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Inspirational Quotations

by RightAttitudes.com

Inspirational Quotes by Maya Angelou (American Poet)

Inspirational Quotations by Maya Angelou (American Poet)

Maya Angelou (1928–2014,) born Marguerite Ann Johnson, was an African-American poet, author, singer, dancer, playwright, director, actor, professor, and civil rights activist. Her seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and several books of poetry chronicled the African American experience in literature.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970,) Angelou’s first autobiography, told the story of her life up to the age of seventeen. Angelou’s account of her harrowing childhood in Arkansas, her segregation in southern schools, and the beginning of her relationship with literature brought her international recognition and acclaim.

In January 1993, at Bill Clinton’s first inauguration, Angelou became the second poet, the first African-American, and the first woman to recite a poem at a presidential inauguration. She wrote and recited the poem “On the Pulse of Morning” to emphasize unity, social change, and public responsibility.

Angelou inspired generations of fans with her enthusiasm to share the wisdom she acquired from the struggle of her childhood of abuse, the oppression in the American Deep South in the 1930s, and her early adult experiences.

More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Maya Angelou

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Inspirational Quotes by Maya Angelou (American Poet)

At fifteen life had taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honorable as resistance, especially if one had no choice.
—Maya Angelou
Topics: Despair

There is a difference between being convinced and being stubborn. I’m not certain what the difference is, but I do know that if you butt your head against a stone wall long enough, at some point you realize the wall is stone and that your head is flesh and blood.
—Maya Angelou

No sun outlasts its sunset but will rise again and bring the dawn.
—Maya Angelou

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

Each of us has the right and the responsibility to asses the road which lie ahead and those over which we have traveled, and if the feature road looms ominous or unpromising, and the road back uninviting-inviting, then we need to gather our resolve and carrying only the necessary baggage, step off that road into another direction. If the new choice is also unpalatable, without embarrassment, we must be ready to change that one as well.
—Maya Angelou
Topics: Responsibility

Some people unable to go to school were more educated and even more intelligent than college professors.
—Maya Angelou
Topics: School, Intelligence

Everything in the universe has rhythm. Everything dances.
—Maya Angelou
Topics: Dance

There is a very fine line between loving life and being greedy for it.
—Maya Angelou
Topics: Life, Lust For

Nothing will work unless you do.
—Maya Angelou

Life is pure adventure and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art.
—Maya Angelou
Topics: Life, Adventure

Courage is the most important of all the virtues … One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.
—Maya Angelou

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

One must know not just how to accept a gift, but with what grace to share it.
—Maya Angelou
Topics: Gift

It is the belief in a power larger than myself and other than myself which allows me to venture into the unknown and even the unknowable.
—Maya Angelou
Topics: Belief

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.
—Maya Angelou

The love of the family, the love of the person can heal. It heals the scars left by a larger society. A massive, powerful society.
—Maya Angelou

I sustain myself with the love of family.
—Maya Angelou

Jealousy in romance is like salt in food. A little can enhance the savor, but too much can spoil the pleasure and, under certain circumstances, can be life-threatening.
—Maya Angelou
Topics: Jealousy

There’s a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth.
—Maya Angelou
Topics: Information, Truth

We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders.
—Maya Angelou
Topics: Isolation, Solitude

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.
—Maya Angelou
Topics: History

The sadness of the women’s movement is that they don’t allow the necessity of love. See, I don’t personally trust any revolution where love is not allowed.
—Maya Angelou
Topics: Women, Feminism

The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education.
—Maya Angelou
Topics: Character, Quality, Education

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.
—Maya Angelou
Topics: Role models, Mentoring, People, Feelings

The honorary duty of a human being is to love.
—Maya Angelou

The needs of society determine its ethics.
—Maya Angelou

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

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.
—Maya Angelou

We spend precious hours fearing the inevitable. It would be wise to use that time adoring our families, cherishing our friends, and living our lives
—Maya Angelou
Topics: Worry

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

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