Jennifer Lopez is the guest of honor at this year’s People’s Choice Awards. The 51-year-old multi-hyphenate will receive the people’s icon award for her contributions to music, film, television and fashion, and the recognition is more than deserved. Since stepping into the spotlight with her 1997 role in Selena, Jennifer has paved the way for artists worldwide and fully cemented herself as a star. In honor of Jennifer’s decades-long career, we’re celebrating by taking a look at her most inspiring quotes over the years. Read them ahead.
Related: Just a Handful of Jennifer Lopez's Most Memorable Collaboration Videos
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On Her Go-Getter Mentality
- “You really have that power to make your life whatever you want it to be.”
- “If in your mind you can do it, you can do it. You cannot doubt yourself. Doubt is a killer. You just have to know who you are and what you stand for.”
- “With hard work you can accomplish anything.”
- “People underestimate me. They always have, and maybe that’s for the best. It’s fun to prove them wrong.”
- “I’m not always fearless. I’m usually a little bit afraid, but I don’t ever let that take over. I think when there is a sense of fear, it motivates me. Usually I’m able to tell myself, ‘Screw it, I’m just going to do this.’ And then that’s it, I’ve done it, and if it was 100 percent a success, that’s great, and if not, that’s okay too because I still did it. I don’t do regrets. But I am a perfectionist, so I’m always re-evaluating and re-analyzing so I can make whatever it was better for the next time.”
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On the Importance of Staying True to Herself
- “I’m not here to be perfect and I’m not here to be anything but my best, whatever that means for me.”
- “You have to remember the value of your individuality – that you have something special and different to offer that nobody else can.”
- “You’ve got to love yourself first. You’ve got to be OK on your own before you can be OK with somebody else. You’ve got to value yourself and know that you’re worth everything.”
- “Everybody has that in their life, people who doubt them or make them feel less than they are. It just takes faith and belief in yourself, and you’ve got to dig deep into that. That has to come from you – nobody’s going to give you that. You can have a great mentor, a great partner, a great love in your life who gives you confidence and makes you feel great about yourself. And that’s all wonderful, but at the end of the day, if you don’t believe it, all of that means nothing.”
- “Always follow your heart. Sometimes it’s gonna hurt, but you’re going to be fine.”
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On Her Personal Growth
- “The truth is, everything that’s happened was supposed to happen. That doesn’t mean I don’t look back and think, ‘God, I wish I hadn’t had to go through some of those things.’ But then I think, ‘You know what? It didn’t finish me – and look at where I am now!'”
- “Mistakes are not what define you. What defines you is what you do after your mistakes and how you learn what is meant to be learned from those moments.”
- “When it’s easy, it’s great. But when something bad happens is when you really learn. It causes self-examination, it causes you to take a look at yourself. You naturally start analyzing. It’s not that you’re wrong; it’s that sometimes you just need to make adjustments. Change your way of thinking, change your way of doing, change your way of choosing.”
- “I don’t regret what I’ve been through. I’ve had ups and downs, super highs, and some really low lows. I’ve been so blessed that I could never say, ‘I wish this didn’t happen.’ It’s part of who I am.”
- “I am human, and of course, sometimes I make mistakes. But I promise that when I fall, I get back up. When I am wrong, I will learn the lesson and move on to face other challenges. For me, that’s what creating your own life is. Doing your best work while being your best self.”
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On Being a Proud Latina
- “Everybody knows that I’m a Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx. It’s not something I ever tried to hide – or ever thought that I should hide – so I can get ahead. I always felt that individuality is what made me different from every other actress that was out there when I first started.”
- “We need to tell more of our stories. I think we need more and I think the Latino community – when there is a movie that’s starring Latinos or made by Latinos – we should go in droves to support it . . . we are a very powerful communityand we spend a lot of money in this country . . . I want you guys to understand that we have the power to change our own realities.”
- “As Latinos, we really have to understand that the world is ours and that we matter and that we have worth and value . . . this is your world too and you should reach as high as you want to reach and go for whatever you want to go for and nothing is out of the realm of possibility.”
- “Some people go, ‘Oh, she’s always saying she’s from Puerto Rico, she’s from the Bronx.’ Yeah, because I’m proud of that and there’s no reason for me to ever hide that part of myself to be successful. To the contrary, I feel it’s the secret to my success.”
- “Latinos feel very connected to where they’re from. There’s something that runs inside your blood that makes you who you are, that gives you that fire, that gives you that passion . . . it’s a real thing, it’s a real drive. “
