65-year-old Olympian-turned-reality star Bruce Jenner sat down with Diane Sawyer Friday night and revealed "for all intents and purposes, I am a woman."

Below are quotes from the interview. 

Jenner has always felt like a woman:

"I've always been very confused with my gender identity since I was little."

"I explain it this way -- God is looking down making little Bruce. He gave me all these wonderful qualities. Then at the end, he looked at me and said, 'Hey, let's give him the soul of a female and see how he deals with that.'"

"I was a lonely little boy. I'm a lonely big boy. I don't socialize a lot. I never fit in. I like to play golf, but 99% of the time I play by myself."

"My brain is much more female than I am male. But that's what my soul is."

"My heart and my soul and everything I do in life is part of me. That female side of me is who I am."

"I was trying to block out my feelings with the obsession to be an Olympic athlete."

"Yes, for all intents and purposes I am a woman."

"Being Bruce isn't easy... it's never going away."

"I see women and think how lucky they are that they can wake up in the morning and be themselves."

"This is not a publicity stunt."

Coming to terms:

His first wife, Christy, was the first person he told his secret to.  

Jenner told his sister, who kept the secret for over 30 years.  

Approaching age 40, 30 years ago, he began to transition and did hormones for "almost five years." "I just can't pull the curtain any longer...I can't do it anymore."

Jenner's family's reactions:

"I've raised wonderful children. The first child I ever told was Kimberly. She caught me one time. It was like this big secret in the family that we never talked about again until years later."

A few months ago Jenner called the family into a room and told them he wanted to transition. The reactions were varied, because the kids are all very protective.

"Khloe has had the toughest time with it, she's had a lot of loss in her life."

Kim Kardashian said Kanye was the one who opened her eyes to people being "true to myself."

"Kimberly has been, by far, the most accepting and easiest to talk to about it."

"If he's happy, we're happy," Kendall and Kylie Jenner said in a statement to ABC.

Son Brandon told Diane Sawyer of Bruce Jenner: "I'm honored and more proud than ever to be a part of this family."

"I told my mom she didn't cause this." Jenner's mother is proud and supportive.

Why Jenner decided to finally come out to the world:

"I look at it this way -- Bruce is telling a lie. I can't do that any longer." 

This is the last interview he's going to do as "Bruce." 

He hopes to reemerge as the person he calls "her." 

"Why is this so hard to say? I don't want to disappoint people."

"I really believe we're going to make a difference in this world from what we're doing (the interview)." 

"I had a feeling in church that maybe this is why god put me on this earth, to deal with this issue."

"My gender was a big part of my break up" to Linda Thompson in 1984. 

"I wasn't as fair to my ex-wives as I should have been. I've apologized to everybody."

When he met Kris Jenner, he was on hormones and had size 36B breasts.

"Kris is a good woman."

Kris Jenner had "no comment" on the Diane Sawyer interview, but Bruce's first two wives sent in well wishes."

Jenner's future:

"As of now I have all the male parts, but I still identify as female."

"I would like to work with the [transgender] community to get this message out."

Jenner chose not to reveal his new female name during the Diane Sawyer interview.

Bruce says he is a Republican.

Tom Jones' "She's a Lady" is Jenner's current theme song.

"There are certainly physical changes, but it's mainly mental."

Regarding a sexual reassignment surgery: "Those are all things in the future for me to explore. No decisions have been made yet."

"Right now, let's just say I'm asexual."

When Jenner dresses as a woman, he wants to "have nail polish on long enough for it to chip off."

"I'm saying goodbye to people's perception of me and who I am. I'm not saying goodbye to me because this has always been me."

"If this is the only problem I have in life, I've got it made."

Jenner urges people to "have an open mind and an open heart. I'm not a bad person, I'm just doing what I have to do."

After the interview, Sawyer went out for dinner, off-camera, with Bruce Jenner in female clothing: "She looked great, and really happy."

Watch a clip from the interview below:

Since the interview, there has since been plenty of online chatter and an overwhelmingly positive response, especially from the Kardashian/Jenner crew:

SEE ALSO: The incredible story of one family's journey with a transgender 5-year-old girl who lives as a boy

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