“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.”
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Oprah Winfrey
“only moment you have for certain. I hope you aren’t so wrapped up in nonessential stuff that you forget to really enjoy yourself—because this moment is about to be over.”
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Oprah Winfrey
“With every experience, you alone are painting your own canvas, thought by thought, choice by choice.
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Oprah Winfrey
“I am a woman in process. I'm just trying like everybody else. I try to take every conflict, every experience, and learn from it. Life is never dull.”
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Oprah Winfrey
“Self-esteem comes from being able to define the world in your own terms and refusing to abide by the judgments of others.”
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Oprah Winfrey
“I would like to thank the people who've brought me those dark moments, when I felt most wounded, betrayed. You have been my greatest teachers.”
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Oprah Winfrey
“In every job I’ve taken and every city in which I’ve lived, I have known that it’s time to move on when I’ve grown as much as I can. Sometimes moving on terrified me. But always it taught me that the true meaning of courage is to be afraid, and then, with your knees knocking, to step out anyway. Making a bold move is the only way to advance toward the grandest vision the universe has for you. If you allow it, fear will completely immobilize you. And once it has you in its grip, it will fight to keep you from ever becoming your best self.”
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Oprah Winfrey
“Love is the essential existential fact. It is our ultimate reality and our purpose on earth.”
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Oprah Winfrey
“I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become—as a woman thinks, so she is. If we absorb hour upon hour of images and messages that don’t reflect our magnificence, it’s no wonder we walk around feeling drained of our life force. If we tune in to dozens of acts of brutality every week, it shouldn’t surprise us that our children see violence as an acceptable way to resolve conflict.”
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Oprah Winfrey
“You aren't your past, you are probability of your future.”
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Oprah Winfrey
“What you believe has more power than what you dream or wish or hope for. You become what you believe.”
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Oprah Winfrey
“When the talk about my troubles was loudest, I did the thing I've always spoken of most . I got still and listened for the answer to What is this here to teach me? The answer, first and foremost? Lay your ego down. Step out of your ego so you can recognize the truth. As soon as I did that, I was able to see the role I had played in creating "my circumstances," without blaming other people. And -- bingo! -- I realized that all the noise about my struggle was a reflection of my personal angst and fear.”
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Oprah Winfrey
“«The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they make the best of everything.»”
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Oprah Winfrey
