Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Gail Winfrey (born 29 January 1954) is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist.

1990's

 * I've been stopped cold from eating another burger!
 * Reacting to guest Howard Lyman's belief that American cattle are at risk for bovine spongiform encephalopathy ("mad cow disease"), "Dangerous Food", The Oprah Winfrey Show (11 April 1996)


 * My reaction is that free speech not only lives, it rocks!
 * On being acquitted of violating Texas' food libel laws in Texas Beef Group v. Winfrey over her "Dangerous Food" episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show (11 April 1996), as quoted in "Oprah: 'Free speech rocks' " in CNN (26 February 1998)


 * I will continue to use my voice. I believed from the beginning that [the lawsuit] was an attempt to muzzle my voice, and I come from a people who have struggled and died in order to have a voice in this country. And I refused to be muzzled.
 * "Oprah: 'Free speech rocks' " in CNN (26 February 1998)


 * I'm still off hamburgers.
 * "Oprah: 'Free speech rocks' " in CNN (26 February 1998)


 * I never think about what I want. It's about what you want to give to other people.
 * As quoted in The Money Adventure (1998) by Egbert Sukop, p. 128

2000's

 * It felt like a new day.
 * After Barack Obama's 2004 speech at the Democratic convention, as quoted in "Man of the Moment" at Oprah.com (19 January 2005)


 * I understand why people think we're gay. There isn't a definition in our culture for this kind of bond between women. So I get why people have to label it – how can you be this close without it being sexual?
 * About her friend Gayle King, in "Oprah: Gayle and I Are Not Gay" in People (16 July 2006)


 * What I learned at a very early age was that I was responsible for my life. And as I became more spiritually conscious, I learned that we all are responsible for ourselves, that you create your own reality by the way you think and therefore act. You cannot blame apartheid, your parents, your circumstances, because you are not your circumstances. You are your possibilities. If you know that, you can do anything.
 * O Magazine (January 2007), pages 160 & 217


 * I think that, uh, you know, I'm really happy that the message, or at least some of the message of The Secret is reaching mass consciousness in a way that people realize that they can begin to, uh, positively affect their lives. That's why when I was on the show and said "I've lived this way my whole life", and people who watched our show for years know that I've been talking about how you take responsibility for your life and the choices that you make. Empower your life. And so, when I say that, you know, um, that's how I live my life, the message of The Secret, that's what I mean. I also believe, that, uh, medical healing or healing comes in lots of forms. You know that adage about the guy being lost and God sent him a boat and God sent him — then he gets to heaven and says "Why didn't you help me?" And God's, "I sent you the boat, fool!" So, that's the way I look at medical healing.
 * To Kim Tinkham, who wrote Oprah that she watched her show about The Secret, was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, and decided to heal herself instead of a mastectomy and chemotherapy that four doctors told her she urgently needed, on The Oprah Winfrey Show (March 2007) · YouTube video


 * What other people label or might try to call failure, I have learned is just God's way of pointing you in a new direction.
 * Oprah's commencement speech at Howard University (12 May 2007)


 * I believe that every single event in life happens in an opportunity to choose love over fear.
 * As quoted in Oprah, in Her Words : Our American Princess (2008) by Tuchy Palmieri, p. 71


 * You want motivation? You still don't understand what our children are up against? Let me read you something that was posted on our message boards from someone who claims to be a member of a known pedophile network. He said this: he doesn't forgive, he does not forget, his group has over nine thousand penises and they're all raping children. So, I want you to know: they're organized, and they have systematic ways of hurting children and they use the internet to do it. These are the predators that are molesting and raping our children. They're trading the photos and videos online, and I want to stress again: this is not about politics, it's about giving the dedicated men and women of law enforcement who are trying to catch these predators the resources they need.
 * 2008, in Oprah Winfrey Show

2010's

 * All the energy that you spend, trying to hurt somebody else, that energy will turn around and slap you in the face. The same thing is true, Love, what I know is that the energy that put out everyday with the best of intentions that it would reach you where you really live in heart of yourself has come back to me from all of you in full force. So that what we've learnt on this show; You are responsible for your life and when you get that, everything changes, my friends. So don't wait for somebody else to fix you, to save you or complete you...
 * "Oprah Winfrey Show Finale" in CBS (25 May 2011)


 * People often ask me: "What is the secret to the success of the show?" "How it lasted 25 years?" I none jokingly say: "My team and Jesus", because nothing but the Hand of God has made this possible for me. For all of you who get railed up when I mentioned God and you wanna know which God am I talking about, I am talking about the same one you talk about, I am talking about the Alpha and Omega, the Omniscience, the Unprecedented, the Ultimate Consciousness, the Source, the Force, the all of everything that is, The One and Only G-O-D, that's what I am talking about...
 * "Oprah Winfrey Show Finale" in CBS (25 May 2011)


 * Well, I don't call you an atheist then. I think if you believe in the awe and the wonder and the mystery, then that is what God is. That is what God is, not the bearded guy in the sky.
 * , quoted in
 * in response to endurance swimmer Diana Nyad saying she can "weep with the beauty of this universe and be moved by all of humanity".

I pay attention to things, you know? … This is to make us all more awakened about our own life, and the fact that it shows up this way is a horror. But, as I heard someone say, seeing people coming together, helping each other — whether it's this crisis we're in or what we saw weeks ago in, in Houston, in Florida, and now in Puerto Rico — it shows the humanity of us all. So, it's an opportunity to show the best of ourselves, when the worst shows up.
 * I feel like my soul is aching for the country. … There's not a day that goes by where I'm not putting on my shoes, or brushing my teeth, where I just think about the ordinariness of, people who just went to a concert, or the ordinariness of the day from people from 9/11, who were just doing an ordinary thing, and then you never get home. … So, I would say that these days of crisis and tragedy are to remind us all to be present in the ordinariness of our lives, that actually turns out to be extraordinary, when the person you love doesn't come home at night.
 * Interview on Entertainment Tonight, as quoted in "Oprah Winfrey Offers Words of Wisdom in Wake of Deadly Las Vegas Shooting", KTVB (2 October 2017)


 * I would say, we can't allow ourselves to be frightened into not living our lives, and I think that we have to keep going and we have to keep going with the faith that thing will get better … And things will get better when we make them better.
 * Interview on Entertainment Tonight, as quoted in "Oprah Winfrey Offers Words of Wisdom in Wake of Deadly Las Vegas Shooting", KTVB (2 October 2017)


 * I had a lot of wealthy men calling, telling me that they would run my campaign and raise $1 billion for me. I am actually humbled by the fact that people think that I could be a leader of the free world, but it's just not in my spirit. . . it's not in my DNA
 * In a 2018 60 Minutes Overtime interview according to Oprah Winfrey reportedly considered running for president with Mitt Romney (October 16, 2023)

2020's

 * [At the beginning of the midterm campaigns,] I said it was up to the citizens of Pennsylvania, but I will tell you all this — if I lived in Pennsylvania, I would've already cast my vote for John Fetterman, for many reasons
 * Oprah rejects her protégé Dr. Oz and backs Democrat John Fetterman in Pa. senate race (November 4, 20222:39 PM ET ASHLEY AHN)

CNN interview (2011)

 * Interview with Piers Morgan (17 January 2011)


 * I know where my lane is, and I know how to stay in my lane. My lane is evolving the consciousness of people.


 * The thing that I do best is "Be Here. Be Now".


 * Turn your wounds into wisdom.
 * OWN Network on "Oprah Winfrey Show"


 * Trust your heart ,and success will come to you.
 * OWN Network on "Oprah Winfrey Show"


 * Surround yourself with people only who are going to take you higher
 * OWN Network on "Oprah Winfrey Show"

“Small Steps Lead To Big Accomplishments”
 * Colorado College Commencement Speech (20th May 2019)

“Everything Is Always Working Out For You”
 * Colorado College Commencement Speech (20th May 2019)

“Failure Is What’s Going To Humble You”
 * Colorado College Commencement Speech (20th May 2019)

“Be Yourself–But Be All Of You”
 * Colorado College Commencement Speech (20th May 2019)

The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life's Direction and Purpose (2019)

 * Your life is not static. Every decision, setback, or triumph is an opportunity to identify the seeds of truth that make you the wondrous human being that you are. I'm not talking just about what you do for a living. When you pay attention to what feeds your energy, you move in the direction of the life for which you were intended. Trust that the Universe has a bigger, wider, deeper dream for you than you could ever imagine for yourself.
 * p. 15


 * Growing up in the church, one of my favorite Bible parables was about the mustard seed: If you have faith, even if it's as little as a mustard seed, you can move mountains. Anything is possible. As a child, listening from my seat in church, this brought me so much comfort- just as it did when I was struggling as a reporter in Baltimore and as it still does today.
 * p. 15


 * As you begin to identify the seeds of knowing along your own path, the first question to ask yourself is, What do I believe? Do you believe that you are worthy of happiness, success, abundance, fulfillment, peace, joy, and love? What I know for sure is you become what you believe.
 * p. 16


 * Nourish what makes you feel confident, connected, contented. Opportunity will rise to meet you.
 * p. 188


 * Years ago, I interviewed a grieving mother whose adult son had died after a long illness. You could have heard a pin drop in the studio when she so beautifully told the story of their final moment together. The mother had climbed into bed with her son. She could barely hear him, but her head was on his chest. As he took his last breath, he whispered, "Oh Mom, it is all so simple. It's so simple, Mom." He then closed his eyes and died. I got chills when I heard that. I realized then, just as it resonates with me now: We allow life to get so complicated- when it's really so very simple. From that day forward I resolved to continually ask myself, How am I making things more difficult than they need to be? Your answer to that same question is the next step in your path. It's that simple. Imagine what lies just around the bend. Can you see it? I can. Love, Oprah.
 * p. 189

Quotes about Winfrey



 * She actually is somebody who has the ability to move mountains and change minds.
 * CNN correspondent Dana Bash, as quoted in


 * Oprah is different. Oprah has an army out there that really listens. She's one of the great marketing machines in history.
 * Howard Davidowitz, in "Obama and the 'Oprah Effect': can she sway voters?" at The Christian Science Monitor (10 December 2007)


 * So far, I don't see anything negative on this woman. I think she's a real icon. She's much more complex and complicated than just a talk show host. Maya Angelou has said she sees her as a true missionary. Everybody has a different take on Oprah.
 * Kitty Kelly, in From 'Jackie Oh!' to Oprah: Tell-All Queen Expands Her Empire The Washington Post (14 December 2006)


 * Most great instigators of social change have intimate personal knowledge of trauma. Oprah Winfrey comes to mind, as do Maya Angelou, Nelson Mandela, and Elie Wiesel. Read the life history of any visionary, and you will find insights and passions that came from having dealt with devastation.
 * Bessel van der Kolk The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (2014)


 * She's — her great strength, if anybody watches the show — and I think everybody does in Iowa; it's the number one show in Iowa — she's instructive. She's empowering. Every time you watch an Oprah broadcast, at the end of it, you know more than you started and you feel stronger. That's her strength.
 * Chris Matthews, as quoted in Matthews described Obama as "almost Third World in his sort of presentation" at Media Matters (3 December 2007)


 * We had a few high-profile moments of our own, including a series of rallies with Oprah Winfrey, who'd become a friend and supporter, and was as wise, funny, and gracious on the trail as she was in person
 * Barack Obama A Promised Land (2020)


 * You have to admire Oprah Winfrey. She is the most powerful woman in the country and comes from a very humble background. The woman has succeeded on talent and energy.
 * Bill O'Reilly, After repeated whining, O'Reilly — who won't have "loathsome" "secular-progressives" on his show — to appear on Oprah at Media Matters (24 October 2006)


 * I am grateful for the contribution Oprah Winfrey has made to our country in regard to reading.


 * The first eighteen years of life profoundly impact your entire life. In the book What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing, by Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D., Oprah shares her story of childhood trauma and how those experiences shaped her. Her mother beat her for even the slightest offense, and this abuse turned her into a people-pleaser. It took years for her to realize that her behavior as an adult was rooted in her experiences as a child.
 * Nedra Glover Tawwab Drama Free: A Guide to Managing Unhealthy Family Relationships (2023)


 * My own after-school routine included watching The Oprah Winfrey Show. As I've watched old episodes, I realize now that I wasn't ready for the topics, but I certainly needed to hear them. The Oprah show covered abuse, neglect, giveaways, celebrity interviews, and almost every other imaginable subject. Her show gave me the terminology to name things in my life and the lives of others.
 * Nedra Glover Tawwab Drama Free: A Guide to Managing Unhealthy Family Relationships (2023)