Oprah Winfrey

I’ve lived in this fame trip since 1986. I’ve found that unless you’re rooted in something bigger than fame, you start believing your own hype.

Sometimes you find out what you are supposed to be doing by doing the things you are not supposed to do.

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.

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.

I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become.

Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do.

Vision without action is daydream. Action without vision is nightmare.

All great things begin with a vision … a dream.

Seek first to understand and then to be understood.

Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.

There is no need to be afraid of having faults, because knowing we have them can help us to improve.

People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.

What distinguishes us from one another is our dreams, and what we do to make them come about.

Every obnoxious act is a cry for help.

Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconcious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character.

Life is change; growth is optional. Choose wisely.

To give away money is an easy matter, and in any man’s power. But to decide to whom to give it, and how large and when, and for what purpose and how, is neither in every man’s power, nor an easy matter. Hence it is that such excellence is rare, praiseworthy, and noble.

We are not animals. We are not a product of what has happened to us in our past. We have the power of choice.

Every man loves what he is good at.

You combine hard work, creativity, and self-determination, and things start to happen.

Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground. There’s no greater investment.