If you've experienced having control, you don't want to be moved to a subordinate position, if you have your druthers.

For me, having a child is a really great responsibility because you've got something there that is depending on you for information and love until a certain age when it goes to school.

I relax and enjoy life. I know that whatever I need to know is revealed to me in the perfect time and space sequence.

To give and not expect return, that is what lies at the heart of love.

There's so much we can't express in our day-to-day interaction with people because it's considered inappropriate. And acting is all about being inappropriate.