I didn’t have nothin‘ going for me… school, home… until I found something I loved, which was music, and that changed everything.

I think there are a number of things that you can do to encourage your kids‘ dreams, but I do believe in speaking by experience of having a lot of help along the way, stumbling in the past. We’ve all stumbled, and we certainly all deserve to get up and walk again.

Since day one, since the first time I touched the pen, I wanted to be the best at what I do.

People respond when you tell them there is a great future in front of you, you can leave your past behind.

First and last, what is demanded of genius is love of truth.

Believe you can and you’re halfway there.

I never wanted to be a scientist per se. I wanted to be a naturalist.

I wish myself to be a prop, if anything, for my songs. I want to be the vehicle for my songs. I would like to colour the material with as much visual expression as is necessary for that song.

My dad was into the 1950s doo-wop era. If you look at those groups, or at James Brown, Jackie Wilson and the Temptations in the 1960s, you’ll see you had to be sharp onstage.

I’ve dreamed about doing music since I was three or four years old.

The U. S. Constitution doesn’t guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself.

Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.

The opera is to music what a bawdy house is to a cathedral.

Great art is the contempt of a great man for small art.

You want me to own a team and deal with these rich, spoiled stubborn athletes, and try to get them to perform? No thank you.

Nor shall derision prove powerful against those who listen to humanity or those who follow in the footsteps of divinity, for they shall live forever. Forever.

Instead of worrying about what people say of you, why not spend time trying to accomplish something they will admire.

The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.

If you are a leader, you should never forget that everyone needs encouragement. And everyone who receives it – young or old, successful or less-than-successful, unknown or famous – is changed by it.

Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.

I like being a writer.

A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants.

If you believe in what you are doing, then let nothing hold you up in your work. Much of the best work of the world has been done against seeming impossibilities. The thing is to get the work done.

Young people can create beautiful things.

We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment.

I always feel like it’s two key ingredients when it comes to following your dreams, making something happen that the average person deems difficult. If you truly believe it, that’s step one. Step two, is, you know, the hard work that goes along with it.

Love is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination.

Life doesn’t require that we be the best, only that we try our best.

We tend to mistake music for the physical object.

Sometimes people make it seem like you have to have certain prerequisites or a crazy life story in order to be successful in this world. But the truth is you really don’t.

I guess any movie actor can become a role model for audiences out there who enjoy him.

It is hard to interest those who have everything in those who have nothing.

What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence.

Wow, I get to wake up again? Ok. You have to make good with what you’ve got.

The immigration issue is, I recognize, one that generates a lot of passion, but it does not make sense for us to want to push talent out.

There’s so much about Dolly Parton that every female artist should look to, whether it’s reading her quotes or reading her interviews or going to one of her live shows. She’s been such an amazing example to every female songwriter out there.

I pay attention to lyrics and I know what rap fans care about. I try to write for the average listener and I’m conscious of the mainstream without selling out.

Stay hungry, stay foolish.

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.

Whatever you have, you must either use or lose.

Your most important work is always ahead of you, never behind you.

Do right. Do your best. Treat others as you want to be treated.

Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.

Music has the power to inspire the world.

The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.

We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a featherbed.

There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period.

What inspires me about rap is that it’s written in an almost poetic way. I just think it’s so cool.

We may stumble and fall but shall rise again; it should be enough if we did not run away from the battle.

What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.

Everyone needs a coach. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a basketball player, a tennis player, a gymnast or a bridge player.

Competition gives me energy. It keeps me focused.

Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.

When I was a teenager, my biggest lessons came from Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, George Strait, Rascal Flatts and Brad Paisley. I learned so much from opening up for those artists, and it also taught me how to treat your opening acts and make them feel like they’re part of a family, not just a tour.

Nothing will work unless you do.

It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.

I alone of English writers have consciously set myself to make music out of what I may call the sound of sense.

The temptation to take the easy road is always there. It is as easy as staying in bed in the morning and sleeping in. But discipline is paramount to ultimate success and victory for any leader and any team.

Taylor Swift’s audience can listen to me, but so can the street kids. I want to touch it all.

Positive anything is better than negative nothing.

You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life of peace, you inspire hope for a future of peace.