76 Inspirational Quotes By Maya Angelou That Will Lift Your Spirits

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.

Never

  

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

  

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.

Like , Think

  

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

Time

  

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.

  

I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass.

  

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

  

I don't trust people who don't love themselves and tell me, 'I love you.' ... There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.

Me

  

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.

Music

  

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

  

Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.

Yourself

  

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

  

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

Life

  

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

Time

  

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

Never

  

Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.

  

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.

  

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

Me

  

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

  

You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody.

  

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.

  

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

  

Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances.

  

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.

  

No matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

Life

  

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!

Like , Me

  

Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.

Like

  

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.

  

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.

  

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

  

Be a rainbow in somebody else's cloud.

  

Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.

  

Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.

  

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

Life

  

Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.

  

When you learn, teach, when you get, give.

  

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

  

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.

  

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.

  

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

  

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

Life , Relationship

  

If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love. Don't be surly at home, then go out in the street and start grinning 'Good morning' at total strangers.

  

We need much less than we think we need.

Think

  

Surviving is important. Thriving is elegant.

  

I sustain myself with the love of family.

Family

  

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

  

Be present in all things and thankful for all things.

  

First best is falling in love. Second best is being in love. Least best is falling out of love. But any of it is better than never having been in love.

Never

  

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

  

When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.

  

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

Like

  

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

  

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

  

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

  

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

  

To those who have given up on love: I say, "Trust life a little bit.

Life

  

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

  

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

Me

  

All great achievements require time.

Time

  

It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.

Time

  

I want to thank you, Lord, for life and all that's in it. Thank you for the day and for the hour, and the minute.

Life

  

Nothing will work unless you do.

  

Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for.

  

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 some things back.

Life

  

If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.

  

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

Like , Me

  

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

  

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.

  

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 is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.

  

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

  

Success is loving life and daring to live it.

Life

  

If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform a million realities.

  

Anything that works against you can also work for you once you understand the Principle of Reverse.

  

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.

Life