20 Favorite Quotes from Oprah

Oprah Winfrey

Lessons from Season One of Oprah's Lifeclass


Here are favorite quotes, straight from Oprah herself - mini-lessons you can take with you anywhere.


Lesson  1:  The False Power of Ego
"What I know for sure is you can't even begin to love yourself or even be true to yourself unless you know who you really are---separate from your ego."


Lesson  2:  The False Power of Ego
"[The ego is] an impostor, imposing on the real you, making you think that you're something that you're not."


Lesson  3:  Letting Go of Anger
"One of the best lessons for me is learning that revenge is another way for the ego to show itself."


Lesson  4:  You Become What You Believe
"Do you believe that you are worthy of happiness?  Do you believe that happiness, success, abundance, comfort, fulfillment, peace, joy, love is a part of your birthright?  Or do you believe something else?  Because you will manifest the life that you believe."


Lesson  5:  The Truth Will Set You Free
"If you are in any way keeping a secret, or if you are in any way pretending to be something that you are not, you will never become all that you were meant to be.  It just cannot happen."


Lesson  6:  Everybody Has a Calling
"Sometimes the calling is something that was just a whisper to you and when you begin to honor that whisper and to follow that, you end up being the best that you can be."


Lesson  7:  Aging Beautifully
"When you lie about your age you are denying that part of your life.  You are denying energetically the years that you have earned here on the planet Earth. ...You are denying your very existence."


Lesson  8:  When You Know Better, You Do Better
"Do you know how freeing those words are?  How freeing they can be for you?  What it means is you don't have to hold yourself hostage to who you used to be or anything you ever used to do."


Lesson  9:  You're Responsible for Your Life
"If you're sitting around waiting on somebody to save you, to fix you, to even help you, you are wasting your time because only you have the power to take responsibility to move your life forward."


Lesson 10:  When People Show You Who They Are...Believe Them
"When somebody has shown you who they are, believe them.  Stop expecting them to be something other than who they are.  Believe them.  And move on."


Lesson 11:  Listen to Your Gut
"Your gut is the voice of your higher self.  It's your personal GPS system to guide you and to try to keep you out of danger's way.  Out of harm's way.  That is the gift of fear."


Lesson 12:  Do Your Eyes Light Up When Your Child Walks in the Room?
"Most of the arguments that you have had in your life have not been about the specific thing, but they've been about what is behind the thing that you're arguing about...And if you peel back the layers, what is usually behind the things that we're arguing about is, Do you hear me?  Does what I say mean anything to you?  Do I matter?  That's what everybody is looking for."


Lesson 13:  Step Out of the Box
"If you want something you never had, you've got to do something you've never done."


Lesson 14:  Love Doesn't Hurt
"Your relationship with your spouse, with your family, with your friends all can change if you get this lesson that took me to my late 20s, probably mid-30s to actually fully realize:  Love does not hurt."


Lesson 15:  Love Doesn't Hurt
"When you trust yourself, it means you don't tolerate being stood up more than one time. ...You don't tolerate chronic betrayal."


Lesson 16: Love Doesn't Hurt 
"When you can trust that you love yourself, care for yourself, have enough honor and respect for yourself that you will not allow other people to harm you, then you can succeed in any relationship...It doesn't mean that somebody won't hurt you again.  It means that when they do, you will know what to do...You will not let that destroy you."


Lesson 17:  Love Doesn't Hurt
"Love is truth.  Love is grace, is joyful."


Lesson 18:  Slow Down 
"Being in the present moment ---if you can learn to do that, it begins to change your whole life."


Lesson 19:  Newton's Third Law
"If there are a lot of negative people in your life, don't look at them, look at the energy that you are creating to attract them.  Don't look at them, look at yourself."


Lesson 20:  You've Always Had the Power
"The only courage you ever need is the courage to fulfill the dreams of your own life."