Some critics will write 'Maya Angelou is a natural writer' - which is right after being a natural heart surgeon.

Nothing will work unless you do.

A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.

Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.

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

Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.

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.

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. Please remember that your difficulties do not define you. They simply strengthen your ability to overcome.

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

If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be.

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!

Helen stared at him "How do you do that? How do you figure everything out so quickly?""You may be all-powerful, but nothing beats plain old logic." He smiled at her

The true source of happiness is within each of us.

Alas, we think of ourselves as unique entities-minds unlike any others-and thus we often reject the lessons that the emotional experience of others has to teach us.

I was married to Glenn Ford. But now I feel as though I'm married to God, and in the nicest, purest sense.

The daughters of Sparta are never at home! They mingle with the young men in wrestling matches.

The poll that matters is the one that happens on Election Day.

I have the mind of a fool, understanding nothing.

I’m the girl who trips on the dance floor and can’t find her way to the exit. All eyes on me.

No one dies too soon who has finished the course of perfect virtue.

I think most people didn't want to do court duty.