Maria Shriver quotes: the former First Lady of California, journalist, author, and entrepreneur shares words on courage, overcoming fear, success, family, and life.
“My definition of success? Being the kind of woman that I would want to have as a friend.”
“You know those goals you’ve set for yourself, those dreams you’ve been waiting for the perfect time to live out? It’s time!”
“Starting at the bottom is not about humiliation. It’s about humility – a realistic assessment of where you are in the learning curve.”
“It takes time to get to the top, and that’s good – because, by the time you get there, you’ll have learned what you need to know in order to stay there.”
“I’ve learned that asking ourselves not just what we want to be, but who we want to be is important at every stage of our lives, not just when we’re starting out in the world. That’s because, in a way, we’re starting out fresh in the world every single day.”
“You are the leader you’ve been looking for.”
“Your life is like a mosaic, a puzzle. You have to figure out where the pieces go and put them together for yourself.”
“The big thing is that if you don’t try something, you’ll always wonder. What could that have been like? What if… ?”
“Never think that someone else knows what’s best for you. Trust your way and don’t ask for so much advice. Learn how to be quiet and still enough to hear your own voice. It’s up to you: your voice will either be silenced or will get to roar.”
“Have the courage to go beyond your fears. Have the courage to go beyond judgment. Have the courage go beyond shoulda-coulda-woulda. Go beyond others’ rules and expectations. Live and write your own story and then be brave enough to communicate it authentically. Trust me, someone else will be inspired by it and learn from it.”
“Failing is a part of learning.”
“Someone once told me not to be afraid of being afraid, because, as she said, ‘Anxiety is a glimpse of your own daring.’ Isn’t that great? It means that part of your agitation is just excitement about what you’re getting ready to accomplish. Don’t sell yourself short by being so afraid of failure that you don’t dare to make any mistakes. Make your mistakes and learn from them.”
“I think everybody has tragedy in their life. Everybody has hurdles in their life. Everybody has tough things to overcome. My kids say to me, ‘This isn’t fair.’ I said, ‘Life isn’t fair.’ Everybody has their issues. It’s how you handle your issues that distinguishes you.”
“God puts mentors in your path. They may not look like you, sound like you, or be what you expect. But they always know more than you.”
“The love and laughter are what you need most in your life. They’ll fill out all the potholes in the road.”
“Take off your armor; dare to be vulnerable, dare to unwrap yourself, and dare yourself to be yourself.”
“Make time in your life to listen to your own voice. Do not let it get drowned out by others. Your voice is yours and yours alone. Stay in touch with it and use it.”
“As Steve Jobs pointed out, life can either be limiting, safe, and secure or it can be wide open, creative, and sometimes scary.”
“There is peace in being able to sit in the unknown, not knowing how things are going to unfold, and being okay with that.”
“It’s always inspiring to me to meet people who feel that they can make a difference in the world. That’s their motive, that’s their passion. I think that’s what makes your life meaningful, that’s what fills your own heart and that’s what gives you purpose.”
“Be committed to communicating the truth. Don’t get so caught up along the way in what you’re doing and where you’re going that you lose sight of your core values – who you are and what’s important in your life.”
“Perfectionism doesn’t make you feel perfect. It makes you feel inadequate.”
“People think, ‘Oh my goodness! I have to do something really big.’ You don’t. Do what you love. There’s a great quote from a poet I use all the time: ‘Instead of asking what the world needs, ask yourself what you love,’ because what the world needs is more people doing what they love.”
“The most important thing we can tell young people is not to be an imitation of somebody else. That their life is special. They are the creator of their life and their way and find something that they enjoy doing that doesn’t even feel like work. It feels like a passion. And then just by doing that and bringing that to the world, they become architects of change.”
“Pausing allows you to take a beat to take a breath in your life. As everybody else is rushing around like a lunatic out there, I dare you to do the opposite.”
“In this day and age it’s really stupid to be stupid about financial matters. It doesn’t do you any good to make money if you don’t know what to do with it other than spend it.”
“I thought I had to show people that I would get in early, stay late or even all night, work on holidays. I didn’t want to be the rich kid who was along for a free ride.”
“You don’t wanna walk around and say, ‘I’m somebody’s niece, I’m somebody’s cousin, I’m somebody’s daughter. Who are you?’ And I think that’s always the challenge when you grow up in a well-known family, is ultimately, you have to face yourself in the mirror and say, ‘Who are you? What have you done?'”
“Our mothers give us so many gifts. They give us the precious gift of life, of course, but they also leave treasured lessons that can guide us along our journeys even when they are no longer with us.”
“The gift my mother gave me was the gift of possibility. From an early age, she instilled in me a belief that I could do anything I wanted to do. It wasn’t a matter of, ‘Can I?’ or ‘Should I?’ It was just, ‘You can, you must, you will!’ She wanted me to believe that anything was possible.”
“My mom was a competitive, forceful, free spirit… and she changed the world. When my mother created the Special Olympics, she did it for the mothers of children with intellectual disabilities as much as for the athletes themselves. She wanted to create a world in which these mothers had more options and opportunities for the children they loved. Let’s recognize the power of motherhood. Let’s respect what it takes to raise children with self-esteem and a sense of possibility.”
“Having kids – the responsibility of rearing good, kind, ethical, responsible human beings – is the biggest job anyone can embark on.”
“When the world is so complicated, the simple gift of friendship is within all of our hands.”
“Feel your strength and your vulnerability. Acknowledge your goodness, and don’t be afraid of it. Look at your darkness and work to understand it, so you’ll have the power to choose who you’ll be in the world.”
“I pray that you will be able to pause and spend time with yourself to give thanks for the journey that has brought you here. Express your gratitude today to all those who made your journey possible.”
Now read quotes from her ex.
