Editors of O - Words That Matter: A Little Book of Life Lessons

Ive lived my life by quotations and sayings. Even as a girl, I memorized phrases like Excellence is the best deterrent to racism and sexism, so be excellent, a line I first heard from the Reverend Jesse Jackson at a high-school assembly. Since then, Ive Scotch-taped dozens of other one-liners to my mirrors and wallsfrom poet Alexander Popes Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed to my favorite quotation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: Everyone has the power for greatness, not for fame, but greatness, because greatness is determined by service. Over the years, as Ive taken on new challenges, Ive used these words as a guiding principle.

I created a magazine because I wanted you to be as transformed as Ive been by the written wordto live a life thats as meaningful, vibrant, intentional, and, yes, even as pleasurable as it can possibly be. This book holds some of my favorite words of wisdom, which Ive gathered over the last decade. In these pages, youll find a treasure trove of advice, humor, motivation, and encouragementgems of truth on subjects ranging from dreaming big and aging brilliantly to strengthening your connections with loved ones, nurturing your spiritual self, and blowing the lid off whatever box youre stuck in. Yes, my editors and I have included some of the most thought-provoking quotations. For example, this one from British novelist Jeanette Winterson: There is no discovery without riskand what you risk reveals what you value. But weve also sprinkled in plenty of frivolity and fun, like Bette Midlers Were all divine, but I was the only one who had the nerve to call myself that. And I thought of it first. So there!

I hope this little volume will become a staple that resides on your nightstand or that you throw in your tote to inspire you wherever you go. When you catch yourself dreaming too small, battling discouragement, lacking joy, or sliding off balance, crack it open. Heres 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. I love the way Ralph Waldo Emerson once put it: We become what we think about all day long.

Everything you and I experiencebe it a valley or a victory, a crisis or a Kilimanjaro momentcontains a seed of grace, a lesson for the journey ahead. As you courageously navigate your own path, consider the purchase of this little book of life lessons a gift to yourself, a gathering of some delightful ahas and lightbulb moments that others have been gracious enough to pass on. Savor them. Share them. And whenever you need a pick-me-up or a bolt of inspiration, return to them.

As long as we dare to dream and dont get in the way of ourselves, anything is possibletheres truly no end to where our dreams can take us.

Hilary Swank, actress

Be daring, be different, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers

Cecil Beaton, photographer

Years ago I was in the parking lot across the street from Spago, I could see the stars with their Oscars going into the after party. I said to myself, I want to do that one dayAfter I got the Oscar and walked offstage, I said to Kevin [Kline], Did that just happen? It felt like I fell asleep in the mail room and I was going to wake up and find out it was all a dream.

Denzel Washington, actor

My mother and father were poor, and when I turned pro, I started making moneyI wasnt thinking of being the greatest. But I knew I had a chance. And when I won at the Olympics, that sealed it: I was the champ.

Muhammad Ali, former heavyweight champion boxer

Nothing really worth having is easy to get. The hard-fought battles, the goals won with sacrifice, are the ones that matter.

Aisha Tyler, actress and comedian

Fortune helps those who dare.

Virgil, poet

Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last you create what you will.

George Bernard Shaw, playwright

I fear only God. I dont fear any human. When you have that kind of spirit, you can just do what you have to do. Let it roll.

Stevie Wonder, singer

My lifeis about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing whats going to happen next.

Gilda Radner, actress

If you can allow yourself to breathe into the depth, wonder, beauty, craziness, and strifeeverything that represents the fullness of your lifeyou can live fearlessly. Because you come to realize that if you just keep breathing, you cannot be conquered.

Oprah

One night a seventy-year-old woman came up to me after the show [ The Color Purple on Broadway] and told me shed also been a single mother who had dropped out of school, and now shes taking nursing classes. She said, You inspired me. You cant tell me that dreams dont come true. My life is proof that they do.

Fantasia Barrino, American Idol winner

Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or howWe guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark.

Agnes de Mille, dancer

Adventure comes with no guarantees or promises. Risk and reward are conjoined twinsand thats why my favorite piece of advice needs translation but no disclaimers: Fortes fortuna javat . Fortune favors the brave, the ancient Roman dramatist Terence declared. In other words, there are many good reasons not to toss your life up in the air and see where it lands. Just dont let fear be one of them.

Mary South, author

I come from a family whose belief was, You can do it, but you have to work really hard.

Condoleeza Rice, former U.S. secretary of state

There are so many talented actors who dont ever get the chanceI go down on my knees in extreme gratitude. I dont take it for granted. I know all these actors who are probably more talented than I am. Ive taken the chance and done my best with it.

Charlize Theron, actress

Failure is a signpost to turn you in another direction.

Oprah

The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they cant find them, make them.

George Bernard Shaw, playwright

You can do anything you want to do. What is rare is this actual wanting to do a certain thing: wanting it so much that you are practically blind to other things, that nothing else will satisfy youI know I have said a lot when I say, You can do anything you want to do. But I mean itBlunder ahead with your personal viewThe real work of art is the result of a magnificent struggle.

Robert Henri, painter

What I know for sure is that no matter where you stand right nowon a hilltop, in a gutter, at a crossroads, in a rutyou need to give yourself the best you have to offer in this moment. This is it. Rather than depleting yourself with judgments about what you havent done, who you could have become, why you havent moved faster, or what you should have changed, redirect that energy toward the next big pushthe one that takes you from enough to better. The one that takes you from adequate to extraordinary. The one that helps you rise up from a low moment and reach for your personal best.

Oprah

Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them.

John Updike, author

In action lies wisdom and confidence.

Albert Schweitzer, theologian

To be fully human isto know that its possible to face the unimaginable and somehow put one foot in front of the other.