She may be 65 but retirement is not on the agenda for Oprah Winfrey, Page Six reports.
Reflecting on her career on Entertainment Tonight following her birthday on 29 January, the owner of multimedia production company, Harpo Productions, believes she still has so much more to do.
“I don't believe in it,” the Colour Purple actress said about retiring.
“I don't believe in it and the other day somebody said, ‘Oh, I see you're now here and ‘cause you're retired.’ And I go, ‘No.’ I was in the bookstore, I was buying a book and the woman said, 'Oh so you're doing a lot of reading on your retirement' ... and I started to turn around and give a whole lecture. ‘I'm not retired.’ But I thought, ‘OK, just take it.’ I said, ‘Thank you, don't need a bag.’”
Oprah adds that her desire to keep going comes from seeing other famous faces who have died young.
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“I always think about the people who didn't make it. I think about the people, I think about the number, and I've been thinking about it since my 40s. Like, I remember when Princess Diana died and I thought, 'Oh my god, she's never gonna make it to 50.'”
Adding that she has spoken about the topic often with her best friend Gayle, Oprah says she’s learnt to value every year of her life. “So for every single birthday that I get to experience, I think it's a gift and a blessing. I think about the people who didn't make it.”
She’s also offered up advice for her 25-year-old self. Saying with experience, she wishes she had said ‘no’ more often.
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“When I was 25 I thought I had to say yes to everything anybody asked me to,” she admits. “I thought, ‘Well, they asked.’ And even Gayle says even now to me, ‘But they said it would mean a lot to them.’ I go, ‘But it doesn't mean a lot to me.’ So, the wonderful thing about being 65 is you do exactly what you want to do.”
She further added, “If you can't do that, if you can't claim doing exactly what you want to do, then you haven't earned the right to be here”.
Sources: Page Six, Entertainment Tonight
