How much do we miss Maya Angelou — her storytelling, her resilience, her jokes, her words of encouragement? Her honesty and wit?
Even though the legendary writer, poet, and civil rights activist passed away in May 2014, her legacy lives on — through her many novels and collections of poetry, and in the many video clips of her interviews and speeches that are available online. Angelou also gave us reams of quotable wisdom and inspiration. Today, on what would have been her 90th birthday, here are a few of our favorites:
On Optimism
In the years before her passing, Angelou kept active giving speeches and interviews and writing — she was even on Twitter! Angelou dropped 140-character bits of wisdom on her followers, like this reminder from 2010 that might come in handy on those days when you're in a funk and can't seem to get out of bed:
"I'm blessed to be excited everyday, because this is a day I've never seen before."
On Courage:
Although self-love is an ongoing theme through Angelou's work, courage was the personal quality she perhaps admired most. The topic came up during one of her last interviews before her death when she told On Being about her time meeting W.E.B. DuBois in Ghana and what she learned from his example:
"Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can’t be consistently fair or kind or generous or forgiving any of those without courage."
On Getting Back Up
In an 2009 interview with Psychology Today for the release of her book "Letter to My Daughter," a collection of essays for women, Angelou again spoke about the power of courage:
"I did get knocked down flat in front of the whole world, and I rose. I didn’t run away – I rose right where I’d been knocked down. And then that’s how you get to know yourself. You say, hmm, I can get up! I have enough of life in me to make somebody jealous enough to want to knock me down. I have so much courage in me that I have the effrontery, the incredible gall to stand up. That’s it. That’s how you get to know who you are."
On Sisterhood and Promises
Most folks know Angelou from her literary works, but she was also a lifelong civil rights activist and was a close friend to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King — so close that Mrs. King considered Angelou to be her "chosen sister," and Angelou delivered a powerful eulogy at King's funeral. Angelou ended her remarks with a powerful and inspiring promise to her sister to never stop fighting for justice:
"I pledge to you, my sister, I will never cease. I mean to say, I want to see a better world. I mean to say, I want to see some peace somewhere. I mean to say, I want to see some honesty, some fair play. I want to see kindness and justice. This is what I want to see. "
Maya Angelou in 1992.
On Acknowledging Progress
In an interview in 1995, Mother Jones asked Angelou if she thought, given America's many problems, if the nation had made any progress since the Civil Rights activism of the 1960's. Her reply is a reminder to not let the current state of the world demoralize us — because the kids are watching and listening:
"We’ve made a lot of progress — it’s dangerous not to say so. Because if we say so, we tell young people, implicitly or explicitly, that there can be no change. Then they compute: 'You mean the life and death and work of Malcolm X and Martin King, the Kennedys, Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, the life and struggle of Rosa Parks — they did all that and nothing has changed? Well then, what the hell am I doing? There’s no point for me to do anything.' The truth is, a lot has changed–for the good. And it’s gonna keep getting better, according to how we put our courage forward, and thrust our hearts forth."
On Looking in the Mirror:
In that same interview, Mother Jones asked Angelou "How can progressives take back the political agenda?" Angelou's answer is relevant to both political and personal change.
"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 during an interview in 1978.
On the Pricelessness of Freedom
In a 1973 interview, journalist Bill Moyers pointed out to Angelou that she'd become a world citizen and couldn't be put into a box. "You’ve really been a mobile, nomadic, free person," said Moyers. And he wanted to know if there was a price for that freedom. Angelou's reply is a reminder that freedom is always worth it:
"Well, at some point — you only are free when you realize you belong no place — you belong every place — no place at all. The price is high. The reward is great. I feel that — I really have felt almost my life that I wouldn’t live long. And now I’m doing a pretty good job, you know."
On Humility
Even though she was a font of wisdom and had more than 70 honorary degrees, Angelou always considered herself to be constantly learning. And in this 2013 interview with Oprah, she acknowledged the importance of humility in her life:
"Humility is great, because humility says, 'There was someone before me. I'm following in somebody's footsteps.'"
On Perseverance
Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness.
Angelou considered Oprah her "daughter-sister-friend" — so much so that in 2016 Angelou penned a poem, "Continue" for Oprah. In it, Angelou writes the words that each of us needs to hear every single day:
"My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness. Continue to allow humor to lighten the burden of your tender heart."
