14 RuPaul Quotes That Will Really, Truly Start Your Engine

By Ryan Roschke
Getty | Monica Schipper
Getty | Monica Schipper

Avid watchers of RuPaul's Drag Race have likely come to accept a few things as fact. There will always be endless GIFs and quotable moments, devastating eliminations, and death-defying "lip sync for your life" moments on the show. And, in addition to all the fierce new songs she drops, Ru will always deliver her signature bits of wisdom. "Good luck, and don't f*ck it up," she'll say before a challenge. "If you can't love yourself," she'll ask at the end of every episode, "how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?" By this token, it should come as no surprise that RuPaul is positively teeming with wisdom, and the iconic drag queen's most well-known quotes are just the tip of the iceberg.

On Self-Love

  • "Look at me — a big old black man under all of this makeup, and if I can look beautiful, so can you."
  • "If you can't love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?"
  • "When you become the image of your own imagination, it's the most powerful thing you could ever do."
  • "We're born naked and the rest is drag."

On Facing the Haters

On Pursuing Your Dreams

  • "You have to use what you have to get what you want."
  • "Don't be afraid to use all the colors in the box of crayons."
  • "If you have goals and the stick-with-it-ness to make things happen, people will feel threatened by you, especially if your goals don't include them. They believe that if you take a piece of pie, then that leaves less pie for them. Seeing you follow your dreams leaves them realizing that they're not following theirs. In truth, there is unlimited pie for everyone."

On Confidence

  • "I'd rather boogie than try to fit in."
  • "Walking with your chest out and your head held high says you have earned the right to stomp and pummel this particular piece of real estate."
  • "[The] biggest obstacle I ever faced was my own limited perception of myself."
  • "True wealth is having a healthy mind, body, and spirit. True wealth is having the knowledge to maneuver and navigate the mental obstacles that inhibit your ability to soar."