Your decision to be, have and do something out of ordinary entails facing difficulties that are out of the ordinary as well. Sometimes your greatest asset is simply your ability to stay with it longer than anyone else.

Power is the measure of the degree of control you have over circumstances in your life and the actions of the people around you. It is a skill that is developed by a deep understanding of human nature, of what truly motivates people, and of the manipulations necessary for advancement and protection.

To not follow your passion in life is a recipe for failure and unhappiness.

I remember the last three days that I was president, I never went to bed at all. I never went to bed until we had negotiated the final release of the hostages.

I calculate that I took 20,000 punches, but I earned millions and kept a lot of it. I may talk slow, but my mind is OK.

How many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more patience would have achieved success.

Winners make a habit of manufacturing their own positive expectations in advance of the event.

If you want to be enthusiastic, act enthusiastic.

I’d rather be a victor than a victim.

It doesn’t matter if the water is cold or warm if you’re going to have to wade through it anyway.

Anything that encourages people to pick up an instrument and play, I’m fully behind.

I had so many people try to talk me out of starting a rocket company, it was crazy.

I keep working because I learn something new all the time.

I find a lot of inspiration through visuals. When I was 12, I saw Aurora’s ‚Runaway‘ music video. Something inside me clicked, like, ‚That is what I want to do, no matter whether it goes anywhere or not.‘

I believe that one person can make a difference.

Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a landmine. The landmine is me. After the explosion, I spent the rest of the day putting the pieces together.

Difficulties mastered are opportunities won.

Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There’s plenty of movement, but you never know if it’s going to be forward, backwards, or sideways.

That feeling is so intoxicating, walking off the court holding the Larry O’Brien trophy. So I just want to do that again.

A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle.

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

If you stop struggling, then you stop life.

Everybody has a purpose.

Not what I have, but what I do is my kingdom.

We should never lose an occasion. Opportunity is more powerful even than conquerors and prophets.

We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.

Maybe other people will try to limit me but I don’t limit myself.

What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.

Anger is wonderful. It keeps you going. I’m angry about bankers. About the government.

You always want your people to be proud of what you have accomplished.

If you’re going through hell, keep going.

Doing is the great thing, for if people resolutely do what is right, they come in time to like doing it.

It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult.

He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.

Young men and women, your education is ever important – to us, to you, and to God.

Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting.

The most interesting thing about a postage stamp is the persistence with which it sticks to its job.

We cannot be sure of having something to live for unless we are willing to die for it.

Without discipline, there’s no life at all.

Never complain. Never explain.

The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision.

Begin – to begin is half the work, let half still remain; again begin this, and thou wilt have finished.

I’m sure that at no point in my life could I ever have shown the kind of focus and discipline and commitment necessary to work a station at elBulli or Le Bernardin. No. That ain’t me.

I’m always disappointed when people don’t live up to their potential. I know that a number of people look down on themselves and consequently on everybody who looks like them. But that, too, can change.

In war as in life, it is often necessary when some cherished scheme has failed, to take up the best alternative open, and if so, it is folly not to work for it with all your might.

Success is counted sweetest by those who never succeed.

To those of you who received honours, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you, too, can be president of the United States.

Americans play to win at all times. I wouldn’t give a hoot and hell for a man who lost and laughed. That’s why Americans have never lost nor ever lose a war.

Be careful what you set your heart upon – for it will surely be yours.

My superhero has always been Tendulkar, and it will be Tendulkar for life. He is someone who has inspired me immensely. Just watching him play for India, I used to dream of winning games for India, because he used to do it single handedly.

We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle.

My whole thing is to inspire, to better people, to better myself forever in this thing that we call rap, this thing that we call hip hop.

The greatest mistake you can make in life is continually fearing that you’ll make one.

Once we start to act, hope is everywhere. So instead of looking for hope, look for action. Then, and only then, hope will come.

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

I will never retire unless I have to.

Necessity is the mother of taking chances.

It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.

My dad always said, ‚Champ, the measure of a man is not how often he is knocked down, but how quickly he gets up.‘

I never thought about what people would say about me. I was just a young guy who was excited to become a comedian and an actor, and I just wanted to get to do what I got to do.

Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.