The acclaimed writer and “people’s poet,” Maya Angelou, reminds the world how love can heal, and inspire and challenge us when we need it most. Here are some of her most notable quotes from works that have done just that.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou
Admired as one of her most well-known autobiographies, Maya Angelou explores her character’s struggle as a young Black girl overcoming immense trauma and racism during the 1930s and 1940s in the American South. In addition, this coming-of-age story highlights the power of embracing one’s identity and tells the reader to stand firmly in your light no matter how hard others try to dim it.
Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.
– Maya Angelou
And Still I Rise
by Maya Angelou
Named after one of her most memorable poems, And Still I Rise, is Maya Angelou’s third profound collection of poems. Among “Still I Rise,” this collection contains her awe-inspiring poem, “Phenomenal Woman.” Maya Angelou shows us how unbelievably powerful we can be when we recognize confidence as an accessible tool within ourselves rather than something out of reach. Therefore, it only makes sense to quote from the poem that radiates the spirit of her confidence. She reminds us that self-respect is the greatest form of love.
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
– Maya Angelou
Letter To My Daughter
by Maya Angelou
Although Maya Angelou never had a daughter herself, this collection of essays reads as a motherly guide to living an authentic and meaningful life, one that she may have envisioned for her daughter. She also transcends literary genres by accumulating 20 years’ worth of notes into this autobiographical and inspiring collection. Her life lessons granted her a voice for the daughters she did have through all her readers. In this love letter, she reminds us that we are more than what has happened to us.
You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.
― Maya Angelou
Mom & Me & Mom
by Maya Angelou
In this memoir, Maya Angelou depicts issues she faced trying to mold back a relationship with her mother or “Lady” after years of abandonment. The story may seem too intimate for some readers, however, it contains an important lesson of hope. As a result of this reconciliation, love finds its way back to them and begins to heal a relationship that once seemed too far gone.
Love heals. Heals and liberates. I use the word love, not meaning sentimentality, but a condition so strong that it may be that which holds the stars in their heavenly positions and that which causes the blood to flow orderly in our veins.
– Maya Angelou
Rainbow in the Cloud, The Wisdom and Spirit of Maya Angelou
by Maya Angelou
When the world seems against you, Maya Angelou is at your side with another guide to help soothe your pain. It contains some of her most poetic and humorous quotes. This book includes quotes from her other works: The Heart of a Woman, On the Pulse of Morning, Gather Together in My Name, and Letter to My Daughter. These writings challenge us to take a serious look at how we live our lives. Hence, the themes focus on culture, community, equality, race, relationships, etc. Maya Angelou’s quotes are a timeless gift that helps heal our wounds and inspires love to make its way back into our lives.
I am truly 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 I’m grateful to know it exists in me, and I’m able to share it with so many people.
– Maya Angelou