In this exclusive AARP video, actress Sheryl Lee Ralph reads a list of her most inspiring quotes from interviews and acceptance speeches through the years — and she’s shocked by her own wisdom.

Ralph has been a figure in TV, film and theater for over four decades. She is known for starring in the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls and as Deidra "Dee" Mitchell in the sitcom Moesha. In 2022 and 2023, Ralph swept the major awards shows for her role as Barbara Howard in the hit comedy series Abbott Elementary. She was named best TV actress at AARP’s Movies for Grownups Awards and won her first Emmy at age 65.


1. 00:00: “People don’t have to like you. People don’t have to love you. They don’t even have to respect you. But when you look in the mirror, you better love what you see.” —Critics Choice Awards, Acceptance Speech for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy, 2023
2. 00:17: “If it is meant for you, it will not miss you.” —Primetime Emmy Awards, People Entertainment Red Carpet Interview, 2022
3. 00:21: “Realize that you have a voice. And if you don’t use it, you will lose it.” —Harper’s BAZAAR Interview, 2022
4. 00:28: “Live your life like you really matter. Live your life like you’re happy to be alive, because there is an alternative.” —NBC News Interview, 2023
5. 00:42: “If you are given the honor and the gift of growing older, accept it with grace because not everybody gets it.” —AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, Red Carpet Interview, 2023
6. 00:54: “It's so wonderful to be able to be alive and know, as a grown woman, everything is still possible.” —AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, Red Carpet Interview, 2023
7. 01:15: “There is nothing wrong with you. The world will catch up.” —AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, Backstage Interview, 2023
8. 01:32: “You are wonderful just the way you are.” —NBC News Interview, 2023
9. 01:36: “You belong here.” —Harper’s BAZAAR Interview, 2022
10. 01:42: “Life is greater later as long as you are alive to live it.” —AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, Backstage Interview, 2023
11. 01:54: “Don’t you ever, ever give up on you.” —Primetime Emmy Awards, Acceptance Speech for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy, 2022

Read more about Sheryl Lee Ralph in her AARP The Magazine cover article from the August/September 2023 issue at aarp.org/magazine.

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