Oprah Winfrey Quotes To Inspire Passion, Leadership and Love

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Oprah Winfrey is the definition of the American Dream.

Coming from the deep south and dealing with all kinds of abuse early in her life.

Oprah started her career as a teacher.

While teaching, she recognized her passion for media and entertainment.

She was soon fired from her first job as a news reporter and was told she didn’t have ‘the look’ and wouldn’t be able to ‘connect with viewers’.

A few decades later Oprah is a media mogul and an international icon of success and uses her shows and network to spread similar messages.

It’s our honor to share with you these truly insightful Oprah Winfrey quotes.

Enjoy!

Check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily inspiration. 

If you enjoy this collection, check out our inspirational quotes category page.

Oprah Winfrey Quotes About Success, Self-Esteem, and Self Love

1. “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” ― Oprah Winfrey

Turn your mess into a message. Don’t let your pain be in vain. Do something positive with it!

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2. “You can have it all. Just not all at once.” ― Oprah Winfrey

Be patient. Have an order. Prioritize. Focus on what you want, now. Plan for what you want later.

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3. “Only make decisions that support your self-image, self-esteem, and self-worth.” ― Oprah Winfrey

Become extremely intentional with everything that you do. Be fully on purpose. Make sure everything you do supports who you are and who you want to be.

4. “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” ― Oprah Winfrey

Never become too busy or too preoccupied to celebrate everything you have done, all that you have and all that you are!

5. “One of the hardest things in life to learn are which bridges to cross and which bridges to burn.” ― Oprah Winfrey

You can’t keep all of them. You can’t make everyone happy. 

6. “You don’t become what you want, you become what you believe.” ― Oprah Winfrey

There is nothing more influential than your thoughts.

7. “When you undervalue what you do, the world will undervalue who you are.” ― Oprah Winfrey

Love yourself and all the world to love you too!

8. “It makes no difference how many peaks you reach if there was no pleasure in the climb.” ― Oprah Winfrey

Enjoy your journey. So when people ask you, how did you do it, you have a great story to tell.

9. “Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different.” ― Oprah Winfrey

Stress comes from thinking that things should have been different. But they have worked out this way for a reason. ALL you can do is keep moving forward.

10. “You are where you are in life because of what you believe is possible for yourself.” ― Oprah Winfrey

YES! YES! And YES!

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Oprah quotes about life and self-worth

11. “If a man wants you, nothing can keep him away. If he doesn’t want you, nothing can make him stay.” ― Oprah Winfrey

All you can do is be yourself, that is the only thing you can control. Focus on that.

12. “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. ”― Oprah Winfrey

Embrace your uniqueness. You are different, your gift is special – own it and unapologetically share it with the world.

13. “Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.”― Oprah Winfrey

You know you reached a high level of integrity when you don’t even care if people know or not. You just do it.

14. “Self-esteem comes from being able to define the world in your own terms and refusing to abide by the judgments of others.” ― Oprah Winfrey

A true sign of confidence is when you are able to break away from he crowd, regardless of what others say or think.

Oprah Winfrey quotes about failure

15. “So go ahead. Fall down. The world looks different from the ground.” ― Oprah Winfrey

Everything that we go through gives us a new perspective, information, and insight. Embrace all of it.

16. “I don’t believe in failure. It’s not failure if you enjoy the process.” 

There is no failure, only feedback. Everything is either what you want, or what you don’t want. But failure is not real.

17. “When people show you who they are … believe them!” 

Trust your intuition. People are more transparent than you might think.

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More Oprah Winfrey quotes about life and success

18. “Dogs are my favorite role models. I want to work like a dog, doing what I was born to do with joy and purpose. I want to play like a dog, with total, jolly abandon. I want to love like a dog, with unabashed devotion and complete lack of concern about what people do for a living, how much money they have, or how much they weigh. The fact that we still live with dogs, even when we don’t have to herd or hunt our dinner, gives me hope for humans and canines alike.” ― Oprah Winfrey

19. “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

20. “Mr. Right is coming, but he’s in Africa and he’s walking.” ― Oprah Winfrey

More quotes by Oprah about love and life

21. “It all boils down to one thing…it is your ‘relationship’ to the source, and that relationship to that which we call God, or don’t call God, or don’t even know…is God.

It is ALL that really matters…when you surrender, and stop resisting, and stop trying to change that which you cannot change, but be in the moment, be fully open to the blessings you have already received, and those that are yet to come to you, and stand in that space of gratitude, and honor, and claim that for yourself, and look at where you are, and how far you have come, and what you’ve gotten, and what you’ve accomplished, and who you are.

When you can claim ‘that’, and see that, the literal vibration of your life will change. The vibration of your life will change.” ― Oprah Winfrey

22. “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.” ― Oprah Winfrey

23. “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

24. “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

25. “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, What I Know For Sure

26. “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.”  ― Oprah Winfrey

27. “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.” ― Oprah Winfrey

28. “Forgiveness is letting go of the hope that the past can be changed.” ― Oprah Winfrey

29. “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 e-mail inboxes are empty- the only thing that will have any lasting value is whether we’ve loved others and whether they’ve loved us.” ― Oprah Winfrey

30. “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.” ― Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey quotes to empower

31. With every experience, you alone are painting your own canvas, thought by thought, choice by choice.― Oprah Winfrey

32. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from. The ability to triumph begins with you – always.― Oprah Winfrey

33. Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.― Oprah Winfrey

34. My idea of heaven is a great big baked potato and someone to share it with. – Oprah Winfrey

35. I have a lot of things to prove to myself. One is that I can live my life fearlessly. – Oprah Winfrey

36. Even people who believe they deserve to be happy and have nice things often don’t feel worthy once they have them. – Oprah Winfrey

37. “I don’t want anyone who doesn’t want me.” ― Oprah Winfrey

38. “Think like a queen. A queen if not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” ― Oprah Winfrey

39. “Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life, because you become what you believe.” ― Oprah Winfrey

40. “You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job and not be paid for it.” ― Oprah Winfrey

More Oprah Winfrey quotes and sayings

41. “Your true passion should feel like breathing; it’s that natural.” – Oprah Winfrey

42. “I believe that every single event in life happens in an opportunity to choose love over fear.” – Oprah Winfrey

43. “Leadership is about empathy. It is about having the ability to relate to and connect with people for the purpose of inspiring and empowering their lives.” – Oprah Winfrey

44. “I finally realized that being grateful to my body was key to giving more love to myself.” – Oprah Winfrey

45. “No experience is wasted. Everything in life is happening to grow you up, to fill you up, to help you become more of who you were created to be.” – Oprah Winfrey

46. “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.” – Oprah Winfrey

47. “Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.” – Oprah Winfrey

48. “Love is a lesson worth learning.” – Oprah Winfrey

49. “Follow your passion. It will lead you to your purpose.” – Oprah Winfrey

50. “Let your light shine. Shine within you so that it can shine on someone else. Let your light shine.” – Oprah Winfrey

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Oprah Winfrey Harvard Commencement speech | Harvard Commencement 2013

Despite enduring all kinds of abuse in her early life, Oprah still managed to rise to become a true definition of the American.

She was told that she wasn’t cut for the media and entertainment industry but she’s now a media mogul.

Oprah’s success story reminds us that we can be whatever we dream of provided we believe in our abilities.

Hopefully, these Oprah Winfrey quotes have inspired you to create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life.

Which Oprah Winfrey quotes were your favorite?

What other quotes by Oprah would you add to the list?

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