“You look at yourself and you accept yourself for who you are, and once you accept yourself for who you are you become a better person.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“One of the greatest gifts you can give is
your undivided attention.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“Beginning when we are girls, most of us are taught to deflect praise. We apologize for our accomplishments. We try to level the field with our family and friends by downplaying our brilliance. We settle for the passenger’s seat when we long to drive. That’s why so many of us have been willing to hide our light as adults. Instead of being filled with all the passion and purpose that enable us to offer our best to the world, we empty ourselves in an effort to silence our critics. The truth is that the naysayers in your life can never be fully satisfied. Whether you hide or shine, they’ll always feel threatened because they don’t believe they are enough. So stop paying attention to them. Every time you suppress some part of yourself or allow others to play you small, you are ignoring the owner’s manual your Creator gave you. What I know for sure is this: You are built not to shrink down to less but to blossom into more. To be more splendid. To be more extraordinary. To use every moment to fill yourself up.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“One if the hardest things in life to learn are which bridges to cross and which bridges to burn.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“We go through life discovering the truth about who we are and determining who has earned the right to share the space within our heart. And now I simply want to share what I've been given. I want to continue to encourage as many people as I can to open their hearts to life, because if I know anything for sure, it's that opening my heart is what has brought me the greatest success and joy.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“My idea is to give hope, because where there is no hope, there is no vision, and where there is no vision, people will perish.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“Every challenge we take on has the power to knock us to our knees. But what’s even more disconcerting than the jolt itself is our fear that we won’t withstand it. When we feel the ground beneath us shifting, we panic. We forget everything we know and allow fear to freeze us. Just the thought of what could happen is enough to throw us off balance. What I know for sure is that the only way to endure the quake is to adjust your stance. You can’t avoid the daily tremors. They come with being alive. But I believe these experiences are gifts that force us to step to the right or left in search of a new center of gravity. Don’t fight them. Let them help you adjust your footing.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“When we hold secrets it creates shame, and shame is a great barrier to success because when you carry the shame you do not allow yourself to fulfill your greatest potential, you do not honour the truth of yourself, you do not honour what is your highest self. When you let go of the secret allows you to live to your full potential.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“Here’s how I see your weight—it is your smoke detector. And we’re all burning up the best part of our lives.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“If a man wants you, nothing can keep him away. If he doesn't want you, nothing can make him stay.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“During difficult times I often turn to a gospel song called “Stand.” In it, songwriter Donnie McClurkin sings, “What do you do when you’ve done all you can, and it seems like it’s never enough? What do you give when you’ve given your all, and it seems like you can’t make it through?” The answer lies in McClurkin’s simple refrain: “You just stand.” That’s where strength comes from—our ability to face resistance and walk through it. It’s not that people who persevere don’t ever feel doubt, fear, and exhaustion. They do. But in the toughest moments, we can have faith that if we take just one step more than we feel we’re capable of, if we draw on the incredible resolve every human being possesses, we’ll learn some of the most profound lessons life has to offer. What I know for sure is that there is no strength without challenge, adversity, resistance, and often pain. The problems that make you want to throw up your hands and holler “Mercy!” will build your tenacity, courage, discipline, and determination.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“French philosopher-priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
