Maya Angelou is one of the greatest writers - and human beings in general - to ever have graced the Earth. Drawing from her own life experiences, Angelou's humble wisdom and eloquence have inspired an innumerable amount of people to do and be better in their journeys through life. Her writing often stresses the importance of having a sense of humor, compassion and an understanding that all humans are equal in the eyes of the creator and should be treated with dignity and respect. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from Maya Angelou that are sure to change the way you interact with others, give you a more positive outlook on life and make you want to be a better person overall.
1. "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."
2. "The thing to do, it seems to me, is to prepare yourself so you can be a rainbow in somebody else's cloud. Somebody who may not look like you. May not call God the same name you call God - if they call God at all. I may not dance your dances or speak your language. But be a blessing to somebody. That's what I think."
3. "I'm convinced of this: Good done anywhere is good done everywhere. For a change, start by speaking to people rather than walking by them like they're stones that don't matter. As long as you're breathing, it's never too late to do some good."
4. "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."
5. "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude."
6. "My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return."
7. "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."
8. "A wise woman wishes to be no one's enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone's victim."
9. "If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love."
10. "When the human race neglects its weaker members, when the family neglects its weakest one - it's the first blow in a suicidal movement."
11. "I'm working at trying to be a Christian, and that's serious business. It's like trying to be a good Jew, a good Muslim, a good Buddhist, a good Shintoist, a good Zoroastrian, a good friend, a good lover, a good mother, a good buddy - it's serious business."
12. "During bad circumstances, which is the human inheritance, you must decide not to be reduced. You have your humanity, and you must not allow anything to reduce that. We are obliged to know we are global citizens. Disasters remind us we are world citizens, whether we like it or not."
13. "My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors."
14. "What is a fear of living? It's being preeminently afraid of dying. It is not doing what you came here to do, out of timidity and spinelessness. The antidote is to take full responsibility for yourself - for the time you take up and the space you occupy. If you don't know what you're here to do, then just do some good."
15. "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."
16. "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.
17. "Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: 'I'm with you kid. Let's go.'"
18. "If you don't laugh, you'll die... Against the cruelties of life, one must laugh."
19. "We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders."
20. "While I know myself as a creation of God, I am also obligated to realize and remember that everyone else and everything else are also God's creation."
21. "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."
22. "We have to confront ourselves. Do we like what we see in the mirror? And, according to our light, according to our understanding, according to our courage, we have to say yea or nay - and rise!"
23. "If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. And if we have the effrontery to talk to anybody with less than courtesy, we tell ourselves and the world we are not very intelligent."
24. "If we lose love and self respect for each other, this is how we finally die."
25. "Don't let the incidents which take place in life bring you low. And certainly don't whine. You can be brought low, that's OK, but don't be reduced by them. Just say 'That's life.'"
26. "In all my work, in the movies I write, the lyrics, the poetry, the prose, the essays, I am saying that we may encounter many defeats - maybe it's imperative that we encounter the defeats - but we are much stronger than we appear to be and maybe much better than we allow ourselves to be. Human beings are more alike than unalike."
27. "If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded."
28. "If we don't plant the right things, we will reap the wrong things. It goes without saying. and you don't have to be, you know, a brilliant biochemist and you don't have to have an IQ of 150. Just common sense tells you to be kind, ninny, fool. Be kind."
29. "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."
30. "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. Continue to allow humor to lighten the burden of your tender heart."
