--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Life is a gift, and i try to respond with…" description: "\"Life is a gift, and i try to respond with grace and courtesy.\" — Maya Angelou" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/maya-angelou-104_courtesy_life-is-a-gift-and-i-try-to-respond-with_1183431.png" --- # Life is a gift, and i try to respond with grace and… ![“Life is a gift, and i try to respond with grace and courtesy.” quote by Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/maya-angelou-104_courtesy_life-is-a-gift-and-i-try-to-respond-with_1183431.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/maya-angelou-104_courtesy_life-is-a-gift-and-i-try-to-respond-with_1183431.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/maya-angelou-104_courtesy_life-is-a-gift-and-i-try-to-respond-with_1183431.png) > “Life is a gift, and i try to respond with grace and courtesy.” [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Recognizing life’s value and choosing kindness reflects gratitude and dignity. **In simple terms:** Life is a gift; respond with kindness. Key Takeaway Treat others with respect and poise. Themes gratitude kindness humility Mood warm reflective Type inspirational ethical When to use this quote - daily interactions - customer service - family gatherings Key Concepts human dignity social grace Practical Applications - personal relationships Questions to Reflect On - How can you show grace in a difficult situation? - What does gratitude look like in action? A Different Perspective Kindness alone may not change systemic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Courtesy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courtesy/) [Gift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gift/) [Grace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grace/) [Grace Courtesy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grace-courtesy-414135/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Gift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-gift/) [Life is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-is/) [Life is a gift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-is-a-gift/) [Respond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respond/) [Respond Grace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respond-grace-2233800/) [Try again](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/try-again/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) ## Related quotes > [“I would court you, with all the grace and courtesy that you deserve. There’d be no lies between us. We’d have time to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-pacat/i-would-court-you-with-all-the-grace-and-courtesy-that-you-deserve-2/) [C.S. Pacat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-pacat/) > [“I would court you, with all the grace and courtesy that you deserve,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-pacat/i-would-court-you-with-all-the-grace-and-courtesy-that-you-deserve/) [C.S. Pacat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-pacat/) > [Life is a gift from God, so live every moment to the fullest, cherish and remember and enjoy, every single moment no matter how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junie/life-is-a-gift-from-god-so-live-every-moment-to-the-fullest-cherish/) [Junie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junie/) > [Life doesn't have to be a revolving door of one bad relationship after another or a carousel where one fool after can jump on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-nathaniel-butler/life-doesn-t-have-to-be-a-revolving-door-of-one-bad-relationship/) [Eugene Nathaniel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-nathaniel-butler/) > [“Life is a gift. Live it with gratitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/life-is-a-gift-live-it-with-gratitude/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“Life is a gift, and should be cherished, lived and experienced. Though experience often reveals itself as pain in this world, it is still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-poeltl/life-is-a-gift-and-should-be-cherished-lived-and-experienced-though/) [Michael Poeltl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-poeltl/) > [“Life Is a Gift from God. We hold from God the gift which includes all others. This gift is life -- physical, intellectual, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/life-is-a-gift-from-god-we-hold-from-god-the-gift-which-includes-all/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [“My life is a gift from the Creator. What I do with it is my gift to the Creator.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-mills/my-life-is-a-gift-from-the-creator-what-i-do-with-it-is-my-gift-to/) [Billy Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-mills/) > [“The spiritual life is a gift. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit, who lifts us up into the kingdom of God's love.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-nouwen/the-spiritual-life-is-a-gift-it-is-a-gift-of-the-holy-spirit-who/) [Henri Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-nouwen/) > [Life is a gift, living is a choice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-a-gift-living-is-a-choice/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Your life is a gift from the Creator. Your gift back to the Creator is what you do with your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-mills/your-life-is-a-gift-from-the-creator-your-gift-back-to-the-creator-is/) [Billy Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-mills/) > [When I look back at the past and think of all the time I squandered in error and idleness,... then my heart bleeds. Life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/when-i-look-back-at-the-past-and-think-of-all-the-time-i-squandered/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [“There's something I have learned from what I've lived: lf you're to live something, live it to its fullest Your beloved should fall exhausted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-something-i-have-learned-from-what-i-ve-lived-lf-you-re-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-a-gift-and-it-offers-us-the-privilege-opportunity-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“life is a gift, death is an obligation, both are equally important to be able to get good grades”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friesda-tobing/life-is-a-gift-death-is-an-obligation-both-are-equally-important-to/) [friesda Tobing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friesda-tobing/) ## 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/) [Explore all 1,313 Maya Angelou quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) ## More Courtesy quotes > [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/) > [Less of your courtesy and more of your purse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/proverb/less-of-your-courtesy-and-more-of-your-purse/) [Proverb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/proverb/) > [Dullness is a courteous fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammad-mustafa/dullness-is-a-courteous-fear/) [Mohammad MUSTAFA](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammad-mustafa/) > [Lobbying' is the activity of attempting to influence legislation by privately influencing the legislators. It is the result and creation of a mixed economy-of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/lobbying-is-the-activity-of-attempting-to-influence-legislation-by/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“...a great man who is vicious will only be a great doer of evil, and a rich man who is not liberal will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-cervantes/a-great-man-who-is-vicious-will-only-be-a-great-doer-of-evil-and-a/) [Miguel Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-cervantes/) > [“I would court you, with all the grace and courtesy that you deserve,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-pacat/i-would-court-you-with-all-the-grace-and-courtesy-that-you-deserve/) [C.S. Pacat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-pacat/) > [The greater the man the greater the courtesy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/the-greater-the-man-the-greater-the-courtesy/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [“Out of all its squalor and human decay, its eruptions of butchery, India produced so many people of grace and beauty, ruled by elaborate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/out-of-all-its-squalor-and-human-decay-its-eruptions-of-butchery/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Show some mercy to this chair which has stretched out its arms to you for so long; please satisfy its desire to embrace you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/show-some-mercy-to-this-chair-which-has-stretched-out-its-arms-to-you/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-post/manners-are-a-sensitive-awareness-of-the-feelings-of-others/) [Emily Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-post/) > [His courtesy was somewhat extravagant. He would write and thank people who wrote to thank him for wedding presents and when he encountered anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/his-courtesy-was-somewhat-extravagant-he-would-write-and-thank-people/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [They who sow courtesy reap friendship, and they who plant kindness gather love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-basil/they-who-sow-courtesy-reap-friendship-and-they-who-plant-kindness/) [Saint Basil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-basil/) > [“If a lady offers you a kindness, you absolutely have to accept”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-wallingford/if-a-lady-offers-you-a-kindness-you-absolutely-have-to-accept/) [Maria Wallingford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-wallingford/) > [though I be but the prince of Wales, yet I am king of courtesy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/though-i-be-but-the-prince-of-wales-yet-i-am-king-of-courtesy/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Princes of courtesy, merciful, proud and strong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-newbolt/princes-of-courtesy-merciful-proud-and-strong/) [Henry Newbolt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-newbolt/) [Browse all 527 Courtesy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courtesy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Life is a gift, and i try to respond with grace and courtesy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Maya Angelou" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/life-is-a-gift-and-i-try-to-respond-with-grace-and-courtesy/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Courtesy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/life-is-a-gift-and-i-try-to-respond-with-grace-and-courtesy/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/maya-angelou-104_courtesy_life-is-a-gift-and-i-try-to-respond-with_1183431.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/maya-angelou-104_courtesy_life-is-a-gift-and-i-try-to-respond-with_1183431.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/maya-angelou-104_courtesy_life-is-a-gift-and-i-try-to-respond-with_1183431.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Life is a gift, and i try to respond with grace and courtesy.” — Maya Angelou", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Maya Angelou", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Life is a gift, and i...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/life-is-a-gift-and-i-try-to-respond-with-grace-and-courtesy/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/life-is-a-gift-and-i-try-to-respond-with-grace-and-courtesy/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```