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

“Shut up!" Finn turned, furious. "Look at you both! The only friends I have in this hell and all you can do is fight over me. Do either of you care about me? Not the seer, the fighter, the fool who takes all the risks, but me, Finn?”
― Catherine Fisher, quote from Incarceron


“I need a Kleenex.” She sniffs.
Guy disengages his hands from hers, takes the hem of his
sweatshirt, and wipes her nose with it.
“That’s romantic,” she says, embarrassed.
“Well, it is sort of, because I wouldn’t do it for anybody else
in the world.”
― quote from Willow


“the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the”
― Nicholas Sparks, quote from At First Sight


“Haven't you enough money?'
For she knew that this is what is the matter with nearly everybody over twenty-five.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm


“It’s tough to live with people stuck in the past, isn’t it?”
― John Tiffany, quote from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two


Interesting books

Chanakya's Chant
(18.5K)
Chanakya's Chant
by Ashwin Sanghi
Death in the Clouds
(23K)
Death in the Clouds
by Agatha Christie
The Mistress
(9.4K)
The Mistress
by Tiffany Reisz
Drop Dead Demons
(4.4K)
Drop Dead Demons
by A.E. Kirk
Trial by Fire
(13.7K)
Trial by Fire
by Josephine Angelini
Gus
(10.1K)
Gus
by Kim Holden

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.