"Fame will only get you so far. At the end of the day if you're not truly passionate about it, you're not going to survive the challenges. There's a lot of sacrifices that come with all the beautiful work you see out there."

"No matter what you do people are still going to talk about you, and if you live according to their opinions, you’ll get stuck in fear."

"Be calculated & move with focus & don’t settle or fold till your hustle speaks for you."

"Appearance & Valued Substance is everything in creating a multifaceted brand with longevity"

"Be intentional. Go after what you believe in even when no one supports you."

"There isn’t one particular thing, because I’m proud of every single thing I’ve done to bring me this far in my career and the woman I’m becoming. I’m a lot more fearless and bold."

"For acting, the best way to be in character is to embody and become the character in the best way possible."

"I showed up every day and made the best of the moment given me in front of the camera and haven’t looked back since."

"We are all different, and there is a continuous movement. You will need to continually re-invest in it."

"The first thing as an Olympic athlete if you get selected to go to Paris, as soon as you are selected, not as a reserve, in the starting team, everything else goes out the window. Then you can breathe and focus on the job."

"We were constantly, analysing and thinking, maybe overthinking. But you learn to control what you can control. The run-up to the Olympics is not nice. You thrive under pressure, that’s what you do, but there nothing is in your control."

""I’m running in the last lap of life. But instead of relegating myself to deterioration, I try to regard myself as simply fraying at the edges"."

"When you have 50 per cent of women filling the top jobs, it becomes just uninteresting. Now, a few stand out – a few run companies, a few are famous. People have a go at them."

""There’s no right way of doing it. Nobody looks at blokes in boring suits and criticises them"."

""I have never consciously chosen to keep on working, for example, even though I’m the proud owner of a Freedom Pass (and I will never, ever vote for any political party that takes it away!)".#"

""Loneliness is the scourge of old age, which means there has never been a better time to enjoy those water-cooler moments"."

""I don’t have all the answers to old age. In fact, I rarely think about it"."

""I love food and also it is very difficult to be on a diet when you are Miss World because you are travelling around the world and I try local cuisine wherever I go"."

""I have learnt that even though it is very diverse, you stand for unity. Because your values are the same everywhere – you stand for family, love, kindness and respect"."

""I am a true fan of Priyanka Chopra. Not only because of her acting skills, but she is an icon to me.When I was learning for the competition and aspiring to be the Miss World, I was really looking up to her for what she has done for her career, how she not only handles her acting life but also how she is truly continuing the mission of beauty with purpose and supporting children while working with UNICEF. She is an amazing person and working with her would be an honour"."

""When I heard my name I was shocked, I still can’t believe it. I am honoured to wear the Miss World crown and can’t wait to get to work. I will remember this amazing chapter in Puerto Rico for the rest of my life"."

"Life is too short not to follow your dream. I liked working in finance, but I didn't love it. I have a passion for food."

"I have met some very helpful people who have mentored me over the years. I have friends who are editors, chefs, writers, and producers; they have made time for me and I am forever grateful."

"I take pride in the fact that I decided very early in life that I wasn’t going to let my circumstance get in the way of my dreams."

"I love doing stand-up. ... That's where I feel like I can be free."

"Oh, shoot. That's right. I forgot. I'm a black, lesbian female, and they aren't ready for this yet."

"But they weren't ready to see a black woman who happens to be a lesbian also making fun of the president."

"If your family isn’t supportive, you're going to find somebody who would be that surrogate parent who will love you and take care of you. You’ll make family. I did. Know that there’s places and people who will love you—and you can and you will have an amazing life."

"I hope we can get to a place where it’s normal to say, “Yeah, my wife and I,” and it’s not, “oh my god!” Which is why it’s important to have representation."

"I feel like with as much blood of my ancestors that has been shed to build this country, this is my country. I feel like I have more of a right here than anyone else."

"We celebrities are human beings. We hurt. We get our hearts broken. We break hearts. It all comes back to who you are. Who am I today? Am I living on purpose? Or am I clawing at the void? Will I walk in my joy today and acknowledge the color purple? I’ve got jacaranda trees around my house. Three months out of the year, it’s purple. I lay here in this plethora of purple and I give thanks."

"Heavy is the head that wears the crown. I know, because I wear one."

"But when you are a king, you must adhere to the music of the symphony that’s being played."

"When I’m out in the world on tour with my books, I’m not selling books. I don’t need that money. Writing these books was giving these kids the knowledge that no matter how big the fire is, they can come through."

"Especially being a young Black girl, we are often overlooked. We don't get the respect that we should get when it comes to our hard work and changing the narrative. At times you can feel it and you just have to remember what you bring to the table. At some point, you can't care what other people think. All we can do is live for ourselves because we are the only people that we know at the end of the day."

"There is no limit to what you can reach and what you can strive for."

"I am so blessed to be a part of a generation like this because we are constantly raising the bar and pushing the boundaries of what we can do. Keep striving to do what you wanna do – it's your life."

"I can do what I want, when I want, how I want. Go where I want. Sleep in the temperature I want to sleep in. I have a freedom that’s overwhelming sometimes. I love being free."

"A lot of people will say don't compare, but I have never met anybody that doesn't – it's just a normal human thing that we do."

"I’ve always been a person who speaks up. I can’t help it. Sometimes the practice for me is – perhaps the exercise today is to not speak up."

"I tried being small and feeling things in little ways. It took me a long time to get to know myself, to accept myself, and even on some days to really like and love myself. And then it took me a whole other load of years to have the courage to actually live in the world as that person. And it’s been trial and error, chewing on ground glass."

"People don’t want to be told that what they’re doing might not be the right thing or might not make everybody happy. But I am somebody who – I don’t just go along to get along."

"Home for me is about safety and embrace. It’s about shedding all the external masks that we have to wear out in the world. Home is really about beauty, safety, history. My friendships are home for me. My family is home for me. It’s an energetic connection that creates a sense of safety and groundedness, where I don’t have to wear any mask. I can just be myself."

"It’s been a hard-earned journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance."

"I don’t live my life for other people."

"I didn’t see enough examples of different versions of how a woman can find happiness and joy and power and sensuality, sexuality, all of that, without it being through the lens of how I’m seen by a man."

"It’s actually a real honour to get older. Not everybody has that honour, with everything going on in this country, with all of the violence and the children that don’t get to live that long…"