The happiest people in the world are those who feel absolutely terrific about themselves, and this is the natural outgrowth of accepting total responsibility for every part of their life.

Vulnerability is not weakness. And that myth is profoundly dangerous.

You might win some, you might lose some. But you go in, you challenge yourself, you become a better man, a better individual, a better fighter.

I don’t believe in doing things to manufacture my body to appeal to what I think people might like.

I’m very proud to be black, but black is not all I am. That’s my cultural historical background, my genetic makeup, but it’s not all of who I am nor is it the basis from which I answer every question.

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself, if it be a lie, laugh at it.

A leader is a dealer in hope.

I’ve been called a recluse. There’s definitely truth in that. I like to spend time alone.

The older I get, the more important the eternal becomes to me personally.

People don’t care about what someone says about you in a movie – or even what you say, right? They care about what you build. And if you can make something that makes people’s life better, then that’s something that’s really good.

The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk.

How to gain, how to keep, how to recover happiness is in fact for most men at all times the secret motive of all they do, and of all they are willing to endure.

No matter what, people grow. If you chose not to grow, you’re staying in a small box with a small mindset. People who win go outside of that box. It’s very simple when you look at it.

My life turned out to be beyond my greatest dreams.

I want people to draw strength from me.

I was saluted by Alex Ferguson when I was subbed and that made me very happy.

What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.

We all self-conscious. I’m just the first to admit it.

Life guided me to being a bodyguard, protecting people, then in the movies, so I’m happy with everything because basically all I ever wanted to do was be a good son and take care of my mother.

I have good days and bad days.

In this great country, we celebrate success. We don’t want to penalize those who have done well.

Remember upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.

Education is not a problem. Education is an opportunity.

Custom reconciles us to everything.

A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.

How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone.

In a real dark night of the soul, it is always three o’clock in the morning, day after day.

There is no person so severely punished, as those who subject themselves to the whip of their own remorse.

Happiness is just another of the tricks that our genetic system plays on us to carry out its only role, which is the survival of the species.

You have to be smart. The easy days are over.

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

The more people I reach, the more people there are that have opinions about me. Not everyone loves me, but I have to be okay no matter what they think about me.

When you are angry or frustrated, what comes out? Whatever it is, it’s a good indication of what you’re made of.

If you’ve lost your spirit, even living in the richest country in the world can’t help you become rich.

We are long before we are convinced that happiness is never to be found, and each believes it possessed by others, to keep alive the hope of obtaining it for himself.

When I was married, I definitely went through a lying period.

I’ve experienced great things, I’ve experienced great tragedies. I’ve done almost everything I could possibly ever imagine doing, but I just know that there’s more.

Well, I’m in my 60s now. I finally look it, I think. People until I was 60 would always say they thought I looked younger, which I think, without flattering myself, I did, but I think I certainly have, as George Orwell says people do after a certain age, the face they deserve.

It’s more interesting for me to figure out how to be superior in areas where I’m naive, where I’m a novice.

Wherever you are, be there totally. If you find your here and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy, you have three options: remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally. If you want to take responsibility for your life, you must choose one of those three options, and you must choose now. Then accept the consequences.

I don’t want to be alone, I want to be left alone.

We have to confront ourselves. Do we like what we see in the mirror? And, according to our light, according to our understanding, according to our courage, we will have to say yea or nay – and rise!

I’m always happy to blow up any misconceptions that people have about stage school cos everyone thinks it’s really nasty there but it’s not.

Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.

Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

What’s really hard is that you could care a lot for someone and not want to live with him anymore.

When you put down the good things you ought to have done, and leave out the bad ones you did do well, that’s Memoirs.

Don’t ever criticize yourself. Don’t go around all day long thinking, ‚I’m unattractive, I’m slow, I’m not as smart as my brother.‘ God wasn’t having a bad day when he made you… If you don’t love yourself in the right way, you can’t love your neighbour. You can’t be as good as you are supposed to be.

Happiness doesn’t depend on any external conditions, it is governed by our mental attitude.

I’m not frightened of appearing vulnerable.

Whether I’m wearing lots of makeup or no makeup, I’m always the same person inside.

One of the huge imbalances in life is the disparity between your daily existence, with its routines and habits, and the dream you have within yourself of some extraordinarily satisfying way of living.

If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them, and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself.

I don’t want to make money; I want to make a difference.

I try to be the same person I was yesterday.

All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.

I know that I’m not the easiest person to live with. The challenge I put on myself is so great that the person I live with feels himself challenged. I bring a lot to bear, and I don’t know how not to.

I can’t jump the highest. I’m obviously not the biggest, not the strongest.

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Don’t wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you’ve got to make yourself.