Oprah Gail Winfrey (born Orpah Gail Winfrey) is an American media executive, actress, talk show host, television producer, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, broadcast from Chicago, which was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history and ran in national syndication for 25 years from 1986 to 2011.
Dubbed the “Queen of All Media”, she was the richest African American of the 20th century and North America’s first black multi-billionaire, and she has been ranked the greatest black philanthropist in American history. Credited with creating a more intimate, confessional form of media communication. In 1994, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. By the mid-1990s, Winfrey had reinvented her show with a focus on literature, self-improvement, mindfulness, and spirituality.
Though she was criticized for unleashing a confession culture, promoting controversial self-help ideas, and having an emotion-centered approach, she has also been praised for overcoming adversity to become a benefactor to others. In 2013, Winfrey was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama and honorary doctorate degrees from Duke and Harvard. In 2008, she formed her own network, Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).
Some of the best quotes from Oprah Winfrey are listed below.
- “Align your personality with your purpose, and no one can touch you.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “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.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Books were my pass to personal freedom. I learned to read at age three, and soon discovered there was a whole world to conquer that went beyond our farm in Mississippi.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “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.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life, because you become what you believe.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Don’t let people talk you into what they think is you.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Don’t settle for a relationship that won’t let you be yourself.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Don’t worry about becoming successful but work toward being significant and the success will naturally follow.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Even if you flippin’ fries at McDonald’s, if you are excellent, everybody wants to be in your line.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Every day, you’re only as good as your last show.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Every stumble is not a fall, and every fall does not mean failure.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “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.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Everybody has a calling. And your real job in life is to figure out as soon as possible what that is, who you were meant to be, and to begin to honor that in the best way possible for yourself.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “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.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Everything happens for a reason, even when we are not wise enough to see it. When there is no struggle, there is no strength.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Excellence is the best deterrent to racism or sexism.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Failure is a great teacher. If you’re open to it every mistake has a lesson to offer.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Follow your instincts. That’s where true wisdom manifests itself.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different, it’s accepting the past for what it was, and using this moment and this time to help yourself move forward.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “I always feel that until you take your last breath, you’re always growing.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “I believe that one of life’s greatest risks is never daring to risk.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “I don’t believe in failure. It is not failure if you enjoyed the process.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “I don’t think of myself as a poor deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as somebody who from an early age knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “I don’t think you ever stop giving. I really don’t. I think it’s an on-going process. And it’s not just about being able to write a check. It’s being able to touch somebody’s life.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “I don’t want anyone who doesn’t want me.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “I feel that luck is preparation meeting opportunity.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “I had no idea that being your authentic self could make me as rich as I’ve become. If I had, I’d have done it a lot earlier.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “I trust that everything happens for a reason, even when we’re not wise enough to see it.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “I’m black, I don’t feel burdened by it and I don’t think it’s a huge responsibility. It’s part of who I am. It does not define me.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “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
- “If friends disappoint you over and over, that’s in large part your own fault. Once someone has shown a tendency to be self-centered, you need to recognize that and take care of yourself; people aren’t going to change simply because you want them to.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “If you come to fame not understanding who you are, it will define who you are.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “If you feel like he is stringing you along, then he probably is. Don’t stay because you think “it will get better.” You’ll be mad at yourself a year later for staying when things are not better. The only person you can control in a relationship is you.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “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.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “If you want to feel good, you have to go out and do some good.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “If you’re constantly pushing yourself higher, higher, the law of averages – not to mention the myth of Icarus – predicts that you will at some point fall. And when you do, I want you to know this, remember this: There is no such thing as failure.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “It doesn’t matter how far you might rise. At some point, you are bound to stumble. If you’re constantly pushing yourself higher and higher, the law of averages predicts that you will at some point fall. And when you do, I want you to remember this: There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Learn from every mistake, because every experience, encounter, and particularly your mistakes are there to teach you and force you into being more of who you are.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Lots of people want 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.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Love somebody. Just one person. And then spread that to two. And as many as you can. You’ll see the difference it makes.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Meditate. Breathe consciously. Listen. Pay attention. Treasure every moment. Make the connection.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Money is worth nothing if it can’t buy you the opportunity to love more.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “No experience is ever wasted. Everything has meaning.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “One of the hardest things in life to learn are which bridges to cross and which bridges to burn.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Only make decisions that support your self-image, self-esteem, and self-worth.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “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.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Self-esteem comes from being able to define the world in your own terms and refusing to abide by the judgements of others.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “So go ahead. Fall down. The world looks different from the ground.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “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.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “The greatest lesson of life is that you are responsible for your life.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “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.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “The life you want is waiting to rise up to meet you … Will you accept it? Do you feel worthy enough to accept it?” – Oprah Winfrey
- “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “The reason I’ve been able to be so financially successful is my focus has never, ever for one minute been money.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “The single greatest thing you can do to change your life today would be to start being grateful for what you have right now.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “The thing you fear most has no power. Your fear of it is what has the power. Facing the truth really will set you free.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “The whole point of being alive is to evolve into the complete person you were intended to be.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “True forgiveness is when you can say: Thank you for that experience.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Unless you choose to do great things with it, it makes no difference how much you are rewarded, or how much power you have.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Use your life to serve the world, and you will find that is also serves you.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “What God intended for you goes far beyond anything you can imagine.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “What I know is, is that if you do work that you love, and the work fulfils you, the rest will come.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “What material success does is provide you with the ability to concentrate on other things that really matter. And that is being able to make a difference, not only in your own life, but in other people’s lives.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “What we dwell on is who we become.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “What you put out is already on its way back to you.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Whatever has happened to you in your past has no power over this present moment, because life is now.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “When I look into the future, it’s so bright it burns my eyes.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “When you undervalue what you do, the world will undervalue who you are.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Where there is no struggle, there is no strength.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “With age comes the understanding and appreciation of your most important asset, your health.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “You alone are enough.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “You are responsible for the energy that you create for yourself, and you’re responsible for the energy that you bring to others.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “You are responsible for your life. You can’t keep blaming somebody else for your dysfunction. Life is really about moving on.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “You are responsible for your life… so, don’t wait for somebody else to fix you, to save you or complete you. Jerry MaGuire was just a movie. No one completes you.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “You are where you are in life because of what you believe is possible for yourself.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “You are who you are at this moment because of everything that’s ever happened to you, everything that you carried forward for yourself.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “You become what you believe, not what you think or what you want.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “You can either see yourself as a wave in the ocean or you can see yourself as the ocean.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “You can have it all. You just can’t have it all at once.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “You cannot hate other people without hating yourself.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “You don’t become what you want, you become what you believe.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job, and not be paid for it.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “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
- “You will find true success and happiness if you have only one goal. There really is only one, and that is this: To fulfill the highest, most truthful expression of yourself as a human being. You want to max out your humanity by using your energy to lift yourself up, your family, and the people around you.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “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
