Maya Angelou
1928–2014
6 genuine quotes, each found in the text, and 5 wrongly credited to Angelou.
American poet, memoirist and civil rights activist, born Marguerite Annie Johnson, whose seven autobiographies begin with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969); she read her poem ‘On the Pulse of Morning’ at Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993. Her own books and readings are in copyright, so her lines rest on checked citations; the internet also credits her with many sayings of uplift that are not hers, often in the ‘I’ve learned that…’ form of chain messages.
FrontispieceMade by an image model after a White House photographer’s photograph of Maya Angelou at the inauguration of President Clinton (1993, public domain), in the manner of Harlem Renaissance graphic art (1925–1940). The likeness is the original’s; this picture is AI‑generated and not historical. The endpaper behind it is an AI‑generated pattern in the same manner.
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Genuine Angelou quotes
- You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
And Still I Rise (1978), ‘Still I Rise’, first stanza, lines 3–4, said by a defiant Black lyric speaker addressing those who would humiliate her.
- Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtues consistently.
Maya Angelou, “America’s Renaissance Woman,” Academy of Achievement, published interview transcript, headed High Point, North Carolina, January 22, 1997, Academy of Achievement interview, opening answer about Martin Luther King Jr..
- History, despite its wrenching pain Cannot be unlived, but if faced With courage, need not be lived again.
On the Pulse of Morning (1993), ‘On the Pulse of Morning’, the three lines beginning ‘History, despite its wrenching pain’, said by the poem’s personified Rock.
- We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.
Marianne Schnall, “Conversation with Maya Angelou,” Feminist.com, interview dated 12/10/08, Interview with Marianne Schnall, answer about discovering who we are through setbacks.
- When you know better, you do better.
Michael Limnios, “Interview with Dr. Maya Angelou, a muse who captivates audiences through the sheer beauty of her words,” Blues.Gr, 1 June 2013, Answer about changing the world and people’s minds, interview published 1 June 2013.
- When you learn, teach, when you get, give.
Melissa Kansky, “Q&A: Maya Angelou on teaching and giving,” Elon News Network, 27 September 2012, Answer to the question about the best advice she had ever received, published 27 September 2012.
Quotes wrongly credited to Angelou
- 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.
Misattributed. Carl W. Buehner wrote it, not Angelou.
- There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
Misattributed. A rewording of Zora Neale Hurston’s sentence in Dust Tracks on a Road (1942), not a sourced line from Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
- A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.
Misattributed. The saying derives from Joan Walsh Anglund’s 1967 verse, with pronouns changed. Its appearance on Maya Angelou’s 2015 stamp did not make it her composition.
- You can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle three things: a rainy day, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights
Misattributed. An earlier version was credited only to a contributor aged 52 in H. Jackson Brown Jr.’s 1991 compilation; Quote Investigator traces the Angelou credit to a later circulating message.
- Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
Not found. No primary Maya Angelou source is established. The earliest printing traced by researchers is Vicki Corona’s 1989 dance booklet, but Corona herself was unsure whether she originated the wording.
The works we hold
Quotes are looked up word for word in these texts. The number is how many genuine quotes here come from each.
| Work | Year | Genuine quotes |
|---|---|---|
| And Still I Rise | 1978 | 1 |
| On the Pulse of Morning | 1993 | 1 |