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The Best Nuggets of Wisdom From Oprah’s InStyle Interview

Oprah Winfrey on the cover of InStyle.

Earlier this month, Oprah Winfrey gave a remarkable speech when accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes. In fact, the speech was so moving — it underscored the importance of speaking truth to power — that many people were left wondering whether the media mogul was actually considering a run for president. Now, in a powerful new InStyle cover story, Winfrey talks about the Oprah 2020 rumors (“It’s not something that interests me,” she said) — and gives us even more inspiration. Here, some of Oprah’s best wisdom from the interview.

On managing the onslaught of upsetting news:

“I have taken a step back and a couple of notches down. I don’t get up and turn on the TV first thing in the morning. I spend quiet time. I try to center myself, and I’m conscious of what I allow in because there’s so much all day long.”

On social-media politics:

“I try not to lean into the hysteria. I’ve heard a lot of Twitter chatter where people have said, ‘Where are you? You should be speaking up on these things!’ But it makes no sense to speak when you cannot be heard. One hundred and forty characters — that is not how you want to make your mark in the world.”

On seeing a person’s character:

“What makes me angriest is the lack of discernment. Maya [Angelou] used to say to me, ‘When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.’ She said, ‘Babe, your problem is you have to be shown 29 times.’ So, I see a lot of people who have to be shown 29 times, who have a lack of discernment for things that appear to be obvious. Character is very much a defining matter in everything that you do. To be able to say because you behaved a certain way doesn’t [reflect] who you really are, that’s just wrong.”

On optimism:

“In terms of optimism within our own country, I think what’s exciting is this moment in our political history, in our social engagement. It’s really opened a lot of people to the fact that they have a voice, and it’s gotten people involved in ways that they never would’ve been before.”

On pasta:

“If scientists can find a way to make pasta a zero-point thing [on Weight Watchers], that would be heaven on earth for me, but that’s not going to happen.”

On loss:

“I always tell people when somebody who’s loved you on earth is gone, it’s natural to grieve. But you can also leave just a little clearing for the spirit of them to abide with the spirit of you, to give you strength.”

Check out the full interview here.

The Best Nuggets of Wisdom From Oprah’s InStyle Interview