Iyanla Vanzant Quotes

One of my mantras is, 'Embrace what makes you unique, even if it makes others uncomfortable.' I keep that with me in my back pocket. Shoot, I keep it in my front pocket! I keep it in my hair.

As a young child, being different is isolating, and as a teenager it's humiliating. I wish I had been able to stand out with more confidence when I was a child, and especially when I was a teenager. I was different, but it wasn't always a conscious choice, and it often made me miserable. But I'm all grown up now, and so are you. Today, difference is your strength, your power, and your trademark. It's your signature. It can still be difficult to be different--sometimes even harder than it used to be. Even so, it's time to embrace being yourself. It's time to be authentic.

We might all be so afraid to be who we are, but in the end, it's really you're individual, unique qualities that make you attractive to people.

We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be.

It doesn't matter if people perceive me as being a little strange. I think overall, even when I am on stage, when people see me, I am setting an example.

Living courageously in your uniqueness is really important: just being completely yourself. I know that sounds really cliche, but just do what you want to do.

When I came into this industry, I was never afraid to be myself.

Kids used to tell me I was weird all the time. When I got older, I wanted to embrace my name and I put it on everything. And I also wanted to embrace being weird.

As you get older, whatever your struggles may be - how you sound, how you look, how you dress - you grow into yourself a little bit more. You end up realizing the world wants you and not a carbon copy of six other people.

Too many girls try to imitate others and don't think about what makes them unique. The best part of a girl is what makes her who she is as an individual.

Everybody has that thing about them that makes them special, and sometimes we try to dull it down or we don't always want to expose it, and maybe we've been taught that way or whatever. It's just a matter of letting it out and letting it go and letting people in on it.

Only recently have I realized that being different is not something you want to hide or squelch or suppress.

I definitely stuck out like a sore thumb. I came to the conclusion - I had to at such a young age - if no one was going to be like me, then I just have to own it. If I can't be like everyone else, then I might as well just own who I am.

Conforming is not cool. Embracing who you are and what makes you different is actually what’s really cool.

Women were afraid of me, they were scared to death. But I always say be yourself, if you're funny then let your sense of humor go there. I mean there's no sense hiding what you feel.

There are lots of people I admire and respect, but I don't necessarily want to be like them. I'm too happy being myself.

Hotness is uniqueness and just being yourself - that's hot.

At first, I was scared to show fear because you can never be sure how people will perceive you. But I dared myself to do that, to stand out. Now I'll talk about being beaten up or robbed or making a stupid decision because of a girl or whatever.

What I'd like to get across is try your best to be yourself. I realize there are those who are much further along than you are; there are stars, but learn to be who you are and to play yourself. Be confident in that fact.

Be yourself, let you come through.

Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.

I'm just myself, so I don't know that I think of myself as a nerd icon.

I'm just who I am. I don't try to change myself for other people.

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.

Sometimes you feel awkward being what you're best at, you feel like you have to be something new.