There might not be a single feeling sweeter than sitting down in front of the TV with a bowl of popcorn minutes before ABC's TGIT starts every Thursday night. Before you get yourself situated and start tweeting away with the casts of “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” or even “The Catch,” let’s take a moment to appreciate the lady who owns both Thursday nights of television and all of us: Shonda Rhimes. She's a titan.
Whether she writes them for her characters or speaks them herself, Shonda has, without a doubt, some of the best quotes out there. If you're ever sitting in a class you don't particularly enjoy (like me in Foundations every Monday), she can help remind you why you're there.
1. The best stories are often true… The narrative of human life is most beautiful when told truthfully and without boundaries.
2. Confidence is key.
3. Dreams are lovely, but they are just dreams. Fleeting, ephemeral, pretty. But dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It’s hard work that makes things happen. It’s hard work that creates change.
4. It also pays to be modest.
5. I ended up building an empire out of my imagination.
6. Preach it, Mellie.
7. This moment right here, me standing up here all brown with my boobs and my Thursday night of network television full of women of color, competitive women, strong women, women who own their bodies and whose lives revolve around their work instead of their men, women who are big dogs, that could only be happening right now.
8. Take care of yourself first.
9. I like the world that we work in to look like the world that we live in. Different voices make for different visions. Different visions make for something original. Original is what the public is starving for.
10. Laying out the hard truths.
11. What if we just decided that we have enough? That we are enough?
12. Independence is awesome.
13. Nobody got anything great by playing it safe.
14. You do you and don’t worry about anyone else.
15. When people show you who they are, believe them. I carry that with me a lot. It has served me well.
16. If you want it, never give up. Never surrender.
17. It was like a snowball going down the hill. Every time you say ‘yes,’ you get stronger and more confident.
18. Give yourself a break.
19. I actually like being alone. I spend most evenings reading and taking long baths.
20. A good solution to most situations:
21. You want to be a writer? A writer is someone who writes every day, so start writing.
22. Love is love.
