More from Oprah Winfrey

Honor your calling. Don't worry about how successful you will be. Focus on how significant you can be in service, and the success will take care of itself.

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Oprah Winfrey

Howard University Commencement 2007, 2007

12:30

Video starts at 12:30 — the moment this quote was spoken

The Story Behind This Quote

At the heart of Winfrey's speech was her insistence that every person has a calling — a reason for being that is greater than any degree, any paycheck, or anything anyone else can prescribe. She told the Howard graduates that their real job was to discover what that calling is and get about the business of doing it. The calling isn't something that can be taught or told; it's felt. 'It is the thing that gives you juice,' she said. Winfrey connected this to her own journey, from being a young woman whose father couldn't imagine her earning more than $25,000 a year, to building a media empire — not by chasing success directly, but by following what felt right and serving others along the way.

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