Maya Angelou quotes

1928–2014 · St. Louis, MO

• However, on the other hand, what you have first is your courage. You may lean against it, it will hold you up, you have that.

• But I do know that a diamond, one of the most precious elements in this planet, certainly one in many ways the hardest, is the result of extreme pressure, and time.

• Therein lies our chance toward nobleness—not nobility—but nobleness, the best of a human being is in that ability to overcome.

• There is that in the human spirit which will not be gunned down even by death.

• Of all your attributes—your youth, your beauty, your wit, your kindnesses, your money—courage is indeed your greatest achievement. It is the greatest of all your virtues, for without courage you cannot practice any other virtue with consistency.