78+ Best Maya Angelou Quotes To Inspire You

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Updated: January 19th, 2022

The legendary Maya Angelou is an Author, Poet, Singer, Director, and Civil Right Activist.

Maya Angelou will go down in history as one of the most famous American poets and writers, ever. Her words have moved us all since she first began writing; and she’s still doing so today, even after passing away.

Maya Angelou always aspired for greatness. Whether it was learning about ancient queens in history class or watching her mother excel in her academics and poetry, she knew she wanted more from life. She knew there was more to being a person than what met the eye.

We've put together an incredible collection of the best Maya Angelou quotes to read.

Here they are:

78+ Best Maya Angelou Quotes To Inspire You

Inspiring Maya Angelou Quotes On Love

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

This is what I am learning, at 82 years old: the main thing is to be in love with the search for truth. - Maya Angelou

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. - Maya Angelou

Life loves the liver of it. - Maya Angelou

Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told, I’m with you kid. Let’s go. - Maya Angelou

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

I am grateful to have been loved and to be loved now and to be able to love. - Maya Angelou

Suddenly we see that love costs all we are, and will ever be. Yet it is only love which sets us free. - Maya Angelou

It’s very hard for adults to maintain respect and romance so that a love affair can be sustained over years. - Maya Angelou

Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time. - Maya Angelou

It’s hard because people think they have something to lose and the truth is they have everything to gain in trying to love somebody. - Maya Angelou

If you happen to fall in love with someone in another race, it’s more difficult, because you have to translate yourself. - Maya Angelou

If you want to liberate someone, love them. Not be in love with them – that’s dangerous. - Maya Angelou

If we lose love and self-respect for each other, this is how we finally die. - Maya Angelou

If I’m here, I’ll be trying to be a better human being, a better writer, a better friend, and a better beloved. - Maya Angelou

When you wish someone joy, you wish them peace, love, prosperity, happiness, all the good things. - Maya Angelou

A mother’s love liberates. - Maya Angelou

You can never be great at anything unless you love it. - Maya Angelou

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

I had to trust life since I was young enough to believe that life loved the person who dared to live it. - Maya Angelou

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

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

You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. - Maya Angelou

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

I work very hard, and I play very hard. I’m grateful for life. And I live it – I believe life loves the liver of it. I live it. - Maya Angelou

Whatever you want to do, if you want to be great at it, you have to love it and be able to make sacrifices for it. - Maya Angelou

Powerful Maya Angelou Quotes On Living A Great Life

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

Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away. - Maya Angelou

I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. - Maya Angelou

I got my own back. - Maya Angelou

I do my best because I’m counting on you counting on me. - Maya Angelou

Determine to live life with flair and laughter. - Maya Angelou

If you’re always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be. - Maya Angelou

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

Without courage we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest. - Maya Angelou

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

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

You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. - Maya Angelou

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

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

Develop enough courage so that you can stand up for yourself and then stand up for somebody else. - Maya Angelou

When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. - Maya Angelou

We are only as blind as we want to be. - Maya Angelou

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 something back. - Maya Angelou

We need much less than we think we need. - Maya Angelou

Favorite Maya Angelou Quotes On Courage

Courage, I don’t think anybody is born with courage. I think you may be born with a flair to braggadocio, you know. That’s not courage. - Maya Angelou

My work is, to be honest. My work is to try to think clearly, then have the courage to make sure that what I say is the truth. - Maya Angelou

If one has courage, nothing can dim the light which shines from within. - Maya Angelou

I encourage courtesy. To accept nothing less than courtesy, and to give nothing less than courtesy. - Maya Angelou

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

I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it. - Maya Angelou

Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in this world, but it has not solved one yet. - Maya Angelou

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

If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be. - Maya Angelou

You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody. - Maya Angelou

Nothing will work unless you do. - Maya Angelou

Only equals can become friends. - Maya Angelou

I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. - Maya Angelou

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

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

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

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

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

There’s a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth. - Maya Angelou

Famous Maya Angelou Quotes On Life Journey

I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a life. - Maya Angelou

A leader sees greatness in other people. He nor she can be much of a leader if all she sees is herself. - Maya Angelou

I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. - Maya Angelou

There is a very fine line between loving life and being greedy for it. - Maya Angelou

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

I think a hero is any person really intent on making this a better place for all people. - Maya Angelou

I’ve learned that forgiving is one of the greatest gifts that I can give myself. - Maya Angelou

Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. - Maya Angelou

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

Self-pity in its early stages is as snug as a feather mattress. Only when it hardens does it become uncomfortable. - Maya Angelou

Whining lets the brute know there’s a victim for him in the neighborhood. - Maya Angelou

I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. - Maya Angelou

Those who have something to say accept the fact that that’s lonely. One already knows that there will be adversaries. - Maya Angelou

The only way you can be a mark is if you want something for nothing. If you’re greedy, you’re set up. - Maya Angelou

In order to win, we pay with energy and effort and discipline. If we lose, we pay in disappointment, discontent, and lack of fulfillment. - Maya Angelou

I am not competing with anyone other than myself. I want to be excellent at whatever I do. - Maya Angelou

I have respect for the past, but I’m a person of the moment. - Maya Angelou

I try to see every day as a celebration. - Maya Angelou

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

I’m here, and I do my best to be completely centered at the place I’m at, then I go forward to the next place. - Maya Angelou

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Pat Walls

I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.

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