--- description: A collection of the poet and author's most memorable speeches, poems and interviews title: Watch: Maya Angelou's Most Powerful Words in 2 Minutes image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt791c2be604f5f615/6986911035ba6f04bbc02289/maya_angelou_1280.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [remembrance](/tag/remembrance/) ## remembrance Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch: Maya Angelou's Most Powerful Quotes in 2 Minutes  by [Diane Tsai](/author/diane-tsai/)  ## Diane Tsai Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 28, 2014 3:46 PM CUT  TIME  by [Diane Tsai](/author/diane-tsai/)  ## Diane Tsai Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 28, 2014 3:46 PM CUT Maya Angelou, a woman of [many professions](http://time.com/123036/maya-angelou-a-hymn-to-human-endurance/ "undefined"), was known primarily as a wordsmith: in poems, books, and speeches. Angelou became an author at the age of 41 when she wrote her memoir _I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings_, which was followed by various works, ranging from autobiographies to children’s books and song lyrics for a musical. “I’ll probably be writing when the Lord says, “Maya, Maya Angelou, it’s time,” Angelou [told TIME in 2013](http://time.com/123087/10-questions-with-maya-angelou/ "undefined"). Angelou became the [first black and first female inaugural poet in 1993](http://time.com/123204/maya-angelou-bill-clinton-inauguration/ "undefined") for President Clinton and left behind a strong legacy as a teacher and civil rights activist. Watch above for some of Angelou’s most memorable quotes. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/123688/maya-angelou-quotes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/123688/maya-angelou-quotes/"},"headline":"Watch: Maya Angelou's Most Powerful Quotes in 2 Minutes","datePublished":"2014-05-28T15:46:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:15:10.398Z","description":"A collection of the poet and author's most memorable speeches, poems and interviews","url":"https://time.com/123688/maya-angelou-quotes/","keywords":["remembrance","Interview","Clinton","Speech","author","anderson cooper","TIME 100","Maya Angelou","poet","inauguration"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt791c2be604f5f615/6986911035ba6f04bbc02289/maya_angelou_1280.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Diane Tsai","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/diane-tsai/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt791c2be604f5f615/6986911035ba6f04bbc02289/maya_angelou_1280.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Maya Angelou","caption":"","creditText":"TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/remembrance/","name":"remembrance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/123688/maya-angelou-quotes/","name":"Watch: Maya Angelou's Most Powerful Quotes in 2 Minutes"}}]}] ```