Quotes from Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women

Maya Angelou ·  32 pages

Rating: (4K votes)


“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.”
― Maya Angelou, quote from Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women


“It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.”
― Maya Angelou, quote from Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women


“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.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.”
― Maya Angelou, quote from Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women


“It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me. ”
― Maya Angelou, quote from Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women


“I know that I'm not the easiest person to live with. The challenge I put on myself is so great that the person I live with feels himself challenged. I bring a lot to bear, and I don't know how not to.”
― Maya Angelou, quote from Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women



“Water isn't shaped like a river or ocean; it mists invisibly against metal and glass”
― Maya Angelou, quote from Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women


Video

About the author

Maya Angelou
Born place: in St. Louis, Missouri, The United States
Born date April 4, 1928
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“You Could Only See As Far As Your Headlights, But You Can Make Your Whole Trip That Way :)”
― Ann Brashares, quote from The Second Summer of the Sisterhood


“As far as history and science are concerned, I'm pretty sure I can wing it. Turns out I learned more in Internet school than I realized. Either that or my new school is completely pathetic.”
― Alyson Noel, quote from Fated


“Daine put a hand on her bow. It was loaded, but she didn't want to kill Maura's sister. "I wouldn't call names, if I was you " she retorted.

Yolane backed up. "Tirell! Oram! Jemis! To me! Oram, on the double!"

Daine shook her head. "Yell all you like, they won't come. They're gone. "

"What do you mean, 'gone'?"

"I mean it's at an end the king knows what you're up to. The rebellion's uncovered. You'll never be queen. ”
― Tamora Pierce, quote from Wolf-Speaker


“Beauty, Olympia has come to understand, has incapacitated her mother and ruined her life, for it has made her dependent upon people who are desirous of seeing her and of serving her.”
― Anita Shreve, quote from Fortune's Rocks


“To fully understand about hugging, maybe you had to have missed a lot of it.”
― Stephen King, quote from Rose Madder


Interesting books

The Uplift War
(21.8K)
The Uplift War
by David Brin
Bread Givers
(4.2K)
Bread Givers
by Anzia Yezierska
Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration
(4.3K)
Jesus of Nazareth: F...
by Pope Benedict XVI
L.A. Requiem
(15.2K)
L.A. Requiem
by Robert Crais
New Seeds of Contemplation
(5.7K)
New Seeds of Contemp...
by Thomas Merton
The End of History and the Last Man
(3.8K)
The End of History a...
by Francis Fukuyama

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.