“Courage, Oprah, is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you cannot practice any other virtue consistently.”
— Maya Angelou, Super Soul Sunday interview with Oprah Winfrey on OWN (2013)
Maya Angelou, whose memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings broke ground in American literature, spent decades speaking truth about resilience and human dignity. As a poet, civil rights activist, and witness to profound social change, she understood what it meant to stand firm when everything urged retreat.
In this 2013 conversation with Oprah Winfrey on Super Soul Sunday, Angelou distills a lifetime of wisdom into a single insight about courage. She frames it not as a standalone quality, but as the prerequisite for all others. Her point is practical: you might value honesty, compassion, or integrity, but without the courage to act on them when it costs you something, they remain abstractions. Courage transforms belief into practice.
Angelou addresses Oprah by name, making the statement feel both personal and universal. She speaks from experience, having navigated childhood trauma, racism, and the risks of activism. Her use of the word “consistently” matters. Anyone can be kind when it’s easy or honest when it’s safe. The test comes in repetition, in choosing virtue again and again despite fear or opposition.
The quote reminds us that our other values depend on this one foundational strength: the willingness to act when it would be easier not to.
