Screw being a singer! I wanna be the voice of my generation with my talk show.

I want to be like the athletes who seem stuck in time. When you see them at 50, you say they probably can still run like a champ.

A smart model is a good model.

I’ve wanted to adopt since I was eight, nine years old. I really do think I will.

Don’t make excuses – make improvements!

When I’m coming offstage after my show, I’m thinking about what’s on my TiVo.

I’m not ugly, but my beauty is a total creation.

I’ve been singing for six years. I’ve been in and out of the studios with top producers, but it wasn’t something I was ready to express to the public or to the press. I wasn’t ready to come out. I wanted to perfect my voice and be 100 percent positive that I could come out right.

I look at myself and pick out the things I don’t like. No matter how much I work out, I never get muscle tone in my butt and hip area.

Modeling chose me, I didn’t choose modeling.

Being first lady is not just about being the wife but really taking command and having true vision.

I’m not afraid of wanting money at all. Money will give me more power to do things that are truer to my spirit than what I’m already doing.

When I was not connected with someone, I didn’t get asked out that often.

I’m not led by money, because if that’s the case, I can throw my name on everything and have a million-dollar company.

Black women don’t have the same body image problems as white women. They are proud of their bodies.

[You] have what it takes to be a victorious, independent, fearless woman.

I would love for models to be protected by a guild.

I don’t want to use the term ‘plus-size,’ because, to me, what the hell is that? It just doesn’t have a positive connotation to it. I tend to not use it.

I created ‘America’s Next Top Model‘ one-hundred percent. I was in my kitchen making tea one morning, and I looked out the window, and the idea popped into my head. I wanted it to be ‘American Idol‘ meets ‘Ford Supermodel of the Year’ meets ‘The Real World.’

There have been top supermodels in the past that weren’t as tall as the industry demands, like fashion icon Kate Moss.

Sometimes I’ll use four or five different photo apps on one photo just to get it where I want it to be.

One of the big, most underlying messages for me is celebrating beauty that is not typical.

I know some women are intimidated by makeup.

It is important for women to feel beautiful when she looks in the mirror, and I tell women, ‘If you don’t feel beautiful, find one thing that you can look in that mirror and say, ‘That is beautiful.’

The future is in photos for social media. More and more people are not reading, so I try to attach a photo to most Tweets.

I’m trying to build a strong business. I want to create new stars, new shows and new products for my audience and create a legacy that outlives me. There are so many other ways I want to reach women besides doing a talk show.

Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner have the exact same eyes.

I used to have this joke: ‘Every hallway is a runway.’

I don’t have the best self esteem; mine wavers month to month, but I know how to pick myself up.

The runway symbolizes something in society that’s very intimidating to women.

Smiles come naturally to me, but I started thinking of them as an art form at my command. I studied all the time. I looked at magazines, I’d practice in front of the mirror and I’d ask photographers about the best angles. I can now pull out a smile at will.

Kate Upton is curvy and nervy.

My aunt used to call me light bulb head because my head is small at the bottom and bigger at the top. But it was a term of endearment.

Dab – don’t rub – cream formulas onto your skin. Rubbing washes out the color, so do that only if you’ve put on too much.

When I went to Paris after graduating high school, I saw a model who was 12 years old without any supervision. That wouldn’t happen in the acting world.

I know the pain of somebody who’s too thin and the pain of somebody that people say is too big.

Black women have always been these vixens, these animalistic erotic women. Why can’t we just be the sexy American girl next door?

I love being able to go to a store, let’s say… a store like Topshop or Zara or maybe even Macy’s, depends on what department, and not have to look at the price tag.

I’ve always seen modeling as a stepping stone.

I don’t like expensive things… I just can’t help looking in a magazine for the splurge and the save.

I didn’t have a job because nobody would hire me. My friends were getting hired, and I couldn’t even get a job interview. That really rocked my self-esteem because I didn’t understand what I did wrong on those job applications.

I wanted to be a film and television writer and producer.

I made my living being 20 or 30 pounds heavier than the average model. And that’s where I got famous.

I used to really panic about finals. I didn’t understand the concept of how you could have one test that encompasses the entire semester.

I am learning how to delegate and how to empower people.

I think one of the biggest things that affects young women is when they hear their mothers using fat talk.

Not wearing make-up? I can do it, and don’t think twice.

I love daytime television.

Global warming will threaten our crops, so natural food will be scarce. Hourglass, curvy bodies will be the aspirational beauty standard, representing that those women have access to bounties of fulfilling yet healthy food, which means they are affluent.

Moms, you are the first and most influential role model in your girl’s life. Use that power.

I grew up wearing a uniform to school, and now I have my stylist come to my apartment and create outfits for me to wear. Otherwise, I’d never get dressed.

With ‘America’s Next Top Model,’ I’ve always cast girls who the industry might call ‘plus size‘ but I like to call ‘fiercely real.’ That was always important to me.

I feel more comfortable when I’m lighter – I sleep better, I snore less, I have more endurance when I work out, my arms look better.

I’ve made mistakes before of doing different projects just based on my dreams, my hopes, my thing, and not really thinking about my customers.

I don’t think me walking away from modeling was scary for me. In hindsight, I think it was very risky, when you talk about risk. Because it paid the bills.

I think every woman would want to do something about their cellulite!

I don’t know how to be sexy on a date. Put up a camera and a wind machine, and I’ll give you sexy. Put me at a dinner table with some candlelight and the moon shining in and, oh, I will give you dork.

It’s so important to understand your good attendance ups your chances of graduating.

Don’t contour with blush – that’s so eighties. It was an amazing trend then, but it’s not hot now. Instead, go for a neutral contour color that’s one or two shades deeper than your skin tone.

I’m obsessed by Instagram.

I know I’m an overachiever, and I’m not apologetic about it.

I’m frugal. I’ve always been this way. When I was young, my mom would give me my allowance, and I’d peel off a little each week and have some to spare.

On ‘America’s Top Model,’ I’ve always told my girls to smile with their eyes. We call it ‘smizing.’ Over the years, it’s actually become part of pop culture. I would be walking down the street, and girls would say, ‘Smize!’

I don’t think cellulite is great – that’s not a flaw that I want in a photo by any means! I retouch that crap out. But I tell women that I’m retouching it out.

It’s not like I want to hop on a bandwagon, because I said it 15 years ago – bringing a child into your life who is not genetically yours is one of the most beautiful things you can do. But I’m also interested in having my own baby, too.

I used to love writing in my journal.

Keep in mind that we should always thank those who hurt us, especially those who did so bad we are forced to transform. They risk the eternal verdict of going to hell just to make us better than who we are.

I don’t have to have a child come from my womb to have a connection. Children that are already born are beautiful to me. I can definitely be a mother to them.

I have a long list of different smiles that you can do, and every model should be equipped. Everybody can’t handle the long list… That’s for, you know, advanced.

I think I’m too young to be a mogul. I think I’m too young for that.

Self-love has very little to do with how you feel about your outer self. It’s about accepting all of yourself.

Who would have thought that the girl who was forced to go to the hospital because she’s so skinny would one day be called too fat?

I think of dystopian as ‘Mad Max,’ as ‘Book of Eli,’ as the world is ending.

I don’t believe in diets.

Believe it or not, I don’t wake up looking like a supermodel.

I think the rise of Asian models is an absolutely beautiful thing.

I’m not sure exactly how gossiping about my life with my audience really helps them.

There is 3 key things for good photography: the camera,lighting and… Photoshop

Whenever someone says I’m the next Oprah, I always respond, ‘Child, there’s only one Mahogany, and only one Oprah.’ There are no others.

I used to want to write commercials as a kid.

I am intimidated by that eyeliner in a pot. You have to take a brush and wet it and then dip it in and get it straight. It’s just a mess.

I think we should be unapologetic that we excel – and look beautiful while doing it.

I love the confidence that makeup gives me.

I always had a passion to write as a young girl.

I have scars on the backs of my arms from dressers in Paris scraping me with pins as I was taking a shirt or gown off.

Designers are very fickle. I never wanted to be a victim of that. You’re in one minute, out the next.

The president of Victoria‘s Secret promised me a lifetime supply of Victoria’s Secret products, even after I decided to leave the company. But once I left, he only let me have it for a year. So I have a bone to pick.

If you can think psychographically and not demographically, you can really target a lot more audiences.

I’ve made millions of dollars with the body I have, so where’s the pain in that?

I am a businesswoman who goes to work every single day.

Blue and green eyes will be so common that dark brown will become the rare and newly desired eye color.

I get so much mail from young women saying that they are so insecure when they look at me, but they don’t realize all of the flaws that I have.

I’m all about zagging when everyone else is zigging.

Even when I was a teen model, I didn’t think it was fair that I had to enter the acting world to get insurance.

Just because you don’t know if other people are experiencing the same thing as you are, it doesn’t mean that it’s not happening. Everybody doesn’t necessarily share everything. Just know that what you’re going through, other people are going through it, too.

Perfect is boring, human is beautiful

You’ve got to learn to accept the fool in you as well as the part that’s got it goin’ on.

The fire to inspire women and help them to blaze new paths fiercely burns inside of me.

A smile is the most important thing you wear.

I love all kinds of bread. Whenever I crave junk food, I want salty things like peanuts or potato chips.

I would not recommend a teen getting into modeling if they’re not solid when it comes to their grades and school. That comes first. My mother always told me that came first.

I loved planning ‘The Tyra Show’ more than actually having to do it. I loved coming up with show ideas, honing each program and crafting it. I’m more excited being in a meeting than being on TV.

I do consider myself a feminist, yeah. Totally.

When I think about moguls, I think like Donald Trump who… owns NYC practically. That’s a mogul. I feel like I’m on my way to a lot more, but mogul is a really serious thing. I think it’s a word that gets thrown around easily.

My most difficult class at Harvard Business School would have to be finance.

I’m competitive with myself. I always try to push past my own borders.

Stop saying these negative things about yourself. Look in the mirror and find something about yourself that’s positive and celebrate that!

Years ago, when I first started wearing hair extensions, I would get mail from young girls, or young girls would come up to me and they would say, ‘Tyra you have the most beautiful hair, like I could never grow hair like that!’ And I would say ‘Child, this is a weave!’

I have worn fake hair since I was 17 years old.

If I tried to start modeling right now, I wouldn’t be a supermodel because it’s all about celebrity.

I love Boston; it’s like Paris.

What keeps me up at night? Sometimes it’s day-to-day work stuff. And a lot of the times, it’s, ‘Am I making the wrong decisions in terms of reaching young women?’

Love every part of yourself. Even the things that frustrate you. They make you who you are!

I talked about adopting a baby when I was 20 years old, before it became ‘hip.’

I would love to do Rihanna‘s makeup. I love her cupid‘s bow!

Don’t chase the money… chase the passion. Because that’s what is going to keep you happy and motivated and jumping out of that bed Monday morning.

Journalists told me that a talk show wouldn’t work. Some told me I was going to get canceled before my first season was up.

I haven‘t seen the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre. I haven’t seen anything. I don’t really care.

Take responsiblilty for yourself because no one’s going to take responsibility for you.

I tend to hang out with my friends in Los Angeles from high school. We know each other from back in the day. They still see me as just dumb Tyra. We have a strong bond.

I’m a lover of fashion websites.

I did an episode on my talk show on cellulite, and I brought seven women into a dressing room at Nordstrom‘s in L.A., and we all sat and talked about our cellulite.

Because beauty will be so readily accessible, and skin color and features will be similar, prejudices based on physical features will be nearly eradicated. Prejudice will be socioeconomically based.

The one thing I like about being a celebrity more than anything is being able to get into any restaurant I want.

I look up to Walt Disney and what he has done.

What I don’t like to see is when models of different races come in and out of fashion.

I think people are way less judgmental about chunky guys.

With the whole supermodel thing, even when you’re not really modeling anymore, people still call me that. And I’m like ‘… retired.’

You can have all the potential in world, but unless you have confidence, you have nothing.

I really want to leave something behind that means something when I’m no longer here.

I just think, as a model, it’s taught me to be a master of deception and illusion.

There’s no excuse for rudeness.

I was embarrassed when a businessman friend asked, ‘What’s the yearly budget of your talk show? What’s the per-episode budget?’ And I looked at him with these blank, typical-model eyes and said, ‘I don’t know.’ I call myself a businesswoman, and I don’t know that?

One thing my mom used to tell me was to look to the other side, and know that my present is not going to be everything. So if I’m having a bad day, she goes, ‘Just imagine tomorrow. This is going to be over. This is going to be done with.’

I don’t wake up with naturally sculpted cheekbones – I paint them on!

When I was a young girl, I lost a lot of weight over one summer – involuntarily – and was just really depressed and sad. There was nothing I could do to gain weight. I would look in the mirror and call myself disgusting every day.

Working women, moms, students, they don’t have a lot of time to spend on their faces.

We are often told we can’t have brains and beauty, and I really hope that my message is that you can put on that red lip and curl your hair and put on that power dress – you don’t have to sacrifice one for the other.

Pledge that you will look in the mirror and find the unique beauty in you.

I’m very human.

I am protective of my own personal life, but I must confess that I enjoy watching people that don’t mind telling it all.

I enjoy doing fashion shows and transforming myself into different looks for photo shoots.

It’s kind of embarrassing, but in my early 20s, I used to want to be a princess. But I didn’t want to have to marry somebody in order to do it!

I don’t think I’ll always be on television.

I’m not in a position to tell heavy people anything.

‘America’s Next Top Model’ is not a bunch of Barbies – it’s a lot of girls that are atypically beautiful.

From offstage until the moment I walk onstage, I constantly tweak my talk show and ‘Top Model’, but at the same time, I often leave my private life by the wayside.

I was backstage in Paris and saw Cindy Crawford doing House Of Style. I thought, I would love to to be in control of my career.

On ‘America’s Next Top Model,’ I mentor girls on television. When that TV goes off, I actually mentor other girls in the modeling industry – girls that have not been on ‘Top Model,’ but who appear in ‘Vogue‘ worldwide.

Models now need to promote themselves, think like businesswomen and diversify their careers by doing other things. Chances are very slim that a mere model will become a household name today.