Skip to main content

Creativity Quote by Della Reese

"The exercise I do now is a mammoth change for me because I never did any exercise ever"

About this Quote

It lands with the blunt clarity of someone who’s spent a lifetime being watched and judged, then decides to narrate her own change without dressing it up. “Mammoth change” is almost comically oversized for something as mundane as working out, but that’s the point: Reese frames exercise not as a lifestyle tweak but as a full-scale identity shift. The repetition in “never did any exercise ever” reads like a confession and a punchline at once, a self-roast that disarms the listener before anyone else can do it.

Coming from a musician and performer, the line quietly pushes back on the polished myth of celebrity discipline. Reese doesn’t sell transformation as a sleek montage; she makes it sound awkward, late-arriving, and real. That honesty matters in a culture where public figures are expected to present reinvention as effortless branding. Her phrasing suggests the opposite: that change is less about willpower aesthetics and more about admitting your starting point without shame.

There’s also a generational subtext. Reese built her career in an era when women in entertainment were often valued for charisma and stamina, not for visibly “training” their bodies in public the way today’s celebrity wellness culture demands. By stating it so plainly, she’s not just talking about fitness; she’s modeling permission. You can begin late. You can be behind. You can still call it progress and mean it.

Quote Details

TopicFitness
SourceHelp us find the source
Cite

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Reese, Della. (2026, January 15). The exercise I do now is a mammoth change for me because I never did any exercise ever. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-exercise-i-do-now-is-a-mammoth-change-for-me-145189/

Chicago Style
Reese, Della. "The exercise I do now is a mammoth change for me because I never did any exercise ever." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-exercise-i-do-now-is-a-mammoth-change-for-me-145189/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The exercise I do now is a mammoth change for me because I never did any exercise ever." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-exercise-i-do-now-is-a-mammoth-change-for-me-145189/. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Della Add to List
The Exercise I Do Now Is a Mammoth Change for Me - Della Reese
Click to enlarge Portrait | Landscape

About the Author

USA Flag

Della Reese (July 6, 1931 - November 19, 2017) was a Musician from USA.

27 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes

Chris Hughes, Entrepreneur
Chris Hughes
Clarence Clemons, Musician
Barbara Ehrenreich, Writer