Oprah Winfrey

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

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.

You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.

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

Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.

All one needs to do is read – books, magazines, research the Internet – and pay attention to the influencers in their lives to discover the myriad people of strong moral character who have and still are making positive, meaningful contributions and differences in our world.

You don’t have to get it perfect, you just have to get it going.

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.

Genius is divine perseverance. Genius I cannot have, but perseverance all can have.

It might interest you to know that the 1828 Noah Webster Dictionary identifies the optimist in complimentary terms, but says nothing about the pessimist. The word ‘pessimist’ was not in our vocabulary at that time. It’s a modern ‘invention’ which I believe we should ‘dis-invent.’

Authors by the hundreds can tell you stories by the thousands of those rejection slips before they found a publisher who was willing to ‘gamble’ on an unknown.

Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.

The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty.

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

Motivation is the fuel necessary to keep the human engine running.

Do first things first, and second things not at all.

Be helpful. When you see a person without a smile, give them yours.

He who thinks he leads, but has no followers, is only taking a walk.

Creativity and control can go hand in hand.