Top 1076 Quotes & Sayings by Maya Angelou - Page 6

Hope for the best, be prepared for the worse. Life is shocking, but you must never appear to be shocked. For no matter how bad it is it could be worse and no matter how good it is it could be better.

Love life. Engage in it. Give it all you've got. Love it with a passion because life truly does give back, many times over, what you put into it.

What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat,’.... And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, ‘Okay. Okay. I’ll come.

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

A joyful spirit is evidence of a grateful heart.

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

I would like to be known as an intelligent woman, a courageous woman, a loving woman, a woman who teaches by being.

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

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.

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 must be warriors in the struggle against ignorance

When I say 'I am a Christian', I'm not shouting 'I'm saved'. I'm whispering 'I get lost'. That is why I chose this way.

Laugh and dare to try to love somebody, starting with yourself. You must love yourself first, of course, and you must protect yourself so that nobody overrides you, overrules you, or steps on you. Just say, 'Just a minute. I'm worth everything, dear.'

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.

Lord keep Your arm around my shoulder and Your hand over my mouth.

We cannot change the past, but we can change our attitude toward it. Uproot guilt and plant forgiveness. Tear out arrogance and seed humility. Exchange love for hate - thereby, making the present comfortable and the future promising.

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

You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you.

Laugh as often as possible. You must. Because the world will offer you every reason to weep. So as often as possible, you laugh. That, I think, is part of the Great Love.

The question is not how to survive, but how to thrive with passion, compassion, humor and style.

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

Each of us, famous or infamous, is a role model for somebody, and if we aren't, we should behave as though we are -- cheerful, kind, loving, courteous. Because you can be sure someone is watching and taking deliberate and diligent notes.

The area where we are the greatest is the area in which we inspire, encourage and connect with another human being.

There is a spirit in all music, the spirit has the ability to conjure up thoughts even pictures of something that happened or you wished would happen or you anticipate happening. Music has the ability to create ideas in you and me. It has the ability to encourage us to be creative.

There's a place in you that you must keep inviolate. You must keep it pristine. Clean. So that nobody has a right to curse you or treat you badly. Nobody. No mother, father, no wife, no husband, no­­­-nobody. You have to have a place where you say: 'Stop it. Back up. Don't you know I'm a child of God?

If I could give you one thought, it would be to lift someone up. Lift a stranger up--lift her up. I would ask you, mother and father, brother and sister, lovers, mother and daughter, father and son, lift someone. The very idea of lifting someone up will lift you, as well.

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.

The best candy shop a child can be left alone in, is the library

My mother had said me, "All right, you've been raised, so don't let anybody else raise you. You know the difference between right and wrong. Do right. And remember - you can always come home." And she continued to liberate me until she died. On the night she died, I went to the hospital. I told my mom, "Let me tell you about yourself. You deserved a great daughter, and you got one. And you liberated me to be one. So if it's time for you to go, you may have done everything God brought you here to do."

Look what you've already come through! Don't deny it. Say I'm stronger than I thought I was

I’m grateful for being here, for being able to think, for being able to see, for being able to taste, for appreciating love – for knowing that it exists in a world so rife with vulgarity, with brutality and violence, and yet love exists. I’m grateful to know that it exists.

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

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

We need much less than we think we need.

I don't know if I continue, even today, always liking myself. But what I learned to do many years ago was to forgive myself. It is very important for every human being to forgive herself or himself because if you live, you will make mistakes - it is inevitable. But once you do and you see the mistake, then you forgive yourself and say, 'Well, if I'd known better I'd have done better,' that's all.

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

Forgiveness. It's one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody. You are relieved of carrying that burden of resentment. You really are lighter. You feel lighter. You just drop that.

I note the obvious differences between each sort and type, but we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.

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

People don't always remember what you say or even what you do, but they always remember how you make them feel.

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one. 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 I still have a lot to learn.

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

Success is loving life and daring to live it.

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

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

Stormy or sunny days, glorious or lonely nights, I maintain an attitude of gratitude.

Laugh as much as you can.

Happiness is a chance to talk to a friend, to hear good music, to have a good glass of wine. Happiness is a chance to be myself and to find people with whom I agree or who I don't agree but I can learn something.

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

When you do nothing you feel overwhelmed and powerless. But when you get involved you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better.

It is sad but true that sometimes we need the tragedy to help us to see how human we are and how we are more alike than we are different.

I'm not sure if resilience is ever achieved alone. Experience allows us to learn from example. But if we have someone who loves us-I don't mean who indulges us, but who loves us enough to be on our side-then it's easier to grow resilience, to grow belief in self, to grow self-esteem. And it's self-esteem that allows a person to stand up.

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

Live as though life was created for you.

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

Every journey begins with a single step.

Stand up straight and realize who you are, that you tower over your circumstances. You are a child of God. Stand up straight.

Take a day to heal from the lies you've told yourself and the ones that have been told to you.

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