Maya Angelou's quotations offer insight into resiliency, identity, and human connection and continue to have a significant and enduring influence on people and society. Photo credit: BBC.com
Maya Angelou, a celebrated author, poet, and activist born
on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, left behind a profound legacy of
inspirational quotes that continue to resonate with people worldwide.
Her words emphasize resilience, self-worth, courage, and the
power of love and human connection. As of 2026, her quotes continue to be widely shared
and referenced across media and educational platforms, reflecting their
enduring relevance.
Maya Angelou’s quote, "Courage is the most important of
all the virtues because, without it, you can't practice any other virtue
consistently," remains profoundly relevant to mankind today as a
foundational call to bravery in the face of adversity, injustice, and personal
struggle.
Below is a compilation of some of her quotes
“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.”
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you
know better, do better.”
“We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be
defeated.”
“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your
eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I’ll rise.”
“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be
reduced by it.”
“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”
“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.”
“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because
without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.”
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story
inside you.”
“Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it,
possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.”
Angelou's emphasis on courage as the foundation of moral
action provides a timeless manual for individual and societal resilience as
contemporary civilization struggles with global issues like social injustice,
mental health crises, and political conflict.
Bob Marley:
His words and prophecies through his music are taking place
A couple of weeks
ago, I wrote an article captioned “Is Belgium’s Royal Family Proud Of The
Horrible Crime Leopold II Committed In Africa?”
The significance of
the article is that no one in his right mind will build a statue of someone who
maimed and killed over 10 million Africans, including women and children, when
there is no statue of Hitler for committing a similar crime against
humanity.
The article spread over all the social media including ‘NIUME,’ one of the outstanding social media platforms and someone made a comment. According to the reader called Sue Marlington: “Well I didn’t even know that there was a Royal family in Belgium, thank you for the insightful post.”
Yes, Sue is right, many people don’t know that there is even a Royal Family in Belgium, because the country even though it is very small, people know more of evil Belgium committed in Africa than a country known for its quality beer and chocolate productions. This is the result when evil overcomes good, you are completely denied and buried forever.
THE WISDOM AND PHILOSOPHY OF BOB MARLEY
On May 11, 1981, one of the world’s greatest musical icons died, he was Bob Marley. There is no one on earth whose popularity and fame spread decades after his death like a bush fire in the dry season than Bob Marley.
Like Sue Marlington, a number of people don’t know there is a monarchy in Belgium, but people know that Belgium killed Patrice Lumumba because he fought for the independence of his country, Congo, and the Belgians were mad. Astonishingly, everyone including illiterates and remote villagers knew who Bob Marley was because of what he stood for which reflects on his music.
A lot has already been written about this little man from Jamaica full of wisdom and knowledge, so I’m not going to repeat articles already written. Today, I have selected 10statements Bob Marley made in his music for readers, music lovers, and the so-called politicians who have destroyed this world to ponder over them.
1. Culled from the track ‘Natural Mystic’:
There’s a natural mystic blowing through the air; If you listen carefully now you will hear. This could be the first trumpet, might as well be the last: Many more will have to suffer, Many more will have to die – don’t ask me why.
2. Culled from the track ‘Talking Blues’:
I – I’m a gonna take a just-a one step more ‘Cause I feel like bombin’ a church – Now – now that you know that the preacher is lyin’. So who’s gonna stay at home, When – when the freedom fighters are fighting?
3. Culled from the track ‘Babylon System:
We refuse to be What you wanted us to be; We are what we are: That’s the way (way) it’s going to be. You don’t know! You can’t educate I, For no equal opportunity: (Talkin’ ’bout my freedom) Talkin’ ’bout my freedom, People freedom (freedom) and liberty! Yeah, we’ve been trodding on the winepress much too long: Rebel, rebel! Yes, we’ve been trodding on the winepress much too long: Rebel, rebel!
4. Culled from the track ‘Ambush In The Night:
(Ooh-wee, ooh-wee, ooh-wa!) See them fighting for power (ooh-wee, ooh-wee, ooh-wa!), But they know not the hour (ooh-wee, ooh-wee, ooh-wa!),; So they bribing with their guns, spare parts, and money, Trying to belittle our Integrity now. They say what we know. Is just what they teach us, And we’re so ignorant ‘Cause every time they can reach us (shoobe, doo-wa) Through political strategy (shoo-be, doo-wa); They keep us hungry (shoobe, doo-wa), And when you gonna get some food (shoobe, doo-wa), Your brother got to be your enemy, we-e-ell! Ambush in the night, All guns aiming at me.
5. Culled from the track ‘One Drop’:
I know Jah’s never let us down; Pull your rights from wrong (I know Jah would never let us down) Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no! They made their world so hard (so hard): Every day we got to keep on fighting (fighting); They made their world so hard (so hard): Every day the people are dyin’ (dying), yeah! (It dread, dread) For hunger (dread, dread) and starvation (dread, dread, dread, dread), Lamentation (dread, dread), But read it in Revelation (dread, dread, dread, dread): You’ll find your redemption And then you give us the teachings of His Majesty, For we no want no devil philosophy; A you fe give us the teachings of His Majesty, A we no want no devil philosophy:
6. Culled from the track ‘Time Will Tell’:
Jah would never give the power to a baldhead Run come
crucify the Dread. Time alone – oh, time will tell: Think you’re in heaven, but
ya living in hell.
7. Culled from the track ‘Redemption Song’:
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; None but
ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy, ‘Cause none of them can stop the time. How long
shall they kill our prophets, While we stand aside and look? Ooh! Some say it’s
just a part of it:
We’ve got to fulfill the book.
8. Culled from the track ‘One Love’:
One Love! One Heart! Let’s get together and feel all right.
Hear the children cryin’ (One Love!); Hear the children cryin’ (One Heart!),
Sayin’: give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right; Sayin’:
let’s get together and feel all right. Wo wo-wo wo-wo!
9. Culled from the track ‘Coming In From The Cold’:
It’s you – it’s you – it’s you I’m talkin’ to -Well, you
(it’s you) – you (it’s you) – you I’m talking to now. Why do you look so sad
and forsaken? When one door is closed, don’t you know other is open?
Would you
let the system make you kill your brotherman? No, no, no, no, no, no! No,
Dread, no! Would you make the system make you kill your brotherman? (No, Dread, no!) Well, the biggest – biggest man you ever – ever –
see was-a once a baby.
10. Culled from the track: ‘Pimpers' Paradise’:
She loves to party, have a good time; She looks so hearty,
feeling fine; She loves to smoke, sometime shiftin’ coke; She’ll be laughin’
when there ain’t no joke.
A pimpers' paradise: that’s all she was now; A
pimpers' paradise: that’s all she was; A pimpers' paradise: that’s all she was
now; Pimper’s paradise: that’s all she was. (Every need got an ego to feed; Every need got an ego to feed.)
Bonus- Culled from the track ‘Stiff Necked Fools’:
Stiff-necked fools, you think you are cool To deny me for
simplicity. Yes, you have gone for so long With your love for vanity now. Yes,
you have got the wrong interpretation Mixed up with vain imagination.
So take
Jah Sun, and Jah Moon, And Jah Rain, and Jah Stars, And forever, yes, erase
your fantasy, yea-eah! The lips of the righteous teach many, But fools die for
want of wisdom. The rich man’s wealth is in his city; The righteous’ wealth is
in his Holy Place.
Bob Marley sings 'Africa Unite.'
Conclusion and opinion
Black history has been tampered with and facts have been
swept under the carpet by one race to portray another race as inferior.
Many
times, I hear people saying that ‘I am ashamed to be a White man,’ due to the
evil things committed against other people on this earth’s surface. But nobody
needs to be ashamed.
Instead, let’s pray for those who have bitter hearts
towards others because bitterness will only promote your health to disaster.
Patiently, the hen sits on her eggs to hatch her chicks.
1. Good
planning: She
first lays enough eggs before sitting on them.
2. Discipline: When she starts sitting on her
eggs, she minimizes movements.
3. Sacrifice
and self-denial: She
physically loses weight while sitting on her eggs due to decreased
feeding.
4. Indiscrimination
and generosity: She
can’t sit on eggs from another hen.
5. Faith,
hope, and courage: She
sits on her eggs for 21 days, patiently waiting; even if they do not hatch,
she will lay eggs again.
6. Sensitive and discerning: She detects unfertilized eggs and rolls them out.
7. Wisdom, consciousness, and realism: She abandons the rotten eggs and starts
caring for the hatched chicks, even if it’s only one.
8. Protective love: No
one touches her chicks.
9. Unity
of purpose: She
gathers all her chicks together.
10. Mentorship: She
can’t abandon her chicks before they mature.
Even the greatest teacher, Jesus, led by the Holy Spirit, taught from the hen. ‘Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I
have longed to gather your children together, as a hen.’ Luke 13:34.
Discussing your problems with someone you love is the
best way to get help and solutions to the problem.
“If one pretends to be dead, mourners will pretend to bury
you alive,” is one of the thousands of African proverbs meant to educate, shape
our lives, and inspire us, as each proverb carries a moral lesson, advice, and
wisdom. This particular proverb speaks against pretending.
As imperfect human beings, we are responsible for both the
good and bad things we do. Whichever way one takes it, to pretend is also
considered to be something bad.
The question is, why do people pretend?
According to a study, pretending has both advantages and disadvantages.
Sometimes one needs to pretend. For example, when all of a
sudden in a cinema hall, a gunman on a shooting spree takes everyone by
surprise without any escape route, pretending to be dead among those already
dead could save your life.
But in other ways, pretending can cause
self-destruction, depression, loneliness, and other psychological problems. How?
The pressure in society is enormous. Things are not
going well, yet many people prefer to hide their problems behind a false smile.
If you don’t share your problem with your family or a trustworthy friend, how
can someone know your problem to give the attention or help you need?
Researchers reveal that hiding a problem behind a false smile or faking
happiness is more likely to bring you harmful feelings.
You might not be happy with your job because your boss or a colleague is sexually harassing you, exploiting you physically, emotionally, and
mentally, yet you wear a false smile behind such psychological scars.
Instead
of pretending to be okay, it’s always better to tell your problem to someone to
receive help.
Many wish to be someone because of the extravagant lives
other people live. But we must be careful about what we sometimes wish for. We
must be content with whatever we have to live a happy life.
Don’t let your
neighbor’s expensive car push you to live beyond your means, and put on a fake
smile, deceiving people that you are living great, while you know that you are
struggling to make ends meet.
In Africa and other countries around the world, many are
believed to be sick of HIV but scared to go and see the doctor, because they
aren’t ready to be told they have contracted HIV or Aids.
They would rather
prefer to hide their problems with a fake smile, forgetting that no one drinks
medicine on behalf of a sick person.
To pretend that everything is okay, while suffering, is not
good for our health; we must, therefore, confine our problems to those close to
us for help and solutions. That’s the only way we can overcome and defeat our
problems.
Scott Hastie Scott Hastie is an author and poet based in the Hertfordshire countryside, which is only a thirty-minute commuter ride from London. The village where he lives and works is also only a mile or so from a key junction onto the M25, which offers fast access to the capital’s four principal airports at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, and London Luton. Born in Edinburgh, Scott Hastie was brought up and educated in Berkhamsted before college studies in Brighton. Several small press editions of Scott Hastie’s poetry first appeared in the early 1970s, at a time when he was also editor of the college magazine for Sussex University and Brighton Polytechnic (1974–75) These early anthologies prefaced the first substantial hardback collection of his work, Selected Poetry (1991), which soon found a core audience with its broadly romantic themes, celebrating love and the beauty of the natural world. “To write and sell poetry at a profit these days is a minor victory and a major achievement.” Scott’s words gently unlock and force you to face and look at the world with a little more optimism. There are moments of deep joy and others that take your breath away with simply incredible honesty. Life is a complicated journey with happiness, mystery, and sadness. At times, we need inspirational poems to help us renew ourselves and be filled with the strength to fulfill our life's purpose. That’s where Scott Hastie’s ‘Meditations’ comes in. A remarkable book recommended to both teenagers and adults.
