Mother, poet, prostitute, activist, fry cook – Maya Angelou lived more in her 86 years than most could in hundreds. Her immense personal strength was astonishing, as was her ability to laugh in the face of life’s challenges. In anger or in joy, she was always remarkable.
For many years Maya chose not to celebrate her birthday herself, instead opting to send flowers to Martin Luther King’s widow to commemorate his assassination -which fell on the same date. But we couldn’t let April 4th pass without stopping to remember some of her inspiring words of wisdom.
On being assertive
‘If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.’
To remember in times of adversity
‘That we may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated, that in fact it may be necessary to encounter defeats so we can know who the hell we are. What can we overcome? What makes us stumble and fall and somehow miraculously rise and go on? I know that a diamond is the result of extreme pressure. Less time and less pressure and it’s just crystal or coal or fossilized leaves – or just dirt. But time and pressure will create a diamond.’
When surrounded by negativity
‘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.’
- Still I Rise, 1978
‘Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option’
The original body positive champion
‘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.
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
- Phenomenal Woman, 1978
And in the end
‘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.’