25 Powerful Quotes By Maya Angelou – Part One

Foremost American memoirist and civil rights activist, Maya Angelou, may be dead, but for generations to come, her works would continually echo in the heart of many.

Her quotes are a bunch of wise sayings, acquired through experience in the cause of her life. She has one for every event, for everyone, regardless of status, race or gender.

We have put together twenty five powerful quotes, from this celebrated author, to guide you not only in the choices you make, but also in the way you see the world.

Here goes:

• “I do my best because I’m counting on you counting on me.”

• “If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be.”

• “Nothing will work unless you do.”

• “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

• “Develop enough courage so that you can stand up for yourself and then stand up for somebody else.”

• “Only equals can become friends.”

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

• “You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody.”

• “We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.”

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

• “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.”

• “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

• “The children to whom we read simple stories may or may not show gratitude, but each boon we give strengthens the pillars of the world.”

• “When you know you are of worth — not asking it but knowing it — you walk into a room with a particular power.”

• “When you know you are of worth, you don’t have to raise your voice, you don’t have to become rude, you don’t have to become vulgar; you just are. And you are like the sky is, as the air is, the same way water is wet. It doesn’t have to protest.”

• “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 you.”

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

• “Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it.”

• “I was told many years ago by my grandmother who raised me: If somebody puts you on a road and you don’t feel comfortable on it and you look ahead and you don’t like the destination and you look behind and you don’t want to return to that place, step off the road.”

• “I not only have the right to stand up for myself, but I have the responsibility. I can’t ask somebody else to stand up for me if I won’t stand up for myself. And once you stand up for yourself, you’d be surprised that people say, “Can I be of help?”

• “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.”

• “Each of us has that right, that possibility, to invent ourselves daily. If a person does not invent herself, she will be invented. So, to be bodacious enough to invent ourselves is wise.”

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

• “If one has courage, nothing can dim the light which shines from within.”

• “Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.”

By: Emeka Nwakobi