Best quotes by Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist
Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, broadcast from Chicago, which was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history and ran in national syndication for 25 years, from 1986 to 2011.[better source needed] Dubbed the "Queen of All Media," she was the richest African-American of the 20th century, was once the world's only black billionaire, and the greatest black philanthropist in U.S. history. By 2007, she was sometimes ranked as the most influential woman in the world.
Winfrey was born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a single teenage mother and later raised in inner-city Milwaukee. She has stated that she was molested during her childhood and early teenage years and became pregnant at 14; her son was born prematurely and died in infancy. Winfrey was then sent to live with the man she calls her father, Vernon Winfrey, a barber in Nashville, Tennessee, and landed a job in radio while still in high school. By 19, she was a co-anchor for the local evening news. Winfrey's often emotional, extemporaneous delivery eventually led to her transfer to the daytime talk show arena, and after boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place, she launched her own production company.
By the mid-1990s, Winfrey had reinvented her show with a focus on literature, self-improvement, mindfulness, and spirituality. Though she has been criticized for unleashing a confession culture, promoting controversial self-help ideas, and having an emotion-centered approach, she has also been praised for overcoming adversity to become a benefactor to others. Winfrey had also emerged as a political force in the 2008 presidential race, with her endorsement of Barack Obama estimated to have been worth about one million votes during the 2008 Democratic primaries. In 2013, Winfrey was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama and received honorary doctorate degrees from Duke and Harvard. In 2008, she formed her own network, the Oprah Winfrey Network.
Credited with creating a more intimate, confessional form of media communication, Winfrey popularized and revolutionized the tabloid talk show genre pioneered by Phil Donahue. In 1994, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. Winfrey has won many accolades throughout her career which includes 18 Daytime Emmy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Chairman's Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, including the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award, a Tony Award, a Peabody Award and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, awarded by the Academy Awards and two additional Academy Award nominations. Winfey was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021.
Oprah Winfrey quotes by category:
I started out giving thanks for small things, and the more thankful I became, the more my bounty increased
Just being born makes you worthy enough to be here
Personally, I think if a women hasn't met the right man by the time she's 24, she may be lucky.
If you make a choice that goes against what everyone else thinks, the world will not fall apart.
Mr. Right is coming, but he's in Africa and he's walking.
I will not be taking a paternity test, ever!
You were seen, you were heard and you matter.
The commonality in the human experience is the same. We have the same sorrows, and the same triumphs. Joy is joy is joy.
Dream big - dream very big. Work hard - work very hard. And after you've done all you can, you stand, wait and fully surrender.
For years I've advocated keeping a gratitude journal, writing down five things every day that brought pleasure and gratefulness.
I'm a truth seeker. That's what I do every day on the show - put out the truth. Some people don't like it, they call it sensational, but I say life is sensational.
Life is a big ol' canvas. And you have every combination of colors to paint with.
There is the voice that everybody hears... saying to you, "You should do this, you should be this, you ought to, you got to." And then there is the still small voice - for some people not so small - inside every human being that calls you to something that is greater than yourself.
You really can change. Your reality is based on the way you think.
The best work we can all do is create the highest vision possible for our lives and be led by that vision to the greatest good.
Don't complain about what you don't have. Use what you've got. To do less than your best is a sin. Every single one of us has the power for greatness, because greatness is determined by service-to yourself and to others.
I am the seed of the free, and I know it. I intend to bear great fruit.
I don't think there's anything better you can do in this world than bring light wherever you go.
That's what life is: an open door to all that is possible. And that's a powerful thing.
What you do today creates every tomorrow.
Have the boldness to tell yourself the truth - every bit of it.
Whatever your calling or purpose is, it's your job to feel it. No gift that you have been given was made for yourself.
What would I do if I wasn't afraid?
I truly understand that there is a lesson in everything that happens to us. So I tried not to spend my time asking "Why did this happen to me?" but trying to figure out why I had chosen this.
Honour the difficult.
I can't imagine I could have become the person I am now without books. Books became synonymous with freedom. They showed that you could open doors and walk through.
I don't go tanning anymore because Obama put a 10 percent tax on tanning. I feel like he did that intentionally for us, like McCain would never put a 10 percent tax on tanning because he's pale and he would probably wanna be tanned.
You really haven't changed, you've just become more of yourself. That is really what were all trying to do: become more of ourselves.
Energy is the essence of life. Every day you decide how you’re going to use it by knowing what you want and what it takes to reach that goal, and my maintaining focus.
Life is about growth and change. When you are no longer doing that — that is your whisper; that is your whisper that you are supposed to do something else.
Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?
If you're blessed enough to grow older, which is how I look at aging, there's so much wisdom to be gained from people who are celebrating the process with vibrancy and vigor and grace.
To be fully human is...to know that it's possible to face the unimaginable and somehow put one foot in front of the other.
The true meaning of courage is to be afraid, and then, with your knees knocking and your heart racing, to step out anyway—even when that step makes sense to nobody but you. I know that’s not easy. But making a bold move is the only way to truly advance toward the grandest vision the universe has for you.
I believe in the power that not only allows the sun to rise but turns seeds into flowers and dreams into realities.
Love is a lesson worth learning.
Surround yourself only with those who lift you higher.
Wherever you are, that’s your stage, your circle of influence. That’s your talk show, that’s where your power lies. ... You have the power to change somebody’s life. Everyone has a calling, and your real job in life is to figure out what that is and get about the business of doing it.
If you can see it, and believe it, it is a LOT easier to achieve it
Getting older is the best thing that ever happened to me. I wake up every morning rejoicing that I'm still here with an opportunity to begin again and be better
What I know for sure is that pleasure is energy reciprocated. What you put out comes back. Your base level of pleasure is determined by how you view your whole life.
A world of possibilities awaits you. Keep turning the page.
The future is full of possibility, whether you make one tiny change - or a whole invigorating, thrilling, inspiring bunch of them.
If you take care of your body, it'll take care of you.
You have a gift that only you can give the world - that's the whole reason you're on the planet. Use your precious energy to build a magnificent life that really is attainable. The miracle of your existence calls for celebration every day.
I know this for sure, that doing good actually makes you better.
There is no such thing as failure. Mistakes happen in your life to bring into focus more clearly who you really are.
All you need to do is know who you are.
I know that I am more than my personality, my body, and my body image.
I try to view the challenges in my life not as annoyances, but as confirmations of fortitude.
My constant focus is on being better. Should I be doing multimedia video production? Or seminars on the Internet? How can I do what I'm already doing in a more forceful way?
If you believe you can only go so far, it is an obstacle.
I know that you cannot hate other people without hating yourself.
Step through new doors. The majority of the time there's something fantastic on the other side.
I tried to empty myself and let the spirit of Sethe inhabit me.
For the first time, I wasn't afraid to be smart, and she often stayed after school to work with me.
I know who I am, and the thing about power for me is that it's connected to a source that's obviously greater than myself. Any time you can connect to the source and understand that that's where all of your energy, your creativity, your joy and your triumph come from, I consider that to be authentic power.
What I find powerful is a person with the confidence to be her own self.
Great communication begins with connection.
The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. .... There are no back doors, no free rides. There's just you, this moment and a choice.
Instead of looking for the success in your life, look for the thing that is going to bring you the greatest joy.
I for sure believe in miracles. For me, a miracle is seeing the world with light in your eyes. It's knowing there's always hope and possibility where none seems to exist. Many people are so closed to miracles that even when one is boldly staring them in the face, they label it coincidence or serendipity. I call it like I see it.
What has made me successful is the ability to surrender my plans, dreams and goals to a power that's greater than other people and greater than myself.
Gratitude is the single greatest treasure I will take with me from this experience.
I really believe when you give to other people, you give to yourself.
Transforma as tuas feridas em sabedoria!
When I didn't have friends, I had books.
The world has so many lessons to teach you. I consider the world, our earth, to be like a school, and our life, the classrooms. Sometimes on our planet life school, the lessons often come dressed up as detours and road blocks and sometimes as full blown crises. And the secret I've learned to getting ahead is being open to the lessons.
My constant prayer for myself is to be used in service for the greater good.
Know this for sure: When you get the chance, go for it.
Everybody matters. Everyone just wants to be heard.
Life isn't just about what you can have; it's about what you have to give, what kind of person do you want to be?
You know that old joke about the guy who lives to be 104? The punch line goes something like 'If I knew I was gonna get this old, I'd have taken much better care of myself.' Well, guess what? We actually are living longer, and the time to start taking care of ourselves is right this minute.
Joy is a sustained sense of well-being and internal peace - a connection to what matters.
I will tell you that there have been no failures in my life. I don't want to sound like some metaphysical queen,but there have been no failures. There have been some tremendous lessons.