Legendary poet and essayist Maya Angelou defined success as the appreciation of oneself, one’s actions, and the manner in which those actions are performed. Her quote continues to inspire and motivate the young generation looking for success.
Quote of the day by Maya Angelou: “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”
According to the internationally recognised and acclaimed writer, success is found in self-acceptance and enjoyment of both one’s work and the approach taken to achieve it.
Her career spanned nearly five decades during which she published seven autobiographies, three books of essays and several books of poetry. Besides this, she is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows.
Born in St Louis, Missouri
She received several awards and more than 50 honorary degrees for her exceptional contribution to literature. A well-known civil rights activist, she was born on 4 April 1928 in St Louis, Missouri as Marguerite Annie Johnson. She fell victim to child abuse at a very tender age. She was deeply affected and disturbed by a tragedy early in life following which she developed her love for books and literature and her ability to listen and observe the world around her.
It was Maya Angelou’s teacher and friend of her family, Bertha Flowers, who helped her come out of depression and embrace the love for reading through works of Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Georgia Douglas Johnson and James Weldon Johnson, among others.
The anti-apartheid proponent “accomplished more than many artists hope to achieve in a lifetime,” writer and gender justice activist Marcia Ann Gillespie said. Angelou held many jobs and roles, she worked as professional dancer, composer, writer for singer Roberta Flack and movie scores composer. In addition to this, she wrote articles, short stories, TV scripts, documentaries, autobiographies and poetry.
She was honoured with multitude of awards in the 1970s, including more than thirty honorary degrees from colleges and universities from all over the world.
Angelou became a household name in 1993 after she recited her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at the presidential inauguration of Bill Clinton. With this move, she became the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961.