Quotes from Iyanla Vanzant

My purpose is to teach and demonstrate what is possible. To demonstrate love of God and good. Remember what my role is as a woman: to be... good. My role as a mother: to teach, support and nurture my offspring. My role as a grandmother: to remind everybody - right where you are, God is.

What I am doing; how I am being as I am doing it; and does it bring honor to my community? What is the lesson in what I am doing? And most importantly, am I having fun?

I gave myself permission to feel and experience all of my emotions. In order to do that, I had to stop being afraid to feel. In order to do that, I taught myself to believe that no matter what I felt or what happened when I felt it, I would be okay.

Love people enough to tell them the truth and respect them enough to trust that they can handle it.

The journey into self-love and self-acceptance must begin with self-examination. ... until you take the journey of self-reflection, it is almost impossible to grow or learn in life.

You must be willing to give total unconditional love to everyone, under all circumstances. That means being willing to be totally responsible for what you do and how you do it.

You cannot experience the fullness of your authentic self or life when you live to avoid hurt. You will never know the joy of love or the peaceful satisfaction of being loved if you hide from hurt.

Healing is the application of love to the places inside that hurt.

Know thyself. Accept thyself. Love thyself. No matter what you have done, where you have been, know, accept, and love who you are.

Everyone is always looking for their beloved. Well, why can't you be your own beloved? Fall in love with yourself.

Love is durable. It's like Teflon. ...Trust is like fine china. Secrets destroy trust.

People you don't love can't hurt you.

The beloved is one who nurtures you, trusts you, supports you, encourages you, loves you without conditions. That's you.

Sometimes we pray in our heads and we never get a real opportunity to solidify what it is that we're praying for or what we're praying about. So once you write it down, it's like a flow. It comes out and you solidify the thought or the idea or the request.

You know when I was 20 and 30, they were insecurities. Now they're just a new normal. I'm 60 years old, so my expectations of who I am and how I look and how I show up in the world had to shift. Not because I couldn't help it, or not because I did anything wrong, but because I had to get into the natural flow of my being as a woman.

Beloveds, you are fine, just the way you are! Perfect in your imperfection! You are divine! Growing brighter and more brilliant each day, you can accept the truth of who you are.

Truth is love's mother, and we all know it is not wise to lie to anyone's mother.

I learned that telling the truth was a big part of loving yourself.

If you don't like your sister or don't get along with your father, let's find out if you like yourself. Let's not sugarcoat anything about it.

For most of my life, I believed that my father had broken many of my bones. They were emotional and psychological bones; things no one could see, things that caused me to limp through life clutching for and holding on to people and situations that often rendered me immobile.

Love is the voice of God whispering to you from within yourself.

Love is what you are, not what you give or get!

There are two emotions: love and fear.

Respect you love one enough to know thay can handle your truth