Oprah Winfrey is a media executive, actress, talk show presenter, producer, and philanthropist from the United States of America. She was born into poverty and reared in inner-city Milwaukee by a teenage single mother.
Her narrative is a roller coaster ride of highs and lows, tremendous highs, and crushing lows. The Oprah Winfrey Show was the highest-rated television show of all time, earning her the moniker “Queen of All Media.”
Oprah was the wealthiest African American of the twentieth century and the first black multibillionaire in North America.
Along with making her very rich, Oprah has utilized her media power and influence to aid others, earning her the title of “the greatest black philanthropist” in American history.
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A Few Words About Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey was born to an unmarried adolescent mother and spent her early years on her grandmother’s farm in Kosciusko, Mississippi, while her mother sought employment in the north.
The agricultural life was simple, but her grandmother taught her to read at a young age, and by the age of three, Oprah was reading poetry and Bible passages at local churches. Despite the difficulties of her physical surroundings, she had the unwavering support of her grandmother and the church community, who valued her as a brilliant youngster.
Her life turned upside down when she was transferred to Milwaukee at the age of six to live with her mother, who had found employment as a housemaid. Oprah was regularly assaulted by male cousins and other guests while the lengthy days her mother was away from their inner-city residence.
The abuse, which occurred between the ages of nine and thirteen, was extremely traumatic. When she attempted to flee, she was taken to a juvenile correctional home, only to be refused entrance due to the facility’s capacity.
At the age of 14, she was independent and out of the home. According to her admissions, she was sexually promiscuous as a teen. She moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to live with her father after giving birth to a baby boy who died in infancy.
Oprah Winfrey resides in Montecito, California, just south of Santa Barbara, but she owns properties in six other states and the Caribbean island of Antigua.
The business press refers to her income in a variety of superlatives: highest-paid television actress, the wealthiest self-made woman in America, and richest African American of the twentieth century.
Harder to quantify is her significant effect on how people throughout the globe read, eat, exercise, feel, and think about themselves and the world. She features on every list of influential thought leaders and has been duly dubbed “the world’s most powerful woman.”
In 2011, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented her with a unique Oscar statuette, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, in recognition of her extensive humanitarian endeavors. President Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 2013.
Oprah Winfrey has also made a significant donation to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, totaling more than $20 million. On September 24, 2016, she took part in a dedication ceremony as part of the museum’s grand opening in Washington, D.C., which features the 350-seat Oprah Winfrey Theater.
Some of the Most Famous Quotes of Oprah Winfrey
“When you undervalue what you do, the world will undervalue who you are.”
“Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.”
- “Turn your wounds into wisdom.”
- “Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a new way to stand.”
- “One of the hardest things in life to learn is which bridges to cross and which bridges to burn.”
- “Surround yourself only with people who are going to take you higher.”
- “True forgiveness is when you can say, ‘Thank you for that experience.’”
- “You don’t become what you want, you become what you believe.”
- “Everyone wants to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.”
- “You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.”
- “The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but on significance—and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning.”
- “Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different.”
- “We have to make the choice—every single day—to exemplify the truth, the respect, and the grace that we wish for this world.”
- “Our goal must be decency and respect for every human we encounter.”
- “The answers keep unfolding as your life expands, if you’re willing to see things for what they are—and what they can be.”
- “I refuse to be quiet in the face of injustice.”
- “Passion is the log that keeps the fire of purpose blazing.”
- “Look inward—the loving begins with you.”
- “Alone time is when I distance myself from the voices of the world so I can hear my own.”
- “Good riddance to decisions that don’t support self-worth.”
- “The best gift anyone can give, I believe, is the gift of sharing themselves.”
- “When you’re open to receiving them, the possibilities just keep on coming.”
- “The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.”
- “The reason I’ve been able to be so financially successful is my focus has never, ever for one minute been money.”
- “You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job and not be paid for it.”
- “Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.”
- “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”
- “Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”
- “With every experience, you alone are painting your own canvas, thought by thought, choice by choice.”
- “Every time you state what you want or believe, you’re the first to hear it. It’s a message to both you and others about what you think is possible. Don’t put a ceiling on yourself.”
- “If you don’t know what your passion is, realize that one reason for your existence on earth is to find it.”
- “Over the years, I’ve interviewed thousands of people, most of them women, and I would say that the root of every dysfunction I’ve ever encountered, every problem, has been some sense of a lacking of self-value or of self-worth.”
- “Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.”
- “I’ve come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that’s as unique as a fingerprint–and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you. ”
- “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”
- “Every day brings a chance for you to draw in a breath, kick off your shoes, and dance.”
- “I don’t want anyone who doesn’t want me.”
- “Some women have a weakness for shoes…I can go barefoot if necessary. I have a weakness for books.”
- “You get to know who you really are in a crisis.”
- “Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a new way to stand.”
- “I believe that every single event in life happens in an opportunity to choose love over fear.”
- “This is a call to arms. A call to be gentle, to be forgiving, to be generous with yourself. The next time you look into the mirror, try to let go of the story line that says you’re too fat or too sallow, too ashy or too old, your eyes are too small or your nose too big; just look into the mirror and see your face. When the criticism drops away, what you will see then is just you, without judgment, and that is the first step toward transforming your experience of the world.”
- “When you undervalue what you do, the world will undervalue who you are.”
- “We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.”
- “You are responsible for your life. You can’t keep blaming somebody else for your dysfunction. Life is really about moving on.”
- “Only make decisions that support your self-image, self-esteem, and self-worth.”
- “You have to find what sparks a light in you so that you in your own way can illuminate the world.”
- “Every day brings a chance to live free of regret and with as much joy, fun, and laughter as you can stand.”
- “The whole point of being alive is to evolve into the complete person you were intended to be.”
- “It makes no difference how many peaks you reach if there was no pleasure in the climb.”
- “I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become.”
- “The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don’t know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened.”
- “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.”
- “To love yourself is a never-ending journey.”
- “I believe the choice to be excellent begins with aligning your thoughts and words with the intention to require more from yourself.”
- “Follow your instincts. That’s where true wisdom manifests itself.”
- “Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom.”
- “I am grateful for the blessings of wealth, but it hasn’t changed who I am. My feet are still on the ground. I’m just wearing better shoes.”
- “You are where you are in life because of what you believe is possible for yourself.”
- “Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.”
- “So go ahead. Fall down. The world looks different from the ground.”
- “Whatever you fear most has no power—it is your fear that has the power.”
- “The best of times is now.”
- “Difficulties come when you don’t pay attention to life’s whisper. Life always whispers to you first, but if you ignore the whisper, sooner or later you’ll get a scream.”
- “I’ve learned not to worry about what might come next.”
- “I don’t believe in failure. It’s not failure if you enjoy the process.”
- “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.”
- “You teach people how to treat you.”
- “I finally realized that being grateful to my body was key to giving more love to myself.”
- “Every one of us gets through the tough times because somebody is there, standing in the gap to close it for us.”
- “You are built not to shrink down to less but to blossom into more.”
- “When people show you who they are…believe them!”
- “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.”
- “I’ve learned that you can’t have everything and do everything at the same time.”
- “I was once afraid of people saying, ‘Who does she think she is?’ Now I have the courage to stand and say, ‘This is who I am.’”
- “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.”
- “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.”
- “Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility.”
- “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.”
- “Devote today to something so daring even you can’t believe you’re doing it.”
- “Follow your feelings. If it feels right, move forward. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it.”
- “I want every day to be a fresh start on expanding what is possible.”
- “Wherever you are in your journey, I hope you, too, will keep encountering challenges. It is a blessing to be able to survive them, to be able to keep putting one foot in front of the other — to be in a position to make the climb up life’s mountain, knowing that the summit still lies ahead. And every experience is a valuable teacher.”
- “You can either waltz boldly onto the stage of life and live the way you know your spirit is nudging you to, or you can sit quietly by the wall, receding into the shadows of fear and self-doubt.”
- “The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire.”
- “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.”
- “One of the greatest gifts you can give is your undivided attention.”
- “Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do.”
- “One of my greatest lessons has been to fully understand that what looks like a dark patch in the quest for success is the universe pointing you in a new direction. Anything can be a miracle, a blessing, an opportunity if you choose to see it that way.”
- “If you neglect to recharge a battery, it dies. And if you run full speed ahead without stopping for water, you lose momentum to finish the race.”
- “The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.”
- “Connect. Embrace. Liberate. Love somebody. Just one person. And then spread that to two. And as many as you can. You’ll see the difference it makes.”
- “Know this for sure: When you get the chance, go for it.”
- “Love is a lesson worth learning.”
- “When you make loving others the story of your life, there’s never a final chapter, because the legacy continues. You lend your light to one person, and he or she shines it on another and another and another. And I know for sure that in the final analysis of our lives- when the to-do lists are no more, when the frenzy is finished, when our email inboxes are empty- the only thing that will have any lasting value is whether we’ve loved others and whether they’ve loved us.”
- “Improving your life doesn’t have to be about changing everything–it’s about making changes that count.”
- “All stress comes from resisting what is.”
- “There’s a difference between thinking you deserve to be happy and knowing that you are worthy of being happy. Your being alive makes worthiness your birthright. You alone are enough.”
- “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.”
- “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.”
- “As you become more clear about who you really are, you’ll be better able to decide what is best for you – the first time around.”
Also Read,
- Grant Cardone Quotes
- Steve Jobs Quotes
- Bill Gates Quotes
- Elon Musk Quotes
- Tai Lopez Quotes
- Jeff Bezos Quotes
- Gary Vee Quotes
- Guy Kawaski Quotes
- Seth Godin Quotes
Conclusion
Oprah’s wisdom must have inspired you. I sincerely hope this article helped. Please let me know in the comment section whether you liked them or not. Also, if you have more quotes by Oprah, please let us know.
