I was raised to believe that excellence is the best deterrent to racism or sexism. And that's how I operate my life.

Real success means creating a life of meaning through service that fulfills your reason for being here.

My name is Oprah Winfrey. I have a talk show. I'm single. I have eight dogs-five golden retrievers, two black labs, and a mongrel. I have four years of college.

The expectation of my life was that I might be able to work for some good white folks. Now I got some good white folks working for me.

There are so many people who've come before me who deserved to be tired. Who didn't have the opportunities, who didn't have the access, who didn't have the money, who didn't have the influence, who didn't have the voice.

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.

Failure is a stepping-stone to greatness.