Maya Angelou Quotes

Courage is only an accumulation of small steps.

Fear urged him to go back, but growth drove him on.

Concealed in every new situation we face is a spiritual lesson to be learned and a spiritual blessing for us if we learn that lesson. It is good to be tested. We grow and learn through passing tests. I look upon all my tests as good experiences. Before I was tested, I believed I would act in a loving or non-fearing way. After I was tested, I knew! Every test turned out to be an uplifting experience. And it is not important that the outcome be according to our wishes.

If it scares me, it means I'm supposed to do it.

Any time I push through a fear, I'm proud of that.

We need energy, commitment, and courage not to run from our life nor to cover it over with any philosophy—material or spiritual.

Money doesn't bring courage, I learned. It's the other way around. Once I took that lesson to heart, I began to rebuild my life.

Courage, I now see, is a journey involving self-doubt and self-examination, with the end never in sight.

Overcoming negative tendencies and enhancing positive potential are the very essence of the spiritual path.

Victory over fear is the first spiritual duty of man.

To live a spiritual life we must first find the courage to enter into the desert of loneliness and to change it by gentle and persistent efforts into a garden of solitude.

The troubles of this world pass, and what we have left is what we have made of our souls.

I've learned that every single trial offers us a chance to either turn away from what we know to be true, or to stand strong in who we are...

In times of hurt and discouragement, it may be consoling for all of us to recall that no one can do anything permanently to us that will last for eternity. Only we ourselves can affect our eternal progression.

Small is how blessings, healing, progress and increase occur.

Whoever wishes to make progress in perfection should use particular diligence in not allowing himself to be led away by his passions, which destroy with one hand the spiritual edifice which is rising by the labors of the other. But to succeed well in this, resistance should be begun while the passions are yet weak; for after they are thoroughly rooted and grown up, there is scarcely any remedy.

If you can cultivate the right attitude, your enemies are your best spiritual teachers because their presence provides you with the opportunity to enhance and develop tolerance, patience and understanding.

In 35 yrs of leading I've been afraid at every major step but I DID IT ANYWAY since I REFUSE let fear run my life.

Whatever brings you to your knees in weakness carries the greatest potential for your personal success and spiritual victory.

Beneath every excuse lies a fear. Practice being fearless.

But, like peace, comfort didn't come from hiding away or running away. Comfort first demanded courage.

I find my greatest strength in wanting to be strong. I find my greatest bravery in deciding to be brave. I don't know if I've ever realized it before,[...] I think we both realize it now. If there's no feeling of fear, then there's no need for courage.

Bravely overcoming one small fear gives you the courage to take on the next.

Since fear is such a primal reaction, making the choice to move forward despite fear is an evolved decision that transcends our animal nature.

Discipline, it has been suggested, is the means of human spiritual evolution. What provides the motive, the energy for discipline? This force I believe to be love. I define love thus: The will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth.