Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size But when I start to tell them, They think I’m telling lies. I say, It’s in the reach of my arms The span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me.

At fifteen life had taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honorable as resistance, especially if one had no choice.

When you know better, you do better.

Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.

We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.

I encourage you to live with life. Be courageous, adventurous. Give us a tomorrow, more than we deserve.

Being a feminist is being equal to what a man do

I feel there are certain people who are systematically ripping (feminism) down because of their lack of regard and their ignorance about what the women before us had to go through.

I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I always knew the woman I wanted to be.

Nobody says hey, men should not drink. It’s all about women must dress differently , women must walk differently, women must drink differently. Why are we not able to hold men to account for this behavior?

The first thing about empowerment is to understand that you have the right to be involved. The second one is that you have something important to contribute. And the third piece is that you have to take the risk to contribute it.

Woman is the dominant sex. Men have to do all sorts of stuff to prove they are worthy of a woman’s attention.

I’m a liability to them – I’m a woman, I’m empowered, I’m an artist. I’ve had executives who can’t come to my shows they’re so scared of me. I’ve been a thorn in many people’s sides just by existing.

I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people, women, that they can’t control their bodies.

It’s pretty clear that if men were having babies we’d have different policies.

I do respect them; I have great respect for women. In fact, one of the reasons ‘The Apprentice’ was such a successful show for so many years, the audience of women was fantastic.

I actually trust the women I know. I trust them with their choices, I trust them with their bodies and I trust them with their children. I trust that they are decent enough and wise enough and worthy enough to carry the right of abortion.

If we don’t teach our young girls to speak at an early age, that doesn’t just happen.

I have tremendous respect for women.

If we want our daughters to dream bigger than we did we still have work to do.

What gets me is how many women – young women – give up their power and their sense of self. Thinking they’re going to get more out of life if they take off their clothes and objectify themselves, instead of functioning on the principle that they’re smart and capable, that you can be an actress and not be on the covers of T&A magazines. I’m flabbergasted by how many legitimate actresses do that. It blows my mind.