Ashley Graham

“I had so many agents tell me that at size 18, I would never work or work again. I heard, 'Go home and lose some weight.'”

“I'm trying to change how women think about themselves.”

“Words have power, and if you are going to use your words negatively, then that is exactly what is going to happen in your life.”

“I hit the beauty jackpot, I get it, but that's not enough: you've got to have more to have longevity in this business. It's always been, 'OK, so what can I do now?'”

“I think the word 'plus-sized' is so divisive to women.”

“Too fat, too thin, too loud, too quiet - I was never going to fit the standards others created for me. Instead of complying, I protested.”

“Curvy girls can pull off any look - it's what we do.”

“Eventually, I joined a church. I didn't go there to find a boyfriend; I truly wasn't looking for anyone other than the person I wanted to be.”

“I think that when you use the word 'plus-size,' you're putting all these women in a category: 'You don't eat well.' 'You don't work out.' 'You could care less about your body.' 'You're insecure.' 'You have no confidence.'”

“I am more than my measurements. I'm not Ashley Graham just because I'm curvy.”

“When you're given an 'SI' cover, and you take advantage of it, you can conquer the world. Look at Chrissy Teigen. Look at Tyra Banks. Look at Kathy Ireland.”

“My fans are incredible. Don't you dare talk bad about me on my Instagram, because my fans will come out, and they will eat you alive.”

“I remember thinking, 'If I don't love the woman that I look at in the mirror, I am never going to be successful.' That was the moment I had to start convincing myself to look in the mirror and start saying, 'I love you.'”

“I don't like to use the words 'real women,' honestly. I like to use the word 'woman.' And I say that because there are so many women out there who are naturally thin or are naturally curvy, and I think when we start putting a label on the type of woman, it gets misconstrued and starts to offend people.”

“I believe that we're all here for a purpose and that one of my biggest ones is to help people understand that they're beautiful.”

“I also need to honor myself for working so hard, and that means treating the money I earn with respect.”

“A lot of who I am is connected to my size, and I am so happy with who I am.”

“This is the thing: I know I'm paving the way for the next generation of girls, and they're not going to have to do this. That's what I hope. I'll take the brunt work and just handle it, and then you guys can just sail right on through.”

“I had to realize that if I didn't really love who I was, and if I couldn't appreciate this - my body - as my moneymaker, then I wasn't going to make any money.”

“No matter how beautiful or not one is perceived to be, the true beauty we all possess is found on the inside. That should be our focus and the measure by which we are judged. How do we move through life? What other lives have we touched? Who have we confronted with love? How have we changed the world for the better? Those are all qualities that can’t be countered or weighed. Really, beauty beyond size.”