Blog

People will forget what you said: This quote from Maya Angelou is about human behaviour and the importance of emotions. We are all emotional beings and this drives our way of thinking. Most often, we forget the words, but hardly ever forget how we feel. Particularly in interactions with other people, we only remember how we felt when we met them. Based on that, sometimes, we even create a narrative about what they might have said. It is funny that sometimes these things would be our interpretation and hardly about what they’ve said.

The point is – we need to dig deeper. Communication is not just about an exchange of words, but about the emotional interchange between people. If we can’t read these emotions, our communication is wrong and is missing something. This quote is a reminder for us to think about how our actions impact people, and what they might feel. It helps us be curious, understand about each other and be more human in conversations.

Maya Angelou Poem – I have learned that people will never forget how you made them feel

The poem shares a better context for the meaning of this quote. This poem talks about the tenderness of our hearts – being open to others and looking at each other as human beings. The tenderness in this poem goes beyond the perception of humans as objects but as people with emotions, and feelings. These feelings have pain, pleasure and yearning for love from each other. No one’s pain is bigger than someone else’s. Everyone faces challenges in life and they are all big. Sometimes, we see people competing on how big their problems are compared to others.

But the point is that it hurts for everyone. The best thing we can do is to listen and help when we can. If not, silence is the next best option. But it all comes down to the feeling – people will always remember how you made them feel. Hope you love this poem as much as I did or even more. But let’s take the message beyond this poem, and accept the tenderness that connects us all.