---
title: "5 Down and Quotes By Maya Angelou"
description: "5 Down and quotes by Maya Angelou. Plus more from Maya Angelou and more Down and sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/maya-angelou-104_and-love_i-look-at-some-of-the-great-novelists-an_223035.jpg"
---

> [I look at some of the great novelists, and I think the reason they are great is that they're telling the truth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-look-at-some-of-the-great-novelists-and-i-think-the-reason-they-are/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/maya-angelou-104_and-love_i-look-at-some-of-the-great-novelists-an_223035.jpg)

> [What we really have to do is take a day and sit down and think. The world is not going to end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/what-we-really-have-to-do-is-take-a-day-and-sit-down-and-think-the/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ceb/maya-angelou-104_church_what-we-really-have-to-do-is-take-a-day_498692.png)

> [When the storyteller tells the truth, she reminds us that human beings are more alike than unalike... A story is what it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/when-the-storyteller-tells-the-truth-she-reminds-us-that-human-beings/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b2d/maya-angelou-104_arise_when-the-storyteller-tells-the-truth-she_778632.jpg)

> [I did get knocked down flat in front of the whole world, and I rose. I didn't run away - I rose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-did-get-knocked-down-flat-in-front-of-the-whole-world-and-i-rose-i/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a43/maya-angelou-104_down-and_i-did-get-knocked-down-flat-in-front-of_2364784.png)

> [Without defeats, how do you really know who the hell you are? If you never had to stand up to something -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/without-defeats-how-do-you-really-know-who-the-hell-you-are-if-you/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/839/maya-angelou-104_beautiful_without-defeats-how-do-you-really-know-w_2387023.png)

## Other authors on Down and

## More by Maya Angelou

> [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/if-we-accept-being-talked-to-any-kind-of-a-way-then-we-are-telling/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [“You are very kind and very intelligent and those elements are not always found together. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-are-very-kind-and-very-intelligent-and-those-elements-are-not/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [I agreed a long time ago, I would not live at any cost. If I am moved or forced away from what I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-agreed-a-long-time-ago-i-would-not-live-at-any-cost-if-i-am-moved/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [You want me to do something... tell me I can't do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-want-me-to-do-something-tell-me-i-can-t-do-it/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [Intelligence is a separate gift, for the benefit of students, so that they may think of themselves as intellectual and not very intelligent, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/intelligence-is-a-separate-gift-for-the-benefit-of-students-so-that/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [Life is going to give you just what you put in it. Put your whole heart in everything you do, and pray, then you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/life-is-going-to-give-you-just-what-you-put-in-it-put-your-whole/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [“You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may tread me in the very dirt But still, like dust,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-may-write-me-down-in-history-with-your-bitter-twisted-lies-you/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [The more you know of your history, the more liberated you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/the-more-you-know-of-your-history-the-more-liberated-you-are/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [Life offers us tickets to places which we have not knowingly asked for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/life-offers-us-tickets-to-places-which-we-have-not-knowingly-asked-for/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/every-person-needs-to-take-one-day-away-a-day-in-which-one/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [I'm working at trying to be a Christian, and that's serious business. It's like trying to be a good Jew, a good Muslim, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-m-working-at-trying-to-be-a-christian-and-that-s-serious-business/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [Nathaniel Hawthorne once said that easy reading is damn hard writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/nathaniel-hawthorne-once-said-that-easy-reading-is-damn-hard-writing/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [Sunday, if I'm lucky, I'll go to church or listen to some good spiritual advice on the television or on the radio. I take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/sunday-if-i-m-lucky-i-ll-go-to-church-or-listen-to-some-good/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

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