Quote

Living well is an art that can be developed: a love of life and ability to take great pleasure from small offerings and assurance that the world owes you nothing and that every gift is exactly that, a gift.

Maya Angelou

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Maya Angelou
Age: 86 †
Born: 1928
Born: April 4
Died: 2014
Died: May 28
Author
Autobiographer
Comedian
Dancer
Essayist
Film Director
Film Producer
Human Rights Activist
Journalist
Novelist
Playwright
Politician
St. Louis
Missouri
Marguerite Annie Johnson
Marguerite Johnson
Marguerite Ann Johnson
Marguerite Anne Johnson
Great
Pleasure
Owes
Every
Ability
Assurance
Love
Living
Offering
Life
Art
Developed
World
Wells
Gift
Well
Exactly
Nothing
Philosophy
Take
Small
Offerings

More quotes by Maya Angelou

Image
We are only as blind as we want to be.
Maya Angelou
Image
I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels.
Maya Angelou
Image
I find it interesting that the meanest life, the poorest existence, is attributed to God's will, but as human beings become more affluent, as their living standard and style begin to ascend the material scale, God descends the scale of responsibility at commensurate speed.
Maya Angelou
Image
I think we have systematically and critically harmed ourselves and many young people by advising them not to try things.
Maya Angelou
Image
The main thing in one's own private world is to try to laugh as much as you cry.
Maya Angelou
Image
Whenever something went wrong when I was young - if I had a pimple or if my hair broke - my mom would say, 'Sister mine, I'm going to make you some soup.' And I really thought the soup would make my pimple go away or my hair stronger.
Maya Angelou
Image
Creativity or talent, like electricity, is something I don't understand but something I'm able to harness and use.
Maya Angelou
Image
Whether you are happy or whether you are sad, it is wise to remember you are really in process.
Maya Angelou
Image
I speak a number of languages, but none are more beautiful to me than English.
Maya Angelou
Image
The Holy Spirit upon my left leads my feet without ceasing into the camp of the righteous and into the tents of the free.
Maya Angelou
Image
You can't get too high for somebody to bring you down.
Maya Angelou
Image
When we cast our bread upon the waters we can presume that someone downstream whose face we will never know will benefit from our action, as we who are downstream from another will profit from the grantor's gift.
Maya Angelou
Image
We have to confront ourselves. Do we like what we see in the mirror? And, according to our light, according to our understanding, according to our courage, we will have to say yea or nay - and rise!
Maya Angelou
Image
People will never forget how you made them feel.
Maya Angelou
Image
I know that I'm not the easiest person to live with. The challenge I put on myself is so great that the person I live with feels himself challenged. I bring a lot to bear, and I don't know how not to.
Maya Angelou
Image
I am convinced that most people do not grow up...We marry and dare to have children and call that growing up. I think what we do is mostly grow old. We carry accumulation of years in our bodies, and on our faces, but generally our real selves, the children inside, are innocent and shy as magnolias.
Maya Angelou
Image
Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise.
Maya Angelou
Image
Never, never let a person know you're frightened. And a group of them ... absolutely never. Fear brings out the worst in everybody.
Maya Angelou
Image
Independence is a heady draught, and if you drink it in your youth, it can have the same effect on the brain as young wine does. It does not matter that its taste is not always appealing. It is addictive and with each drink you want more.
Maya Angelou
Image
Shakespeare must be a black girl.
Maya Angelou