“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song,” said once Maya Angelou, an award-winning author, brilliant poet and truly phenomenal woman.
She is best known for her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the first nonfiction best-seller by an African-American woman. Her songs, even after her death, remain in the hearts and souls of thousands of people across the globe.
Here are her 25 best inspirational quotes:
- “Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.” – Maya Angelou
- “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” – Maya Angelou
- “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.” – Maya Angelou
- “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.” – Maya Angelou
- “I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as ‘making a life’.” – Maya Angelou
- “Most people don’t grow up. Most people age. They find parking spaces, honor their credit cards, get married, have children, and call that maturity. What that is, is aging.” – Maya Angelou
- “Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.” – Maya Angelou
- “First best is falling in love. Second best is being in love. Least best is falling out of love. But any of it is better than never having been in love.” – Maya Angelou
- “Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.” – 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
- “In all my work, I try to say – ‘You may be given a load of sour lemons, why not try to make a dozen lemon meringue pies?’” – Maya Angelou
- “No sun outlasts its sunset but will rise again and bring the dawn.” – Maya Angelou
- “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.” – Maya Angelou
- “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” – Maya Angelou
- “The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind.” – Maya Angelou
- “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” – Maya Angelou
- “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
- “If I am not good to myself, how can I expect anyone else to be good to me?” – Maya Angelou
- “Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.” – Maya Angelou
- “My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness.” – 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
- “I learned a long time ago the wisest thing I can do is be on my own side, be an advocate for myself and others like me.” – Maya Angelou
- “The main thing in one’s own private world is to try to laugh as much as you cry.” – Maya Angelou
- “All great artists draw from the same resource: the human heart, which tells that we are all more alike than we are unalike.” – Maya Angelou
- “If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” – Maya Angelou
