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Home • 2014 ESSENCE Festival

Uplifting Quotes from Our Hall of Fame Empowerment Speakers

For the 20th Anniversary of the ESSENCE Festival, we're giving attendees an opportunity to unleash their power! This year, we're paying special attention to the importance of empowerement by spotlighting the best empowerment speakers to grace our stage. To get you prepared for the uplifting three-day event in New Orleans, take a look at some of their most powerful words.
By Shenequa A. Golding · Updated October 27, 2020
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01
Barack Obama

“You can’t let your failures define you. You have to let your failures teach you.”

Uplifting Quotes from Our Hall of Fame Empower- ment Speakers
Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
02
Queen Latifah

“I’m living proof that with confidence and by believing in yourself you can accomplish any goal.”

Uplifting Quotes from Our Hall of Fame Empower- ment Speakers
Denise Truscello/Getty Images
03
Kim Burrell

“If you want things to change in your life, don’t just talk about it with other people talk to God about it.”

Uplifting Quotes from Our Hall of Fame Empower- ment Speakers
Peter Nakhid
04
Susan L. Taylor

“Spending quiet time alone gives your mind an opportunity to renew itself and create order.”

Uplifting Quotes from Our Hall of Fame Empower- ment Speakers
Douglas Mason
05
Hillary Clinton

“Take criticism seriously, but not personally. If there is truth or merit in the criticism, try to learn from it. Otherwise, let it roll right off you.”  

Uplifting Quotes from Our Hall of Fame Empower- ment Speakers
David Paul/Bloomberg
06
T.D. Jakes

“God has invested entirely too much in you for you to be comfortable in anything less than you were created to be.”

Uplifting Quotes from Our Hall of Fame Empower- ment Speakers
Gus Bennet
07
Steve Harvey

“There has been nothing more impactful on my life and meaningful to me than the introduction of Christ. That, hands down, blows away every joke I’ve ever written.”

Uplifting Quotes from Our Hall of Fame Empower- ment Speakers
Derek Blanks
08
Yolanda Adams

“Happiness isn’t a mood, it’s a choice. It’s a habit. It’s a way of life. So be happy… I am.”

Uplifting Quotes from Our Hall of Fame Empower- ment Speakers
Emily Umphry
09
Oprah Winfrey
Uplifting Quotes from Our Hall of Fame Empower- ment Speakers
Anthony Harvey/Getty Images