Quotes from Ashley Graham

When you're given an 'SI' cover, and you take advantage of it, you can conquer the world. Look at Chrissy Teigen. Look at Tyra Banks. Look at Kathy Ireland.

To some, I'm too curvy. To others, I'm too tall, too busty, too loud, and, now, too small - too much, but at the same time not enough.

I dated all the wrong men. I thought I could feel appreciated in my body through guys.

I started dating at 16.

I'm a woman of faith. And I really believe that if I say, 'God, this is what I want,' He says, 'I'll give you your desires, as long as they line up with My will.'

I felt free, once I realized i was never going to fit the narrow mold that society wanted me to fit in.

I put myself out there, trying to prove that beauty is beyond size. It was risky, sure, but what I risked in terms of personal pride was nothing in comparison to what I was rewarded in terms of personal fulfillment.

The beauty of being a curvier girl is that we're all shaped so differently.

Growing up, I had my mom to look up to; J. Lo and Marilyn Monroe were notable curvy women. But I didn't have anyone with cellulite or back fat telling me they didn't care.

To not see black or Latina women as famous in my industry is crazy! I have to talk about it.

I was called the girl that was 'pretty for a big girl,' 'the fat model.'

Does any woman really just come in and say, 'I'm a plus-size woman?' Maybe as a defense mechanism or maybe as a way to kind of cope with fitting into society but... I just think it's divisive.

Curvy girls can pull off any look - it's what we do.

People will run up to me with tears in their eyes and say, 'You're Ashley Graham?' and I match their enthusiasm and respond, 'Yes, I am!' and all they say is, 'Thank you so much.'

College basketball was one of the hardest, most rewarding experiences of my life. Every single day on the court was a mental and physical challenge.

Basketball, and the people I have met through the game have far and away had the largest impact on my life. Almost every positive role model I have ever had was a coach, mentor, or teammate.

Basketball really is a metaphor for life - the intangible skills I have learned on the court, have helped shape the person I am today.

I had so many agents tell me that at size 18, I would never work or work again. I heard, 'Go home and lose some weight.'

As women gain weight, they start judging themselves. But who cares! Embrace what you have. Say, 'Belly, you might be poking out today, but I'm going to choose to love you and nurture you.'

As hard as it is, owning who you are and knowing what you want is the only sure path to affirmation... I want women to know they can get out of any situation if they return to their core source of strength: themselves.

I'm a confident woman with thick skin, and as a model in the public eye, I'm conditioned to accept criticism.

People called me 'cottage cheese thighs' all through school.

I think women think I'm inspirational because I'm unapologetic. I have cellulite. I have back fat. I've got a thick stomach. But I work my body like I don't because I don't know any other body. I don't know how to feel thin. I just know how to feel like Ashley.

Too fat, too thin, too loud, too quiet - I was never going to fit the standards others created for me. Instead of complying, I protested.