“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
“With every experience, you alone are painting your own canvas, thought by thought, choice by choice.
―
Oprah Winfrey
“Here's the gift of gratitude: In order to feel it, your ego has to take a backseat. What shows up in its place is greater compassion and understanding. Instead of being frustrated, you choose appreciation. And the more grateful you become , the more you have to be grateful for.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“Your calling isn’t something that somebody can tell you about. It’s what you feel. It is the thing that gives you juice. The thing that you are supposed to do. And nobody can tell you what that is. You know it inside yourself.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“The secret is authenticity. The reason people fail is because they’re pretending to be something they’re not.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“Books were my pass to personal freedom. I learned to read at age three, and there discovered was a whole world to conquer that went beyond our farm in Mississippi.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“Living in the moment brings you a sense of reverence for all of life’s blessings.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“We should no longer allow a mother to be defined as "just a mom". It is on her back that great nations are built. We should no longer allow any woman's voice to be drowned out or disregarded. As we affirm other women, and as we teach our sons, husbands and friends to hold them in the highest regard, we honor both the mothers whose shoulders we've stood on and the daughters who will one day stand tall on ours.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“So long as you’re still worried about what others think of you, you are owned by them. Only when you require no approval from outside yourself can you own yourself.” It’s true that when you summon the”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“Everything happens for a reason, even when we are not wise enough to see it. When there is no struggle, there is no strength.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
“You've got to follow your passion. You've got to figure out what it is you love--who you really are. And have the courage to do that. I believe that the only courage anybody ever needs is the courage to follow your own dreams.”
―
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.”
―
Oprah Winfrey
