Maya Angelou may be gone, but her wise words will leave forever.
In remembrance of the great and inspiring woman, here are my favorite quotes from Maya Angelou:
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.
Be are beautiful as you can be, for yourself first, and then to anyone else with enough good sense to see it too.
3.
If you have one smile in you, give it to the people you love.
4.
Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.
5.
I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life. I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life." I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. 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. I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one. I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I've learned that I still have a lot to learn. 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.
6.
I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.
7.
We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.
8.
You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.
9.
Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.
10.
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
11.
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.
12.
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
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.
13.
If I am not good to myself, how can I expect anyone else to be good to me?
14.
Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it!
15.
Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.
16.
The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.
17.
You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!
18.
My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return.
19.
I don't know if I continue, even today, always liking myself. But what I learned to do many years ago was to forgive myself. It is very important for every human being to forgive herself or himself because if you live, you will make mistakes- it is inevitable. But once you do and you see the mistake, then you forgive yourself and say, 'Well, if I'd known better I'd have done better,' that's all. So you say to people who you think you may have injured, 'I'm sorry,' and then you say to yourself, 'I'm sorry.' If we all hold on to the mistake, we can't see our own glory in the mirror because we have the mistake between our faces and the mirror; we can't see what we're capable of being. You can ask forgiveness of others, but in the end the real forgiveness is in one's own self. I think that young men and women are so caught by the way they see themselves. Now mind you. When a larger society sees them as unattractive, as threats, as too black or too white or too poor or too fat or too thin or too sexual or too asexual, that's rough. But you can overcome that. The real difficulty is to overcome how you think about yourself. If we don't have that we never grow, we never learn, and sure as hell we should never teach.
20.
Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.
21.
No matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.
22.
When you learn, teach, when you get, give.
23.
I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.
24.
Be present in all things and thankful for all things.
25.
The problem I have with haters is that they see my glory, but they don't know my story...
