Oprah Winfrey

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born 1954

Oprah Winfrey...unquestionably influential. The Oprah Book Club seal could boost a book's sales more than a million copies. Being named among her favorites ~ from tea to notepaper ~ translates into healthy business growth for big brands like Starbucks + small artisans like Felix Doolittle.

A self-made billionaire, Oprah has become one of the world's most powerful people from a career based on "being herself."

Her status as international celebrity + tastemaker is a far cry from her troubled childhood and adolescence. The secret to the beloved talk-show host's success is deeply connected to her honesty about past struggles ~ from poverty to abuse to discrimination. And, her strength to move beyond them while helping others do the same.

Oprah's media empire began with the highest-rated talk show of all time. Now it includes books, magazines + her own television network...all connected by the same the empowering themes ~ spirituality and self-improvement. A champion of service, Oprah is also famous for giving back with a record of global philanthropy that spans everything from disaster relief to education for underprivileged girls to playing a key role in preserving African-American history. Today, Oprah continues to build on her legacy of creating opportunities for everyone to "live your best life."

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her quotes

all quotes by Oprah Winfrey (34)

"It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from. The ability to triumph begins with you. Always."
Academy of Achievement | february 1991

"I didn't want to say 'no' because I didn't want to hurt anybody's feelings. I didn't want to say 'no' because I didn't want anybody angry with me. I didn't want to say 'no' because I didn't want people to think I'm not nice . . . Not only do you have the right to do whatever you want, you have the right to change your mind."
Academy of Achievement | february 1991

"On my own I will just create, and if it works, it works, and if it doesn't, I'll create something else."
How Oprah Went From Talk Show Host To First African-American Woman Billionaire | october 1995

"If you want the best the world has to offer, offer the world your best."
maxim | december 2003

"You get a car! You get a car! You get a car! You get a car!"
The Oprah Winfrey Show | september 2004

"I love the written word. Over the years, the written word has inspired, challenged, and sustained me."
Words That Matter | april 2010

"Here's what my love affair with quotations has taught me: the more you focus on words that uplift you, the more you embody the ideas contained in those words."
Words That Matter | april 2010

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right."
facebook post | january 2012

"True wealth isn't about money, it's about options."
Thando's Dramatic Dreams | october 2012

"When you do what you know is right, you will always be okay."
Oprah's Words for the First Graduating Class | october 2012

"Education is the door to freedom."
Graduation Day at the Academy | october 2012

"The single most important lesson I learned in 25 years talking every single day to people, was that there is a common denominator in our human experience...We want to be validated. We want to be understood."
Harvard commencement address | may 2013

"The key to life is to develop an internal moral, emotional GPS."
Harvard commencement address | may 2013

"Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction."
Harvard University commencement address | may 2013

"Discover who you are, and use who you are in service to the world."
Presidential Medal of Freedom award | november 2013

"My God, Gloria Steinem. Had there not been Gloria Steinem and her fight for women's rights, I wouldn't even have had the opportunity in the work that I have done."
Presidential Medal of Freedom award | november 2013

"I have built a career and a life out of being myself."
Presidential Medal of Freedom award | november 2013

"You are here not to shrink down to less but to blossom into more of who you really are."
Oprah Chai Tea for Starbucks | 2014

"Align your personality with your purpose, and no one can touch you."
Stanford Graduate School of Business | april 2014

"Tea is literally organic for me. I love the ritual of making it in the morning. While it's steeping, I read from a box of beautiful quotes I have. It's like saying grace for me."
Walter Scott asks… | may 2014

"Do what you have to do, until you can do what you really want to do."
Super Soul Sunday | june 2014

"Love doesn't hurt."
Oprah Learns That Love Doesn't Hurt | september 2014

"We are all artists of our own lives...We can use as many colors and brushstrokes as we like."
What I Know for Sure | september 2014

"The only way to endure the quake is to adjust your stance."
What I Know For Sure | september 2014

"The problems that make you throw up your hands and holler 'Mercy!' will build your tenacity, courage, discipline, and determination."
What I Know For Sure | september 2014

"I sat up in bed one crisp, sunny morning and made a vow to love my heart. To treat it with respect. To feed and nurture it. To work it out and then let it rest."
What I Know For Sure | september 2014

"I live in the space of thankfulness—and for that, I have been rewarded a million times over."
What I Know For Sure | september 2014

"Right now, no matter where you are, you are a single choice away from a new beginning."
What I Know for Sure | september 2014

"If you get paid for doing what you love, every paycheck is a bonus."
What I Know For Sure | september 2014

"When you nurture and support your body, it reciprocates."
What I Know For Sure | september 2014

"Making a bold move is the only way to advance toward the grandest vision the universe has for you."
What I Know For Sure | september 2014

"Leadership means knowing where you want to go and being a force for helping someone else grow into what is the best of themselves."
Meet the Academy's First Student President | october 2014

"My role is to break down big ideas about who we are in a way that people can see it and taste it and feel it and know it for themselves."
LinkedIn Pulse | october 2015