Last week marked the three-year anniversary of the death of one of the most renowned and influential writers of our time. Maya Angelou left us a legacy of incredible books, and while she’s most famous for the brilliant I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she also wrote some of our favorites like All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes and The Heart of a Woman, and the children’s book Life Doesn’t Frighten Me.
While she may no longer be of this earth, she continues to inspire, challenge, and comfort people with her work for the rest of time. Here are some Maya Angelou quotes that every nanny or parent should know and share with generations to come.
If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude – Maya Angelou
A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim. – Maya Angelou
The thing to do, it seems to me, is to prepare yourself so you can be a rainbow in somebody else’s cloud. Somebody who may not look like you. May not call God the same name you call God – if they call God at all. I may not dance your dances or speak your language. But be a blessing to somebody. That’s what I think. – Maya Angelou
When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. – Maya Angelou
You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot – it’s all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive. – Maya Angelou
Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible. – Maya Angelou
Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends. – Maya Angelou
Information helps you to see that you’re not alone. That there’s somebody in Mississippi and somebody in Tokyo who all have wept, who’ve all longed and lost, who’ve all been happy. So the library helps you to see, not only that you are not alone, but that you’re not really any different from everyone else. – Maya Angelou
A cynical young person is almost the saddest sight to see, because it means that he or she has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing. – Maya Angelou
I wrote some of the worst poetry west from the Mississippi River, but I wrote. And I finally sometimes got it right. – Maya Angelou