Jurnee Smollett Quotes

You know when I was 20 and 30, they were insecurities. Now they're just a new normal. I'm 60 years old, so my expectations of who I am and how I look and how I show up in the world had to shift. Not because I couldn't help it, or not because I did anything wrong, but because I had to get into the natural flow of my being as a woman.

It took me ages to grow into being a woman, into being happy with it.

I always said, 'Whenever I get pregnant, I'm going to embrace all of the body changes that happen.' My focus has not been on any sort of snap-back or anything like that, because your body won't be the same after giving birth, and if anything, that's something to be celebrated, embraced, and owned.

I felt like I really came into my own when I became a mom. My entire world changed.

Women who start out as ugly ducklings don't become beautiful swans. What they mainly become is confident ducks. They take charge of their lives.

I have been a woman for 46 years and I only recently realized I can't change it and I like it.

I'm proud that today, at 43 years old, I've come to value the aging process and focus on inner rather than outer beauty.

I know it sounds weird, but my definition of 'sexy' has changed as I've gotten older. And being smart and informed makes me feel sexier than any outfit.

I became a mom at 37 and having a child has been an emancipation for me.

The thing about Duran... that gives you the ability to bring all that opportunity back into your life.

Being in your forties - any woman who isn't there yet, I just have to say to you: Euphoria is coming to you.

The more we refuse to buy into our inner critics - and our external ones too - the easier it will get to have confidence in our choices, and to feel comfortable with who we are - as women and as mothers.

I see a wiser person than when I was younger: having babies, and passing 30, were the turning points. What women in their 40s - I am 39 - lack in gorgeousness, they make up for in wisdom. I love ageing, despite the drawbacks - thinner, drier skin.

I discovered that my insecurities and my flaws were things that I actually need to embrace, and I let them become my superpowers.

Truthfully, being pregnant is changing me as a person. Each day is part of this amazing journey that has completely shifted the focus of my life and made me reevaluate my personal and professional goals.

You know, you kind of lose some self-confidence after having kids because you'll never be the way you were. But I feel good.

I've always been so apathetic. I figured, OK, maybe the world is going to fall down around me. Now I want to make a better world... that's motherhood.

I love being middle-aged in general. I'm more at peace with myself now. I still have tormented times, but they are few and far between. You don't feel you have to be the centre of your world when you get older. Becoming a mother had been a turning point which stopped me from being the centre of my world.

I remain fascinated by where you go as a woman once you are a mother, and if you ever come back.

I prefer the new me a million times more over than the old one.

It's very exciting to feel like a different woman with a new identity.

Feeling strong is important, and to feel in your body is a vital part of being a woman, regardless of whether you're a mother or not.

My biggest lesson in becoming a woman is to really love what I've been given.

I think part of the beauty of our relationship with jewelry is that it can change and evolve as we do ourselves.

The difference between being in the closet and out of the closet as a gay man is such a huge shift. I feel so connected still to that 22-year-old, but the idea that I was not open with that part of my life - which I am now so open about - is sort of surreal.