Maya Angelou(1928–2014) was an American poet and civil rights activist. This memoirist was born on April 4, 1928. In her work, she uses feminism approach. This legendary poet tried to inspire women all around the world. She published A Series of Seven Autobiographies, 3 books of Essays, Poetry books. But Maya Angelou is best known for Seven Autobiographies, which focuses on her life experience (Childhood and early adult).
In remembrance of her incredible role, QuotesGeeks listed 50 Maya Angelou Feminist Quotes.
Top 50 Maya Angelou Feminist Quotes:
01.
“I am grateful to be a woman. I must have done something great in another life.”
― Maya Angelou
02.
“I am a woman / Phenomenally / Phenomenal woman / That’s me.”
― Maya Angelou
03.
“Each time a woman stands up for herself, she stands up for all women.“
― Maya Angelou
04.
“A woman in harmony with her spirit is like a river flowing. She goes where she will without pretense and arrives at her destination prepared to be herself and only herself.”
― Maya Angelou
05.
“A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim.”
― Maya Angelou
06.
“She said black women are so special. Few men of any color and even fewer white women can deal with how fabulous we are.”
― Maya Angelou
07.
“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”
― Maya Angelou
08.
“You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody.“
― Maya Angelou
09.
“As a Black American woman, I could not sit with easy hands and an impassive face and have my future planned. Life in my country had demanded that I act for myself or face terrible consequences.”
― Maya Angelou
10.
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.“
— Maya Angelou
11.
“I thought about black women and wondered how we got to be the way we were. In our country, white men were always in superior positions; after them came white women, then black men, then black women, who were historically on the bottom stratum.“
— Maya Angelou
12.
“How did it happen that we could nurse a nation of strangers, be maids to multitudes of people who scorned us, and still walk with some majesty and stand with a degree of pride?”
― Maya Angelou
13.
“With time and a kindly librarian, any unskilled person can learn how to build a replica of the Taj Mahal.”
― Maya Angelou
14.
“A strong woman stands up for herself. A stronger woman stands up for everybody else.”
― Maya Angelou
15.
“Girl, don’t you believe it. Georgia is Down South. California is Up South. If you’re black in this country, you’re on a plantation. You have to deal with masters. There might be some argument over whether they are vicious masters but be assured that they all think they are masters . . . And if they think that, then you’d better believe they think you are the slave. Maybe a smart slave, a pretty slave, a good slave, but a slave just the same.”
― Maya Angelou
16.
“We are only as blind as we want to be.”
― Maya Angelou
17.
“If you’re a human being, you can attempt to do what other human beings have done. We don’t understand talent any more than we understand electricity.”
― Maya Angelou
18.
“Stand up straight and realize who you are. That you tower over your circumstances. You are a child of God. Stand up straight.”
― Maya Angelou
19.
“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”
― Maya Angelou
20.
“I respect myself and insist upon it from everybody. And because I do it, I then respect everybody, too.”
― Maya Angelou
21.
“If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be.”
― Maya Angelou
22.
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
― Maya Angelou
23.
“We need joy as we need air. We need love as we need water. We need each other as we need the earth we share.”
― Maya Angelou
24.
“Seek patience and passion in equal amounts. Patience alone will not build the temple. Passion alone will destroy its walls.”
― Maya Angelou
25.
“I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.”
― Maya Angelou
26.
“Each of us has that right, that possibility, to invent ourselves daily. If a person does not invent herself, she will be invented. So, to be bodacious enough to invent ourselves is wise.”
― Maya Angelou
27.
“If we lose love and self-respect for each other, this is how we finally die.”
― Maya Angelou
28.
“She was stimulating instead of intimidating.”
― Maya Angelou
29.
“You’ve been a hard worker—white, black, Asian, and Latino women ship out of the San Francisco port because of you. You have been a ship fitter, a nurse, a real estate broker, and a barber. Many men and—if my memory serves me right—a few women risked their lives to love you. You were a terrible mother of small children, but there has never been anyone greater than you as a mother of a young adult.”
― Maya Angelou
30.
“We are more alike than we are unalike.”
― Maya Angelou
31.
“The Black female is assaulted in her tender years by all those common forces of nature at the same time that she is caught in the tripartite crossfire of masculine prejudice, white illogical hate and Black lack of power.”
― Maya Angelou
32.
“Black females, for the most part, know by the time they are ten years old that the world is not much concerned with the quality of their lives or even their lives at all.”
― Maya Angelou
33.
“I don’t think she ever knew that a deep-brooding love hung over everything she touched.”
― Maya Angelou
34.
“Behind the women’s eyes, however, there is a wisdom that does not pretend to be unaware; nor does it permit gullibility.”
― Maya Angelou
35.
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”
― Maya Angelou
36.
“(A woman) will need to prize her tenderness and be able to display it at appropriate times in order to prevent toughness from gaining total authority and to avoid becoming a mirror image of those men who value power above life, and control over love.”
― Maya Angelou
37.
“After being a woman for three years, I became a girl.”
― Maya Angelou
38.
“Her husband remains, in my memory, undefined. I lumped him with all the other white men that I had ever seen and tried not to see.”
― Maya Angelou
39.
“Hell, girl, everybody feels sorry for you, but nobody owes you a damn thing.”
― Maya Angelou
40.
“The only sure prediction in this whole world was you”
― Maya Angelou
41.
“The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerence. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors and deserves respect if not enthusiastic acceptance.”
― Maya Angelou
42.
“I wanted to be a woman, but that seemed to me to be a world to which I was to be eternally refused entrance.”
― Maya Angelou
43.
“What I needed was a boyfriend. A boyfriend would clarify my position to the world and, even more important, to myself. A boyfriend’s acceptance of me would guide me into that strange and exotic land of frills and femininity.”
― Maya Angelou
44.
“You are too good a woman to think small.”
― Maya Angelou
45.
“I’ll put my foot in that door up to my hip until women of every color can walk over my foot, get in that union, get aboard a ship and go to sea.”
― Maya Angelou
46.
“Baby, I’ve been thinking and now I am sure. You are the greatest woman I’ve ever met.”
― Maya Angelou
47.
“The woman who truly intends to live a good life is already living phenomenally since intent is part of the achievement.”
― Maya Angelou
48.
“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”
― Maya Angelou
49.
“The Black woman in the South who raises sons, grandsons, and nephews had her heartstrings tied to a hanging noose. Any break from routine may herald for them unbearable news.”
― Maya Angelou
50.
“As far as I knew white women were never lonely, except in books. White men adored them, Black men desired them and Black women worked for them.”
― Maya Angelou
A Short List of Awards Received by Maya Angelou:
Here, we listed some of the prestigious awards won by Maya Angelou. These are:
- National Medal of Arts (2000)
- National Women’s Hall of Fame (1998)
- Mother Teresa Award (2006)
- Lincoln Medal (2008)
- Presidential Medal of Freedom (2010)
- Candace Award, National Coalition of 100 Black Women (1990)
- Pulitzer Prize nomination (1972)
FAQs Related to Maya Angelou Feminist Quotes:
#1. Was Maya Angelou a feminist?
Ans: Maya Angelou was a feminist who uses feminism approach in her work.
#2. What was Maya Angelou’s nickname?
Ans: Maya was the nickname of Maya Angelou.
#3. What nationality is Maya Angelou?
Ans: American
#4. Who did Maya Angelou inspire?
Ans:
There are some big names who are inspired by Maya Angelou. Includes:
- Oprah Winfrey
- Nelson Mandela
- Serena Williams
- Bill Clinton
- Barack Obama
- Richard Pryor
- Nicki Minaj
- Rihanna
- Dave Chappelle
- Kendrick Lamar
#5. What are some of Maya Angelou’s poems?
Ans:
- On the Pulse of Morning
- Woman Work
- Mother: A Cradle to Hold Me
- A Brave and Startling Truth
- We Had Him
What do you think after reading Maya Angelou Feminist Quotes?
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