All Quotes

"My passion kept me going, but sometimes passion does not pay the bills."

"I had to understand that my mistakes don't define me and that I had a life to live and dreams to fulfil."

"Rise up from the place of guilt and feeling sorry for yourself and run to your destiny."

"A child is a gift from God regardless of how it was concieved. God does not make mistakes."

"Love is eternal. People have been hurt and disappointed and because of that, have stopped believing in the existence of love. You find love from God. Learn to love yourself. Only then can you love someone else."

"I believe that love should be the foundation of every marriage and not money or anything materialistic."

"Everything happens twice, the first time in your mind and then in reality."

"I’m a test-tube baby"

"I’ve always wanted to be a doctor. Maybe because of the fact that I was a test-tube baby, maybe because of the fact that my parents were very passionate about health"

"The thing I will always remember from this experience is the different cultures I got to experience. We ate Thai food every night in [Maeya Nonthawan Thongleng] Miss Thailand’s room. The US is very popular for their sweets, so Miss USA [Elizabeth Safrit] brought a lot of sweets for us to try… Miss Australia [Courtney Thorpe] was probably my best friend – people actually said that we look alike. It’s so funny because she’s amazing at doing make-up and I was good at doing hair so we helped each other for the final"

"It was a childhood dream that came true and as big an honor as it is, it is still a responsibility…But it’s also not the destination; it’s the beginning of a new journey"

"If you look at beauty, it fades. What we are working on is a legacy that will last beyond our lives. If you really look at what Miss World has achieved in raising millions of dollars for charities, you’ll see that we’re making a big difference in people’s lives."

"I actually do my own hair and make-up which comes in handy because I don’t always have someone. I have someone who helps with styling, Werner Wessels, and he’s been helping me [from] before I became Miss South Africa. My style is kind of the way you tell a story without people being able to speak to you. My style icon is Princess Kate Middleton"

"It’s part of who I am, part of what I want to be. I want to be able to practice and I also want to start a business that focuses on women’s health…I like the holistic approach to women’s health and my health because I believe that your mind and body are interlinked and connected so if you look after you mind you automatically look after your body, also vice versa"

"In life, you get a lot of platforms to do good, to reach for your dreams and have a positive influence on other people’s lives as well. Whether it’s through education, being a doctor, or others have the platform of being good at sports. That way, I’ve received the platform of Miss World and I’m going to use it to do good"

"We chose each other and chose to trust one another, to be gentle, and to put in the hard work"

"We had to learn how to live in the present, and decided to embrace every season and moment"

"We tried to not overthink the goodbyes, but rather saw them as an opportunity for the heart to grow fonder again"

"The biggest lesson I learnt from being raised in a small town is that you might not have all the opportunities there, but when you do get one, you should grab it with both hands"

"It was all about what you look like, whereas pageants and Miss South Africa was more holistic. It’s about using your unique skills and talents to really make a difference"

"True beauty lies in how you affect other people"

"I did my master’s in philosophy and studied leadership coaching to develop a model for women who struggle with their self-confidence. I use this model in a lot of the keynote talks, workshops and seminars I do, and in the business talks I give with my husband"

"I believe that very often, we turn to people to crown us with a title – ‘you’re good enough’ or ‘you’re pretty enough’ – and we always wait for someone else to put that crown on our heads"

"It’s about becoming the queen of your life, instead of trying to be the queen for everyone else and fit into their boxes."

"They brought me back to enjoying every moment, seeing its beauty and embracing everything as an adventure"

"They just tore all the unnecessary details away from life. They got to the core of building a heart-to-heart connection and being there for one another. They ground me in who I am"

"It’s a long road that we’ve gone down, but it’s not over. There’s a division in America today, and it’s time for a reconciliation."

"We struggled through our obstacles, stood up after difficult times and gave hope to so many countries where equality is a struggle. This shows us that we are capable of great things and we are resilient"

"The fact [is] that we as humans don’t realise how much potential we have to do good, give and make things right. How amazing would it be if we all realised our potential"

"I am the University of the Free State’s first successful test tube baby. One of the greatest gifts anyone can receive is the gift of a healthy life. With my passion for giving, people and health, I will be able to contribute to one of the most important things any country desires: health for all"

"I was proud to see how a South African story was told by South Africans on our very own soil and also from our own voice. We did not have to bring an international start for this, we went with our talent which is phenomenal."

"I think university catches you at a very specific time in your life where you, yourself, are trying to figure out yourself."

"There will be points where the work will not be magnificent and there will be moments when it comes back to itself again."

"You don’t have to create something new. Just be in a conversation and then something new will arise."

"Thank God for the wonderful gift of our country. Let us thank him for guiding us with kindness and wisdom through the various events in our national history. He helped to preserve the unity of the nation against attempts to balkanization. We need to move beyond all darkness of personal and social evil, which we have become too accustomed to ...It is a constant battle against all manner of injustice and oppression, especially corruption."

"Eletto was a young men who found life's meaning in Jesus, a life given up like Jesus. I would like to see not only the monument on the banks of Lake Bracciano but also a monument in our hearts so that in our different vocations we are able to imitate him in his total trust in Christ without reserve. Here and here only lies the future of the Church in Italy, in Europe and in the rest of the world."

"Dark skies cannot be overlooked in the environmental movement—or in any effort to create a better world for future generations. There is a unique unity that comes from living under one dark sky."

"Our book is different from other guidebooks in that it isn't a guidebook for a place. It's a resource book on how to travel. For example, we've got ideas for what to do while waiting for the bus.**]"

"Susan Shaw’s story is one of the saddest in British film. She rose from a working-class South London background to become one of the most popular and beautiful British actresses of the 1940s and 50s, but the misery of the last twenty years of her life made her death a merciful release."

"Life is a choice"

"I was a miserable newly wed and often pondered about where I should be travelling to, wondering what I was doing on a farm. I decided to burn my diaries of my time as Miss World, because I did not want to live in the past anymore"

"One of my fondest memories was in Austria. I was called out to the balcony of the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. The full moon shone over the trees in the vast garden and a white carriage appeared. Ballerinas stepped out of the carriage and performed a magnificent ballet in the garden"

"What really brought me down to earth, was when I lost my first child"

"I remember sewing nighties for them when they were small and later washing and drying the army uniforms when the boys came home for the weekend. I still see myself hanging those uniforms over heaters to dry"

"It was incredibly stressful, because I was always terrified that I would forget what I wanted to say"

"I am a gatherer. If I like someone, I invite them to my home"

"Life has changed enormously over the past 11 years. There are times when we get depressed. We have to just come to terms with it"

"There was a collision on the field resulting in his horse stumbling and then falling on top of him. Nicholas sustained a brain stem injury and while he can hear and understand everything and his brain is fully functional, communication is difficult"

"My father is a preacher and my brother is a pastor, so, Christian faith has been in the oxygen**]"

"Take the time to develop and study the craft – go to school. Take it seriously as a profession and honour your talent the same way you would if you wanted to become a doctor or a lawyer."