Meredith Vieira quotes: television queen talks streaking, high-paying jobs, naysayers, chaos, and more.
“Don’t let fear or frustration – or the fact that others around you seem to be all set – immobilize you. But do, from this day forward, open yourself up to possibilities you might never have considered. Step up. Step out of your comfort zone. Consider saying yes even when no feels much safer.”
“All experience is good experience.”
“You will throughout your life have people who will tell you that you’re not good enough. Maybe they’re jealous. Maybe they think you aren’t. Maybe they’ve had a bad day. But ultimately you have to believe in yourself.”
“Do everything to the best of your ability.”
“Only authenticity will keep your head on straight and your feet firmly planted. Don’t strive for somebody else’s notion of perfection. It’s an unattainable and ultimately ridiculous goal. Strive instead to be uniquely yourself and when in doubt listen to your gut, because it already knows what you want to become.”
“Don’t ever lose your enthusiasm. Don’t suddenly become self-conscious. Don’t be that person who puts on a suit and takes off his glasses mid-sentence because he thinks it makes him look smart.”
“Sometimes, the experiences that tell you what you don’t want to do are as important as those that tell you what you do want to do.”
“Life isn’t all that complicated. Things are what they are. Don’t read into everything. Just do your best and try to do no harm.”
“Life is famous for throwing curve balls when you least expect them.”
“When you fall down, and you will, you will dust yourself off and keep going.”
“The only formula is that there is no formula. There is no easy way to get from point A to point B, nor is there any right way.”
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
“Do you think you have what it takes? Then it doesn’t matter what anyone else says. There will always be people putting you down. There will always be people rooting for you to fail.”
“You have to believe in yourself or no one else will. In order to swim you have to drown out the naysayers.”
“You all strive for success and will undoubtably find it. But when you do, you just may discover it has nothing to do with how much money you make, or how big a house you live in, or how prestigious your job might sound to someone else.”
“I wasn’t much of a leader, except for January 1975, I led a group of female students across the campus streaking. Literally. Yeah. It was really cold, I remember that. And at one point, you know, I looked over my shoulder and the only behind I saw was mine. So as I was crouching in the bushes waiting for the campus police to drive by with the high beams on because, you know, got to catch these girls in the act, it struck me that every leader, no matter how small, occasionally will find themselves alone and exposed.”
“Sometimes you get on this high speed train and you never stop to think, ‘Well, where am I going and who am I? What am I really doing?’ That’s when you’re tested at your core.”
“Maybe you don’t know where you’re headed. Maybe you haven’t found your passion.”
“Listen, you don’t know what’s about to hit you. And that’s the great thing about life. How boring would the journey be if you already knew for sure the final destination?”
“As hard as that was and as scary as that was, you’ve got to listen to the voice in your gut. It is individual. It is unique. It is yours. It’s called being authentic. There’s only one of you and maybe you’re not going to follow the path that other people would like to put you on, but that’s okay. You’re going to find the path that’s right for you.”
“I’m not suggesting it’s going to be easy. Your journey forward comes with some built-in stumbling blocks.”
“I learned pretty quickly that the only way to gain respect would be to out-work everyone else, to actually earn what I felt I was entitled to. That ethic has served me well, and I highly recommend it.”
“There is still no substitute for hard work and humility. And if you want to get your foot in the door, it helps to get your fingers off your smartphones, look people in the eye, engage. You want people to actually like you, not just give you ‘likes.’ Ultimately, your future is in the hands of humans, not electronic devices.”
“All of us need to connect, we need to reach out to each other. It is the greatest gift that you can give to anybody and ultimately the most important gift of all.”
“You have a mission. You also have an internal compass in each and every one of you and I would urge you to listen to it. Follow that voice. Someone much smarter than me once said, ‘Don’t go with the flow. You are the flow.'”
“Sh*t happens. People make mistakes. We all do.”
“I am professional. Hardworking. Committed. Loyal. Also, sentimental. But I had changed a little over the years. There was a bit of a heaviness to my soul because of the intensity of my job.”
“[On turning down a big paycheck to stay on Today] I think they thought, ‘She’s not going to leave, it’s too much money’ – which is a real incentive. Then I realized if I’m sticking around for that, there’s something wrong. If you don’t feel like doing the job, especially a job that’s that hard on your life, why keep doing it? I like being well-paid. But that’s never my incentive for jobs.”
“I like a little chaos. I think that’s really true for my inner Buddha. I think I like a little nuts-y. Maybe I can’t take total peace.”
“I like to live in the present. I struggle with that, though, because – even for all of this ‘letting your life flow’ stuff – I also have anxieties.”
“I feel I always have to work harder, I have to impress all the time. Impress whom? With what? People say, ‘Just be yourself.’ Well, my anxiety is that people aren’t going to want that.”
“I guess I define myself as a mother, a wife, kind of a nutty person. A good person.”
“I eat smart – I do think that’s the sort of thing that will eventually show up in the condition of your skin, your hair, and your nails, and your own feeling about yourself.”
“You feel better in the short run when you have a tub of ice cream, but in the long run, you don’t.”
“Honestly, I’m living my fantasy. It’s being with my family, preferably on a snowy afternoon with a fire going, cuddled up in blankets, playing a game.”
“Throughout your life you will have to set your own priorities, make your own decisions. They won’t always be the best or brightest ones. But that’s how you learn. And come to understand who you really are and what matters to you.”
“As you travel through life I hope you leave deep footprints behind, not as a result of all the people you’ve stepped on to get ahead, but rather as a result of all the lives you’ve lifted along the way.”
“Remember to always ask questions. No question is too stupid. You’re not as smart as you think you are. You never will be. There’s always room to learn. Don’t be scared to ask.”
“That’s what life’s about, it’s about learning. Good luck, get out of here, and may you truly live every day of your life.”
