Circumstances are beyond human control, but our conduct is in our own power.

You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.

I will far rather see the race of man extinct than that we should become less than beasts by making the noblest of God’s creation, woman, the object of our lust.

Well the protester I think is a very powerful thing. It’s basically a mechanism of democracy that, along with capitalism, scientific innovation, those things have built the modern world. And it’s wonderful that the new tools have empowered that protestor so that state secrets, bad developments are not hidden anymore.

‚Born this Way‘ is about being yourself, and loving who you are and being proud.

As far as a glass ceiling, I feel that all you can do is give it your absolute best with whatever gifts the universe has given you. And if you make it in some way that other people can recognize, that’s fine. But even if you don’t quote-unquote make it, you’re fine if you’ve given it your whole heart and soul.

If you’re going to change things, you have to be with the people who hold the levers.

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.

If you deserve it, go get it.

Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.

Most people who ask for advice from others have already resolved to act as it pleases them.

Character is power.

A man is as good as he has to be, and a woman as bad as she dares.

Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it.

What did I owe the rest of the world? Nothing.

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.

Do not give in too much to feelings. A overly sensitive heart is an unhappy possession on this shaky earth.

We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves.

I just use fashion as an excuse to talk about politics. Because I’m a fashion designer, it gives me a voice, which is really good.

In my work and in myself I reflect black people, women and men, as I reflect others. One day even the most self-protective ones will look into the mirror I provide and not be afraid.

You don’t have to fear defeat if you believe it may reveal powers that you didn’t know you possessed.

Contraceptive protection is something every woman must have access to, to control her own destiny.

Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.

How one life turns out is not dependent on what people do to us or what they don’t do for us.

I don’t believe in collective guilt, but I do believe in collective responsibility.

Man is the most intelligent of the animals – and the most silly.

Growing up, I decided, a long time ago, I wouldn’t accept any manmade differences between human beings, differences made at somebody else’s insistence or someone else’s whim or convenience.

Agency is a divine gift to you. You are free to choose what you will be and what you will do.

It was really hard for them to intimidate me. They felt I was intimidating. One of the growers had a name for me: I think it was ‚dragon lady‘ or something like it.

You don’t need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are!

I find with most of my readers are kind of like me, sort of people who were a little bit naive in life and then learned the hard way that this is what’s going on, the political games and most of my readers write to me telling me that the book helped them open their eyes to what other people are doing to them.

You may make some mistakes – but that doesn’t make you a sinner. You’ve got the very nature of God on the inside of you.

Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.

I don’t want to be fake. I’m just being me. And I have the power to break stereotypes and whatever useless rules that society puts on us.

My mother was very strong. Once, she picked up a coconut and smashed it against my father’s head. It taught me about women defending themselves and not collapsing in a heap.

Because my dad abused me, I was determined to never let a man tell me what to do. God clearly showed me that I needed to be a submissive wife if I wanted to be effective in ministry. The truth is, if we don’t learn to submit to authority, we won’t ever learn to submit to God.

Men govern nothing with more difficulty than their tongues, and can moderate their desires more than their words.

Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny.

The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.

We are taught you must blame your father, your sisters, your brothers, the school, the teachers – but never blame yourself. It’s never your fault. But it’s always your fault, because if you wanted to change you’re the one who has got to change.

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.

You have to develop ways so that you can take up for yourself, and then you take up for someone else. And so sooner or later, you have enough courage to really stand up for the human race and say, ‚I’m a representative.‘

Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement.

Most of us have far more courage than we ever dreamed we possessed.

Boredom is… a vital problem for the moralist, since half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it.

We never repent of having eaten too little.

When people are around us, they should leave better off than they were previously. Rather than feeling discouraged or defeated, people should feel challenged and inspired after spending any time with you and me.

I never smoke to excess – that is, I smoke in moderation, only one cigar at a time.

If I have a platform and a voice, I should use it for my people.

Beauty is not caused. It is.

Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him.

Look at the means which a man employs, consider his motives, observe his pleasures. A man simply cannot conceal himself!

I don’t ever make moves under pressure.

I think it’s so important for girls to love themselves and to treat their bodies respectfully.

He that cannot reason is a fool. He that will not is a bigot. He that dare not is a slave.

What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do.

The fact is that ours is the first generation that can look disease and extreme poverty in the eye, look across the ocean to Africa, and say this, and mean it. We do not have to stand for this. A whole continent written off – we do not have to stand for this.

The sexiest thing that a woman can do, wear, and say all fall under one word to me: subtlety. To be subtle in the things that she does and the things she says and the things she wears – I appreciate the details.

If you see everything from the point of view of women being victims in some way, you don’t see the wood for the trees. It is better to be a person than a woman.

How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.