Tyra Banks Quotes & Sayings

I do consider myself a feminist, yeah. Totally. — Tyra Banks

I'm frugal. I've always been this way. When I was young, my mom would give me my allowance, and I'd peel off a little each week and have some to spare. — Tyra Banks

When I think about moguls, I think like Donald Trump who ... owns NYC practically. That's a mogul. I feel like I'm on my way to a lot more, but mogul is a really serious thing. I think it's a word that gets thrown around easily. — Tyra Banks

A smile is the most important thing you wear. — Tyra Banks

I love the confidence that makeup gives me. — Tyra Banks

Perfect is boring, human is beautiful — Tyra Banks

I don't know what to do with my arms. It just makes me feel weird and I feel like people are looking at me and that makes me nervous. — Tyra Banks

Love every part of yourself. Even the things that frustrate you. They make you who you are! — Tyra Banks

I'm always looking at how I can be atypical. — Tyra Banks

Working women, moms, students, they don't have a lot of time to spend on their faces. — Tyra Banks

Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner have the exact same eyes. — Tyra Banks

When I am full, I stop eating. — Tyra Banks

I want to be like the athletes who seem stuck in time. When you see them at 50, you say they probably can still run like a champ. — Tyra Banks

I have a poverty demon. I'll ask my accountant if I can afford something, and he'll say, 'What are you talking about?' — Tyra Banks

I don't think me walking away from modeling was scary for me. In hindsight, I think it was very risky, when you talk about risk. Because it paid the bills. — Tyra Banks

Sephora is fantastic. I go in there. I get lost. There are so many great things in there. — Tyra Banks

I love Boston; it's like Paris. — Tyra Banks

I look up to Walt Disney and what he has done. — Tyra Banks

I think I'm too young to be a mogul. I think I'm too young for that. — Tyra Banks

Rihanna told me her parents used to argue so intensely, she used to get these headaches, these migraines that were almost not even treatable with medicine. The moment her parents separated, her migraines went away. — Tyra Banks

I'm obsessed by Instagram. — Tyra Banks

The fire to inspire women and help them to blaze new paths fiercely burns inside of me. — Tyra Banks

We are often told we can't have brains and beauty, and I really hope that my message is that you can put on that red lip and curl your hair and put on that power dress - you don't have to sacrifice one for the other. — Tyra Banks

Sometimes I'll use four or five different photo apps on one photo just to get it where I want it to be. — Tyra Banks

I went from being very popular and the head of the clique in the sixth grade to having, like, kid depression in the seventh grade. Not leaving the house. Not looking people in the eye ... My body made me feel bad at everything. — Tyra Banks

I've always seen modeling as a stepping stone. — Tyra Banks

My nutritionist says, 'If you bite it, write it.' Writing down everything that you put in your mouth really helps. I don't count a damn calorie. But when I'm really trying to eat healthy, I write everything down. It really holds me accountable and puts me on a healthier path. — Tyra Banks

I'm a lover of fashion websites. — Tyra Banks

I don't want to have to put on that "thing" - I call it "the thing" when I have to do my hair, put on the lashes, get dressed up. When I go out for potato chips, I just want to go out looking like myself, which means you will see bad pictures of me. There probably are some out there right now, but it's just part of the life. — Tyra Banks

On 'America's Next Top Model,' I mentor girls on television. When that TV goes off, I actually mentor other girls in the modeling industry - girls that have not been on 'Top Model,' but who appear in 'Vogue' worldwide. — Tyra Banks

When I'm coming offstage after my show, I'm thinking about what's on my TiVo. — Tyra Banks

I actually don't miss modeling and I think the reason why is because of America's Next Top Model. — Tyra Banks

When I was a model, they called me 'Tyra;' now it's 'Ms. Banks.' — Tyra Banks

Now I know that I should take better care of myself when I'm under an intense deadline, or else my body is gonna act in certain ways that are not good. — Tyra Banks

My fingers used to hurt really bad when I played guitar. I stopped because of it. — Tyra Banks

I love all kinds of bread. Whenever I crave junk food, I want salty things like peanuts or potato chips. — Tyra Banks

I volunteer a lot of my time with an organization in New York called The Center for Children and Families. — Tyra Banks

Believe it or not, I don't wake up looking like a supermodel. — Tyra Banks

I used to want to write commercials as a kid. — Tyra Banks

There is a difference between desire and desperation. — Tyra Banks

I'm competitive with myself. I always try to push past my own borders. — Tyra Banks

Flaws are awesome - so, 'flawsome!' I love making up a word. — Tyra Banks

I have a lot of success and make a good living, but after while, you start going 'Why? Why are you doing all this?' — Tyra Banks

Let's have fun at work. — Tyra Banks

One of the big, most underlying messages for me is celebrating beauty that is not typical. — Tyra Banks

My freshman year, I ran for student class president and lost. The next year, I ran for student class vice president, and I won. — Tyra Banks

There's no excuse for rudeness. — Tyra Banks

It is important for women to feel beautiful when she looks in the mirror, and I tell women, 'If you don't feel beautiful, find one thing that you can look in that mirror and say, 'That is beautiful.' — Tyra Banks

Don't chase the money ... chase the passion. Because that's what is going to keep you happy and motivated and jumping out of that bed Monday morning. — Tyra Banks

People always ask me if I'm going to stop modeling because I have started an acting career. I hope to continue to model for years to come. — Tyra Banks

I liked college guys but they could tell I was just a skinny girl. — Tyra Banks

A lot of young girls think that the opposite of fake is rudeness. And just as ugly as fake is, so is saying whatever is on your mind because it's the truth. — Tyra Banks

Black women don't have the same body image problems as white women. They are proud of their bodies. — Tyra Banks

I think we should be unapologetic that we excel - and look beautiful while doing it. — Tyra Banks

I've had my heart broken one too many times. — Tyra Banks

Tyra the businesswoman is very close to - and I hate third person, but you said it, oh, chiiild, you said it - but me the businessperson and me the person: very similar. I can be in a business meeting and be all 'Wooo!' and 'Oh, child!' and still be talking revenues and profits and cash flows. — Tyra Banks

I've made mistakes before of doing different projects just based on my dreams, my hopes, my thing, and not really thinking about my customers. — Tyra Banks

I would not recommend a teen getting into modeling if they're not solid when it comes to their grades and school. That comes first. My mother always told me that came first. — Tyra Banks

I feel more comfortable when I'm lighter - I sleep better, I snore less, I have more endurance when I work out, my arms look better. — Tyra Banks

A while ago I said that, 'You know, I like a guy - he doesn't have to be all rich and famous - he can be normal.' And I remember I was walking in the mall, and this guy was like, 'Tyra, I'm normal. I live with my mama. I ain't got a car and I ain't got a job! I'm real normal.' And I'm like, 'That's not normal - that's a loser!' — Tyra Banks

I kind of like the wind in my face. If it wasn't there, I don't know if I would push as hard. — Tyra Banks

In terms of bullying, there are so many new laws in America, I am not sure about worldwide, but in America, the laws for bullying are getting strict. And I am really excited of how strict they are and I think it has cut down on a lot of bullying. As a kid I was a bully and I was bullied. I lived both sides of it. To see what is being done with bullying now is super important. — Tyra Banks

I don't think cellulite is great - that's not a flaw that I want in a photo by any means! I retouch that crap out. But I tell women that I'm retouching it out. — Tyra Banks

By no means am I trying to change the modeling industry. — Tyra Banks

My mom was a medical photographer, but on the side, she did a before-and-after glam photography business in the house. She would do makeup and hair - and I was her assistant. — Tyra Banks

I think of dystopian as 'Mad Max,' as 'Book of Eli,' as the world is ending. — Tyra Banks

It was hard to get guys to notice me, period, because I was so skinny and all my friends were curvy. Plus, I used to be very nervous in front of guys. — Tyra Banks

I get so much mail from young women saying that they are so insecure when they look at me, but they don't realize all of the flaws that I have. — Tyra Banks

Take responsiblilty for yourself because no one's going to take responsibility for you. — Tyra Banks

Modeling is being a ho, but making it fashion. — Tyra Banks

Global warming will threaten our crops, so natural food will be scarce. Hourglass, curvy bodies will be the aspirational beauty standard, representing that those women have access to bounties of fulfilling yet healthy food, which means they are affluent. — Tyra Banks

Whenever someone says I'm the next Oprah, I always respond, 'Child, there's only one Mahogany, and only one Oprah.' There are no others. — Tyra Banks

Girls of all kinds can be beautiful - from the thin, plus-sized, short, very tall, ebony to porcelain-skinned; the quirky, clumsy, shy, outgoing and all in between. It's not easy though because many people still put beauty into a confining, narrow box ... Think outside of the box ... Pledge that you will look in the mirror and find the unique beauty in you. — Tyra Banks

When I was a young girl, I lost a lot of weight over one summer - involuntarily - and was just really depressed and sad. There was nothing I could do to gain weight. I would look in the mirror and call myself disgusting every day. — Tyra Banks

I think one of the biggest things that affects young women is when they hear their mothers using fat talk. — Tyra Banks

What keeps me up at night? Sometimes it's day-to-day work stuff. And a lot of the times, it's, 'Am I making the wrong decisions in terms of reaching young women?' — Tyra Banks

I wish I was harder; I wish I didn't care so much about being the nice girl all the time because a lot of the time people can take kindness for weakness, so I wish I had a little bit more 'oomph' in me. — Tyra Banks

I just want you to be yourself. Be a bigger yourself. — Tyra Banks

Journalists told me that a talk show wouldn't work. Some told me I was going to get canceled before my first season was up. — Tyra Banks

I did an episode on my talk show on cellulite, and I brought seven women into a dressing room at Nordstrom's in L.A., and we all sat and talked about our cellulite. — Tyra Banks

In high school I definitely had a clique of friends. And what I loved about it was that we were healthy and good girls. — Tyra Banks

I gave myself a year to be a supermodel. And I said, 'If it doesn't happen, I'm going back to school.' — Tyra Banks

I know this is weird ... I am a Black woman and I am not mixed with any Asian blood or Chinese blood at all, but for some reason, as a child, the movie, The Last Emperor, had a serious affect on me. I can't understand why. But there's something that the movie did to me. — Tyra Banks

Being first lady is not just about being the wife but really taking command and having true vision. — Tyra Banks

Models now need to promote themselves, think like businesswomen and diversify their careers by doing other things. Chances are very slim that a mere model will become a household name today. — Tyra Banks

Because my hands are rough and wrinkley, they are my least favourite feature. An ex-boyfriend used to call them 'Freddy Kreuger' fingers. — Tyra Banks

My mom never taught me to be waiting for some prince on a white horse to swipe me off my feet. — Tyra Banks

I talked about adopting a baby when I was 20 years old, before it became 'hip.' — Tyra Banks

I just think, as a model, it's taught me to be a master of deception and illusion. — Tyra Banks

I was always a good student. I wasn't the A-plus student, but I studied really hard, and I probably had a 3.2. I always wished that I had the capacity to get straight A's, but I didn't. I didn't beat myself up about it, but I really studied hard for my grades. — Tyra Banks

Never dull your shine for somebody else. — Tyra Banks

I think it makes women feel better to find fault with other women. I do that, too. — Tyra Banks

With 'America's Next Top Model,' I've always cast girls who the industry might call 'plus size' but I like to call 'fiercely real.' That was always important to me. — Tyra Banks

My natural hair texture is very kinky. — Tyra Banks

From offstage until the moment I walk onstage, I constantly tweak my talk show and 'Top Model', but at the same time, I often leave my private life by the wayside. — Tyra Banks

I think every woman would want to do something about their cellulite! — Tyra Banks

Don't save bold lashes and red lips for nighttime - do it in the day! — Tyra Banks

In terms of success and drive, I think some people are born with it, sometimes certain circumstances push you towards success ... trying to prove people wrong. I'm not exactly sure where mine comes from, but, I have this thing inside of me that, when someone tells me that I can't do something, I become obsessed with proving them wrong. It's a weird thing. — Tyra Banks

If you can think psychographically and not demographically, you can really target a lot more audiences. — Tyra Banks

I think a lot of business students chase money and then they burn out. They have early retirements, not because they want to retire and chill ... But because they hate their job and they are miserable. I don't chase money. — Tyra Banks