Oprah Winfrey Quotes

I'm not one of those people who is trying to act like I don't sleep. I used to be like, "Oh, I only need four hours." Now I need exactly 5 1/2 to 6 in order to feel like I've done well.

I don't want to have to get the lesson of losing [things like health and moving about freely] to appreciate what it was.

I would say my faith has become strengthened every time I have faced what I considered to be a trial, and there is no greater trial than being 14 and pregnant and not even knowing what it is.

I've seen that many times in rural African villages where people have nothing but a hut and a bowl. The joy in the children's eyes is something you wish you could package and bring back to America.

One of my theories about life is that we become what we believe.

When I read poetry, I read it aloud. It's so much better that way.

"Back in the day when I started - it's like I walked five miles to school in the snow barefooted" - there were three channels.I don't know what I would do.

I made the decision I will own my own show. So never again will I ever be told what I can and can not do.

I think I try to speak to the heart of the woman who I know is interested in growing into herself.

Your work speaks for you. Your art defines you.

I can honestly say that I'm not a person who thinks about awards, as much I think about the work itself.

I believe that education is freedom. It provides the tools to affect one's own destiny.

The very first time I had Whitney Houston on my show, however many years ago, I thought, "You are 'the voice.'" You are the voice, that was my name for you.

Many things in life inspire philanthropy, such as your faith in humanity and your belief in the human spirit to overcome.

Failure is life at it's most poignant and it's only there to push you in the right direction.

People believe marriage will make us better.

Only by owning who and what you are can you step into the fullness of life.

You were seen, you were heard and you matter.

Life is a big ol' canvas. And you have every combination of colors to paint with.

Your intention rules your life and determines the outcome.

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.

Surround yourself only with those who lift you higher.

Great communication begins with connection.

Love is a lesson worth learning.

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.

A gift isn't a gift unless it has meaning. Just giving things to people, especially children, create the expectation of more things.

Books showed me there were possibilities in life, that there were actually people like me living in a world I could not only aspire to but attain. Reading gave me hope. For me, it was the open door.

I decided to be the best and the smartest.

Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?

What would I do if I wasn't afraid?

Make yourself a priority. Fill yourself up so that you can give more to others.

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.

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.

Take what you can do and use it for the highest good to benefit others.

Have the boldness to tell yourself the truth - every bit of it.

My father turned my life around insisting I be more than I was and by believing I could be more.

I couldn't kill myself. I would be afraid the minute I did it; something really good would happen and I'd miss it.

I've learned that every single trial offers us a chance to either turn away from what we know to be true, or to stand strong in who we are...

The expectation of my life was that I might be able to work for some good white folks. Now I got some good white folks working for me.

If you can see it, and believe it, it is a LOT easier to achieve it

If you live in the past and allow the past to define who you are, then you never grow.

I feel my greatest work is yet to come.

Strength times strength times strength times strength times strength times strength means power.

Never for a moment allow your greatness to interfere with your goodness.

You are here to do something you are uniquely created for. No one else can do it like you can, that's why you're here

Be loving to yourself and others will see that love reciprocated. This rule works every time

You gotta be willing to fail...if you're afraid of failing, you won't get very far.

The biggest mistake in helping undeserved kids is not raising the bar high enough. Children will believe if you believe in them.

When you educate a woman, you set her free. Had I not had books and education in Mississippi, I would have believed that's all there was.

I will not be taking a paternity test, ever!