Award-winning author and civil rights activist Maya Angelou died Wednesday morning, May 28 at her North Carolina home, according to reports from the Associated Press. She was 86 years old.

Angelou is known for her writing, particularly “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” a prose based on her childhood in the Jim Crow South. The autobiography was one of the first works by a 20th-century black woman to reach the level of readership it did. A beloved figure, Angelou inspired the lives of many. Below we remember Angelou through her most lasting legacy – her words.

“When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young.” ”

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”

“Each of us has that right, that possibility, to invent ourselves daily. If a person does not invent herself, she will be invented. So, to be bodacious enough to invent ourselves is wise.”

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”

“Success likes yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”

“All great achievements require time.”

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.”

“I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it.”

“Nothing will work unless you do.”