There are few names more well-known than Maya Angelou’s. As the National Women’s History Museum (NWHM) reported, Angelou was a poet, dancer, singer, activist, scholar and “a world-famous author.” She was most well-known for her autobiographical style, and she accomplished many firsts; she was the first Black woman to make the nonfiction bestseller lists with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and the first Black woman to direct a major motion picture with Georgia, Georgia. She was even the first Black, female streetcar conductor in San Francisco at the age of 16, per NBC Bay Area. As you can tell, despite hardships and setbacks, she achieved so much. And our quote of the day from Angelou reflects the mindset that likely drove her to persevere and succeed.
Per the NWHM, Angelou was born Marguerite Ann Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, MO. Her parents had a “tumultuous” relationship, which led her to live with her paternal grandmother in Arkansas. After going back and forth between her mother’s and grandmother’s care, and experiencing a horrifying event at seven years old, she ended up with her mother in Oakland, CA for high school. She wrote poetry, essays and more all throughout her adolescence, graduated from high school in 1944 and had her first child soon after. She had odd jobs, got married and then divorced by 1952, but kept a version of her former husband’s last name, Angelos.
According to the Poetry Foundation, Angelou worked for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X as a civil rights activist, and went on to teach as the Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University. She published I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in 1969, which was an autobiography of her early years. Many credit this book for helping abuse survivors share their stories, as she did. One of her poetry books, Just Give me a Drink of Water ‘fore I Diiie, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1972, and in 1993 she won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for her spoken poetry album, “On the Pulse of the Morning.”
She achieved so much more than we can write in her long life; she died on May 28, 2014, at the age of 86. At her memorial service, her son Guy Johnson said that Angelou “left this mortal plane with no loss of acuity and no loss in comprehension,” per History’s Women. And as today’s quote highlights, she believed in determination and putting into life what you want out of it.
Related: Quote of the Day: Poet Edgar Allan Poe on the Power of Creativity, Imagination and Daydreaming
Quote of the Day by Maya Angelou
CanvaPro/Parade
“Life is going to give you just what you put in it. Put your whole heart in everything you do, and pray, then you can wait.”
This is a quote from the 1989 book Conversations with Maya Angelou. It’s a collection of conversations with Angelou, where she tells “of her impact upon a difficult world and ultimately her triumph.”
This line is in the chapter titled “Westways Women: Life Is for Living, Judith Rich.” As The Marginalian reported, it is a 1977 interview with Rich, who was a journalist. In it, Angelou shares that she’s very fortunate, even though she had a very hard upbringing. She reflects more on her life as, including how she’d be dead if she accepted the negative things people said about her looks early on and how she only tries to represent herself when out in the world.
Early in this chapter, when Rich writes the quote above, it’s after she notes that “it’s [Angelou’s] capacity to transmit this warmth and humor, together with the inherent pain, through her work, that has made her a leading figure in writing and the performing arts.” She then lists off all of Angelou’s accomplishments.
Rich then writes that Angelou says her mother always told her this: “Life is going to give you just what you put in it. Put your whole heart in everything you do, and pray, then you can wait.”
She follows that up by talking about how busy Angelou is and how she isn’t “one to rest,” listing projects she was currently working on.
Related: Quote of the Day: Political Activist Angela Davis on Uplifting Others as We Succeed
Deeper Meaning of Maya Angelou’s Quote—You Get What You Put Into Your Life
As mentioned above, Angelou’s life was hard, and she grew up having to experience some traumatic events. But as her life and all that she’s accomplished have shown, she persevered and went out and achieved her dreams. And it really does go back to what her mother told her, which she remembered all those decades later in the interview with Judith Rich.
The sentiment that “you get what you put in” is a pretty common one that many of us have heard before. But, as she tends to do, Angelou finds a way to make it feel new and, given the fact that she embodies what the quote is saying, gives it even more meaning.
She simply states that you’re going to get back from life as much as you put into it. So that means the effort you give your work, your ambitions, your schooling, your partner, your family, etc. will come back to you eventually. If you want to accomplish something in life, you need to persevere and do hard things, but what you can succeed because of your work and dedication is worth it.
Angelou reminds us to put our “whole heart in everything” we do, which is a good lesson to remember for quite literally everything in life. No one likes a haphazard attempt, and it’s always noticeable. So put your all into things, pray or hope for the best, and wait for the good things to fall into your life.
Related: Quote of the Day: Writer George Orwell on Happiness—‘Men Can Only Be Happy’ When They Aren’t Searching for Happiness as Life’s Main Point
More Quotes from Maya Angelou
- “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”
- “The most called-upon prerequisite of a friend is an accessible ear.”
- “Life loves to be taken by the lapel and be told, I am with you kid. Let’s go!”
- “All knowledge is spendable currency, depending on the market.”
- “You only are free when you realize you belong no place – you belong every place – no place at all. The price is high. The reward is great.”
- “Human beings are more alike than unalike, and what is true anywhere is true everywhere, yet I encourage travel to as many destinations as possible for the sake of education as well as pleasure.”
- “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning.”
Up Next:
Related: Quote of the Day: Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau—‘What Wisdom Can You Find That Is Greater Than Kindness?’
