It doesn’t matter if you need to do that too, as long as you are always moving in the direction of your goal. Again, this is a tacit acknowledgement that Angelou herself took baby steps when she needed to in order to become courageous and successful. Literature and writing was ultimately her outlet for past trauma. Angelou developed her courage and found her voice through reading. If you’re struggling to be brave and feel like you aren’t strong, then take heart in this quotation.

You develop courage by doing small things like just as if you wouldn’t want to pick up a 100-pound weight without preparing yourself. I don’t want to add too much to this quote, because I think it speaks for itself. It takes guts to open your heart and be vulnerable, but without doing that, we can’t be our best selves. What Maya Angelou is talking about here is the courage to be yourself, to show yourself, and to have an open heart. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest. Without courage we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. No-one is “fixed” and everyone has the power to improve at least some of their circumstances. We can change them if we put in the effort.

However, we should never just put up with things we don’t like – that includes external events and qualities within ourselves. Maya Angelou is recommending here that we should “be like water” ( to quote Bruce Lee) and adapt our mind and actions to circumstances that we can not alter. You can’t fight reality, and yet so many people try to do so. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. If you start from behind, that’s OK, as long as you’re willing to learn how you can be better. Maya pays tribute to the powerful path of learning to cope and do things differently, as a step by step process. As a young woman, she was just trying to survive and this quote shows that she is not ashamed of her past. Some people don’t know that Maya Angelou was a prostitute and a brothel madam before she became a renowned author, activist and poet. She had to change herself in order to become the strong, beautiful voice we recognise now. And yet, for seven years she couldn’t utter a word after being unable to deal with the trauma of being sexually assaulted as a child. Angelou had such a powerful voice and presence that you couldn’t imagine was once a mute. Angelou herself went from caterpillar to butterfly. However, change is often the key to unlock the door to success and happiness. People don’t like to change – it can be a difficult and ugly process. We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty. Here are some of my favourite Maya Angelou quotes and why they are so meaningful: Her wisdom comes from her experience and learning as well as listening to her soul.

She was always learning and as she started to change herself, she was able to change hearts and minds with her words. Maya Angelou may be the ultimate study in personal development. She demonstrated that anyone can become better, no matter where they start out in life. I think this is one of the many reasons why people love Maya Angelou’s quotes. Maya Angelou always acknowledged that she had to strive for success, to learn to like herself, and develop skills in order to be the best person she could be. She actively tried to deepen her best qualities and dissolve any negativity, ridding herself of hatred and resentment and developing her bravery and love. She learned from her mistakes and bad experiences. Angelou shaped and changed herself when she needed to. She wasn’t born the brilliant and strong woman that we know her as. Her life wasn’t easy and she endured many terrible hardships. What I like most about Maya Angelou quotes is that they show that she was real. Maya Angelou was an inspiring woman who wrote some memorable words of wisdom.

Maya angelou courage quote