Famous Maya Angelou Quotes

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Marguerite Ann Johnson, better known as Maya Angelou, was born to Bailey Johnson and Vivian Johnson on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. Her brother, who could not pronounce her name, used to call her, my sister, from which evolved her name, Maya Angelo. Her childhood was full of hardships, so much so that for some time, she could not speak following a trauma. However she developed a taste for reading, which ultimately led her to become a great writer of modern times. She has authored many books, including five books of essays, seven autobiographies and many books of poetry. She has been awarded more than thirty doctoral degrees. She was awarded National Book Award nomination for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, a Pulitzer Prize nomination for her book of poetry Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘fore I Diiie.

Here on the pulse of this new day

Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou

‘Here on the pulse of this new day’ is taken from the famous poem of Maya Angelo, which she wrote for the inauguration ceremony of President Bill Clinton in January 1993. The poem occupies an important place in the American history. She was awarded a Grammy Award, and she is also the recipient of a presidential award. The Inauguration, to her is like a change and an omen of Equality and justice. She wrote,
‘So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew
The African and Native American, the Sioux,
The Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek

Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister’s eyes…
Very simply, with hope, Good morning.

 We had him whether we know who he was or did not know

Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou

‘We had him whether we know who he was or did not know’ is a line taken from the famous poem of Maya Angelou, she wrote in remembrance of Michael Jackson. To pay tribute to Michael Jackson, Queen Latifah, read this poem at the Staples Center, Los Angles. The touching poem includes;
We had him, beautiful, delighting our eyes.
His hat, aslant over his brow, and took a pose on his toes for all of us.
And we laughed and stomped our feet for him.

Today in Tokyo, beneath the Eiffel Tower, in Ghana’s Black Star Square.
In Johannesburg and Pittsburgh, in Birmingham, Alabama, and Birmingham, England
We are missing Michael.
But we do know we had him, and we are the world.

 I’m a woman, phenomenally. Phenomenal woman

Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou

Phenomenal Woman is a collection of Maya Angelo’s poems, which was first published in 1978 in Cosmopolitan magazine. The poem is reflective of her personality and explains that a personality is not the name of one’s physical appearance only, as she wrote about herself;
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size…
I say, it’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips, the stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman, phenomenally, Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

 Nothing will work unless you do

Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou

‘Nothing will work unless you do’ is one of the famous quotes attributed to Maya Angelou, though some sources have also attributed it to John Wooden, the member of Basketball Hall of Fame. The saying emphasizes the need for being active, if one wants that things should work for him. Work, literally means the movement of an object through certain distance, after an external force has been applied to it. The law of inertia states that that static things will remain static and the moving objects shall continue moving, unless an external force stops it or prompts to move it from a stationery position. That force, is basically the ‘will power. Once a stationery object has been brought into motion, through ones will, it keeps on rolling with an accelerating tendency and many other factors help it keep on rolling.

 If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love

Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou

There are as many definitions of love, as there are men and women on the earth. One of such definitions is that, it is the act of surrendering one’s right .willfully and happily in favor of someone else. A smile is a valuable possession, not of any material worth though. If all of ones sources are depleted, and nothing but a smile is left as the sole possession of someone, Maya Angelou recommends its willful surrendering in favor of the beloved. She says, ‘If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love’.

If you don’t like something, change it

Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou

The message from Maya Angelou is simply that if you don’t like something but also don’t take any action to change the state of affairs, the disliking will develop into an incorrigible deep rooted vice on account of inaction. Instead of harboring and nourishing the feeling of dislike, it is imperative to take an action to change the state of affairs as one may desire to be. There is nothing permanent in the world, except change, therefore this virtue needs to be fully appreciated and applied. In case of failure to change the things, what one can do .is to at least change ones attitude and stop disliking or complaining as she said, ‘If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude’.

 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou

I Know Why the Caged Bird sings is the title of Maya Angelo’s first and most famous of the five autobiographies. It is often mentioned as something like her quote. The biography relates to her childhood and growing up to her formative years. In her early childhood she was subjected to child abuse and as post trauma syndrome, she stopped speaking for five years until she met Mrs. Flower, who through her love made her speak again. She seeded love of poetry in her, which she thought, was like singing by a caged bird.

 People will forget what you said

Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou

Words have an un-ignorable importance in communication, but they say actions speak louder than words. Maya Angelo goes a step further and forms that neither the words nor the actions leave so strong an impression as the feelings created in someone through one’s attitude. At times words appearing harsh and actions appearing admonishing create and leave very sweet feelings and this is what is left behind in memories. In Maya Angelou’s words, ‘People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

Bitterness is like cancer

Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou

Anger is energy and like all the other forms of energy .has the potential to be highly beneficial if used properly and be extremely dangerous if misused. It is like electricity, a blessing if utilized properly and would electrocute if misused. Anger too, if utilized on time, has an invaluable corrective and remedial effect, otherwise proves extremely destructive. Even in its most destructive form, it is better than bitterness, which replicates itself like malignant cancer cells as in Maya Angelo’s words, ‘Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean’.

 Beware When the Naked Man Offers You His Shirt

Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou

Beware When the Naked Man Offers You His Shirt is a quote by Maya Angelou that simply expresses her skepticism towards a broke, bent on generosity. How after all one can offer, the last remnants of one’s possession, knowing that the act would simply expose him to the fullest. Maya had been influential and extending words of wisdom and advice, particularly to the youth. It is simply an advice to be on high alert, when someone who is a totally deprived person, offers to give you something. It is doubtlessly a doubtful move and needs to be avoided.

Conclusion

Contextomy, or the practice of quoting out of context, can be very misleading. Maya Angelou pointed out that the quotation of Martin Luther King Jr. on his memorial, MLK in Washington was out of context and the paraphrased version made King sound arrogant. Originally, King said, ‘Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness…’ The shortened version, inscribed on the memorial read ‘I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.” Maya Angelou said that it. ‘Minimizes the man’ and ‘It makes him seem an egotist.’

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