What I Know For Sure - Oprah Winfrey

Tell me, what do you know for sure?

When you know something, really know something, it tends to stand the test of time.

When you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.

You have the choice this very moment - the only moment you have for certain.

What you put out comes back. Your base level of pleasure is determined by how you view your whole life.

I would have gone to the trouble for a friend but not for myself. For sure I need to practice what I preach and value myself more.

If your life ended tomorrow, what would you regret not doing? If this were the last day of your life, would you spend it the way you're spending today?

Who could I have become if I had finally done the things I always wanted to do?

You will die, you must live now.

You are the single biggest influence in your life.

Your journey begins with a choice to get up, step out and live fully.

A meal that brings you real joy will do more good in the long and short term than a lot of filler food that leaves you standing in your kitchen, roaming from cabinet to fridge.

All the carrots, celery and skinless chicken in the world can't give you the satisfaction of one incredible piece of chocolate if that's what you really crave.

I don't have to consume the whole thing just because it's there.

Eat food that make you thrive.

Better food is the foundation for a better life.

Be the person who will ask a cabdriver in New York City if he has any kids.

We all get the opportunity to feel wonder every day, but we've been lulled into numbness.

I want every day to be a fresh start on expanding what is possible. On experiencing joy on every level.

Insight, information, knowledge, inspiration, power: All that and more can come through a good book.

Reading opens you up. It exposes you and gives you access to anything your mind can hold. It gives you the ability to reach higher ground and keep climbing.

Trying to live in the present moment, resist projecting into the future or lamenting past mistakes, to feel the real power of now. That my friends, is the secret to a joyful life.

Healing the wounds of the past is one of the biggest and most worthwhile challenges of life. It's important to know when and how you were programmed, so you can change the program.

We are each responsible for our own lifes.

You must be fearless enough to give yourself the love you didn't receive.

Every day brings a new opportunity for your growth.

Every choice gives you a chance to pave your own road.

When you feel the earth moving, bring yourself back to the now.

When you have nothing to be ashamed of, when you know who you are and what you stand for, you stand in wisdom.

Whenever I'm faced with a difficult decision, I ask myself: What would I do if I weren't afraid of making a mistake, feeling rejected, looking foolish, or being alone?

Your deepest struggle can, if you're willing and open, produce your greatest strength.

What is this here to teach me?

Wherever you are in your journey, I hope you, too, will keep encountering challenges.

Changing the way you think about your situation is the key to improving it.

Being open to learning from challenges is the difference between succeeding and getting stuck.

Anything can be a miracle, a blessing, an opportunity if you choose to see it that way.

When you can see obstacles for what they are, you never lose faith in the path it takes to get you where you want to go.

Learning to appreciate your lessons, mistakes and setbacks as steppingstones to the future is a clear sign you're moving in the right direction.

That's where strength comes from - our ability to face resistance and walk through it.

There is no strength without challenge, adversity, resistance and often pain.

We all want to feel like we matter so somebody.

The love and approval I crave can not be found outside myself.

A lack of intimacy is not distance from someone else; it is disregard of yourself.

If you don't already know that you have worth, there's nothing your friends, your family, or your mate can say that will completely convince you of that.

Right now you're one choice away from seeing yourself as someone whose life has inherent significance - so choose to see it that way.

Look inward - the loving begins with you.

The key to any relationship is communication.

Life is better when you share it.

You, alone, make a whole person. And if you feel incomplete, you alone must fill all your empty, shattered spaces with love.

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.

Love should never require losing you voice, your self-respect or you dignity.

Look around and notice - possibility is everywhere.

To know that people care about how you're doing when the doing isn't so good - that's what love is.

Sometimes we get so focused on the difficulty of our climb that we lose sight of being grateful for simply having a mountain to climb.

Appreciating whatever shows up for you in life changes your whole world.

You radiate and generate more goodness for yourself when you're aware of all you have and not focusing on your have-nots.

If you make time for a little gratitude every day, you'll be amazed by the results.

Gratitude can transform any situation. It alters your vibration, moving you from negative energy to positive. It's the quickest, easiest, most powerful way to effect change in your life.

Everything that happens in our lives has meaning.

Each experience brings a message, if we're willing to hear it.

This is the body you've been given - love what you've got.

There is no need to struggle with your body when you can make a loving and grateful peace with it.

When you focus on the goodness in your life, you create more of it.

Ninety-five percent of the beliefs we have stored in our minds are nothing but lies, and we suffer because we believe all these lies.

Why am I trying to keep this teenage body when I'm not a teenager and everybody knows it?

The whole point of aging ist change.

How can I realize my potential more fully?

The true meaning of courage is to be afraid, and then, with your knees knocking, to step out anyway.

Whatever you fear most has no power - it is your fear that has the power.

Decide that no matter how difficult the path ahead seems, you will push past your anxiety and keep on stepping.

So long as you're still worried about what other thing of you, you are owned by them. Only when you require no approval from outside yourself can you own yourself.

What would my life have been like if I hadn't cared so much about what people thought?

You have nothing to prove to anyone but yourself.

The true measure of your courage is not whether you reach your goal - it's whether you decide to get back on your feed no matter how many times you've failed.

Right now, now matter where you are, you are a single choice away from a new beginning.

The truth is that the naysayers in your life can never be fully satisfied. Whether you hide or shine, they'll always feel threatened because they don't believe they are enough.

You are built not to shrink down to less but to blossom into more.

Whatever your situation is right now, you have played a major role in creating it. With every experience, you build your life, thought by thought, choice by choice.

What is my real intention?

How have my intentions produced the experiences I'm having now? And if I change my intentions, what different consequences will I create?

If you can get paid for doing what you love, every paycheck is a bonus.

The most important adventure of our lives doesn't have to involve climbing the highest peak or trekking around the world. The biggest thrill you can ever achieve is to live the life of your dreams.

The more stressful and chaotic things are on the outside, the calmer you need to get on the inside.

You can't accomplish anything worthwhile if you inhibit yourself.

Whey you get the chance, go for it.

Everything you do and say shows the world who you are. Let it be the truth.

You're right, I may not make it and I may be walking into land mines. But if they don't kill me, at least I'll keep growing.

The goal for all of us is to keep growing out of ourselves, evolving to our best possible lives.

Dream big - very big. Work hard - very hard. And after you've done all you can, fully surrender to the Power.

A miracle is seeing the world with light in your eyes.

Miracles happen not just sometimes but every single day, if we are open to seeing them.

Every day holds within the possibility of seeing the world with wonder.

It is an awesome gift to be alive on this beautiful planet. And I wand my time here to be as bright as it can be.

The hardest experiences are often the ones that teach us the most.

What am I supposed to learn from it?

Spirituality is not religion. You can be spiritual and not have a religious context.

Never again will I do anything for anyone that I do not feel directly from my heart. I will not attend a meeting, make a phone call, write a letter, sponsor or participate in any activity in which every fiber of my being does not resound yes. I will act with the intent to be true to myself.

Your breath is your anchor, the gift you've been given - that we've all been given, to center ourselves in this very moment.

Your instincts are you compass.

Protect your time. It is your life.

Having the best things is no substitute for having the best life.

Just because I have ten free minutes on my calendar doesn't mean I want to fill them.

Taking care of your body, no matter what, is an investment, and the return is priceless.

All that energy I could have spent loving what is.

How you spend your time defines who you are.

Chasing the life you want by accumulating more stuff is a dead-end street. More things don't make you feel more alive.

Ask yourself if the people in your life give you energy and encourage your personal growth.

Gossip reflects the insecurity of those who initiate it. Often when we make negative statements about others behind their backs, it's because we want to feel powerful - and thats usually because in some way we feel powerless, unworthy, not courageous enough to be forthright.

When someone spreads lies about you, it's not about you.

Words have the power to destroy but words also have the power to heal.

Become the change you want to see.

If you want to be successful, be excellent.

If you want the best the world has to offer, offer the world your best.

When you define yourself by the things you can acquire rather than see what you really need to be happy and fulfilled, you're not just living beyond your means or overextending yourself. You're living a lie.

We're a country that spends 95 percent of our health care dollars on treating illness, and less than 5 percent on staying well and preventing it. How mixed up is that?

What you do today creates every tomorrow.

When you don't know what to do, my best advice is to do nothing until clarity comes.

Make a decision and watch your life move forward.

Everything you try to do to me, already done to you.

What are you giving to the world?

Happiness is never something you get from other people. The happiness you fell is in direct proportion to the love you are able to give.

What I think. what I say, what I do - everything will be returned to me.