Maya Angelou Quotes 2016: 20 Inspiring Sayings On Love, Courage And Relationships

Saturday marks two years since the poet Maya Angelou died, but her inspirational writing lives on. Angelou, whose real name was Marguerite Annie Johnson, had numerous achievements throughout her life.

She was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for her 1971 volume of poetry, “Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘fore I Diiie,” was nominated for a Tony Award for her role in the 1973 play "Look Away," and garnered three Grammy Awards for her spoken-word albums.

To remember the famed writer, check out some of her famous quotes below:

1.“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.”

2. “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”

3. “In the flush of love's light, we dare to be brave. And suddenly we see that love costs all we are, and will ever be. Yet it is only love which sets us free.”

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

5. “I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”

6. "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

7. "I am grateful to have been loved and to be loved now and to be able to love, because that liberates."

8. “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”

9. “Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.”

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

11. “Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”

12. “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.”

13. “A wise woman wishes to be no one's enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone's victim.”

14. “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.”

15. “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.”

16. “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.”

17. "A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."

18. "It's one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody."

19. “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.”

20. “Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.”

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