American author, poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou has died at the age of 86, her literary agent, Helen Brann, said on Wednesday.
Also a professor, singer and dancer, Angelou was perhaps best-known for her 1969 memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In 2011, President Barack Obama awarded her with the Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honour.
Her poem On the Pulse of the Morning, written for US President Bill Clinton's first inauguration, managed to sell a million copies in the US.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
Angelou was known for her wit and her wisdom. Here are ten of her best-loved quotes:
"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty."
"Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently."
"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain."
"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."
"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song."
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
"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."
"Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it."
"I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way (s)he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights."
"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour, and some style."
