The quarter design depicts Angelou with outstretched arms. Angelou, who died in 2014 at the age of 86, was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010 by President Barack Obama. 'By the time she became the impressive public speaker that people remember, she had lived through decades of penury, decades of various betrayals: She knew how unkind people could be, but her message in her dynamic lectures remained positive. Angelou, an American author, poet and civil rights activist, rose to prominence with the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in 1969. 'People took advantage of her in the usual ways - so she had learned to be suspicious of motives,' says Wagner-Martin, acknowledging all the jobs Angelou worked to support herself and her son (these included fry cook, streetcar conductor, sex worker and nightclub singer). But this was a lesson that likely reared its head many times over the course of her life. Eleanor Gall ApA writer, poet, activist, singer, feminist and champion of civil rights, Maya Angelou’s life and writing continue to offer a rich source of inspiration and advice. The incident scared Angelou deeply and convinced her that he was indeed as ornery as he had proclaimed himself. Weeks later, he purposely stopped on railroad tracks while Angelou was in his car, taking off just in time to narrowly miss an approaching train. In context, Angelou was referring to a man named Phil, who told her that he was ornery and a crazy liar when they first met. This quote appeared in Angelou's sixth autobiography, 'A Song Flung Up to Heaven,' which chronicles her life between 19. We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.

Let's delve deeper into the life of this renowned author, using five of the best Maya Angelou quotes. When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. 'Maya Angelou reminds us all of our better selves,' says Wagner-Martin. Its one of the Its one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. 'I am the dream and the hope of the slave,' said Jackson, referencing a line in Angelou's poem 'Still I Rise.' Linda Wagner-Martin, author of the books ' Maya Angelou: Adventurous Spirit' and ' The Life of the Author: Maya Angelou,' notes that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson quoted Angelou at the White House after her recent Supreme Court confirmation. media without hitting one of the late author's quotes.ĭr. Angelou's words are so resonant that you can't throw a stone in U.S. With advice and wisdom on everything from equality to family, this. She earned dozens of honorary degrees a Presidential Medal of Freedom and a legacy that has endured via class curricula, contemporary Black feminist writers and even internet memes. A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim. This book is a 2014 collection of 200 Maya Angelou quotes that have resounded with readers since her first publication in 1969.

The success of that first memoir spurred Angelou to write six more autobiographies, in addition to three books of essays, several books of poetry, plays, screenplays and even two cookbooks.

Famous maya angelou quotes