25 iconic Maya Angelou quotes that will surely inspire you

Maya Angelou inspired countless people during her lifetime. (She died in 2014, at 86.) Through her poetry (“Phenomenal Woman,” “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”), essays (“Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now,” “Even the Stars Look Lonesome”), plays (“The Best of These, “Moon on a Rainbow Shawl”), films (“Sister, Sister”; “Down in the Delta”), and civil rights activism, Angelou’s tremendous impact is still felt widely today.

The popularity of Maya Angelou’s quotes is one of the many ways she lives on in the hearts of people. Who hasn’t read the quote, “Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time,” to themselves over and over when gearing up to put themselves out there after being hurt?

Another one of Angelou’s most famous lines comes from “Still I Rise,” her 1978 poem: “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.” It is nearly impossible to read that without feeling a rush of empowerment from deep inside your soul.

Angelou was brilliant at many things, but her ability to harness the power of words to inspire people was a truly remarkable feat. Here are some of Maya Angelou’s best quotes on the power of connection, understanding yourself and motivation.

Maya Angelou quotes about connection

• “Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.”
• “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” 
• “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.”

Maya Angelou Quotes

• “The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.”
• “Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.”
• “Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.”
• “Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances.”

Maya Angelou Quotes

Maya Angelou quotes about the self

• “I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”
• “Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking. You might find a new solution.”
• “Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it!”
• “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

Maya Angelou Quotes

• “I am grateful to be a woman. I must have done something great in another life.”
• “But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage.”
• “We need much less than we think we need.”
• “Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.”
• “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do and liking how you do it.”

Maya Angelou Quotes

Maya Angelou quotes about motivation

• “Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation, which is not nurturing to the whole woman.”
• “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.” 
• “Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.”

Maya Angelou Quotes

• “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
• “We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated. It may even be necessary to encounter the defeat, so that we can know who we are.”
• “I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a b—-. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.”

Maya Angelou Quotes

• “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”
• “Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.”
• “No matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.”

Maya Angelou Quotes

This article was originally published on TODAY.com