Develop enough courage so that you can stand up for yourself and then… — Maya Angelou · Smartyfair

Develop enough courage so that you can stand up for yourself and then stand up for somebody else.

Maya Angelou1928–2014 · writer · 1900s-2000s USAMaya Angelou was an American poet and author best known for her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.9 quotes

Source foundCourage1900s

In plain words

Get brave enough for yourself, then use that bravery for someone else.

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Where these words come from

How sure this is: 82% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
What turned up: Rainbow in the Cloud: The Wisdom and Spirit of Maya Angelou (2014), p. 68.
Sources checked: en.wikiquote.orgChecked using claude-sonnet-5, 20 August 2026Wikiquote Sourced section, named work

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More from Maya Angelou

When someone shows you who they are, believe them.

Maya Angelou Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.

Maya Angelou Without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently.

Maya Angelou You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.

Maya Angelou Nothing can dim the light that shines from within.

Maya Angelou Do not complain. Make every effort to change things you do not like.

More on courage

You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.

Marcus Aurelius You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.

Rabindranath Tagore Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

Mahatma Gandhi For sometimes it is an act of bravery even to live.

Seneca If you see what is right and fail to act on it, you lack courage.

Confucius Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.

Marcus Aurelius