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

If a small-town boy like me who bagged groceries was able to make his dreams come true, you can too.

I’m always afraid of failing. I have to quiet that fear if I’m going to get up in the morning.

Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions – Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead.

Progressively saved by the machine from the anxieties that bound his hands and mind to material toil, relieved of a large part of his work and compelled to an ever-increasing speed of action by the devices which his intelligence cannot help ceaselessly creating and perfecting, man is about to find himself abruptly plunged into idleness.

Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.

The resolve of our great nation is being tested. But make no mistake, we will show the world that we will pass the test.

To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day.

A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.

When I signed up for BFC, then-coach Ashley Westwood wanted me to play on the left as an attacking midfielder. I was not sure initially but I believed in his vision. For the first six-seven games, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I was like a headless chicken. But he kept backing me.

No man who is occupied in doing a very difficult thing, and doing it very well, ever loses his self-respect.

The pace of progress on Mars depends upon the pace of progress of SpaceX.

To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science.

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

It has always been my belief that a man should do his best, regardless of how much he receives for his services, or the number of people he may be serving or the class of people served.

I remain convinced that obstinate addiction to ordinary language in our private thoughts is one of the main obstacles to progress in philosophy.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

Founding a company is hard. Most of it isn’t smooth. You’ll have to make very hard decisions. You have to fire a few people. Therefore, if you don’t believe in your mission, giving up is easy. The majority of founders give up. But the best founders don’t give up.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

People always tell you, ‚Be humble. Be humble.‘ When was the last time someone told you to be amazing? Be great! Be great! Be awesome! Be awesome!

What’s amazing is, if young people understood how doing well in school makes the rest of their life so much interesting, they would be more motivated. It’s so far away in time that they can’t appreciate what it means for their whole life.

Many badly needed goals, like fusion and cancer cure, would be achieved much sooner if we invested more.

It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.

Do your job. Do it the best you can. Do it right, because somebody, sometimes your best friend, is waiting for you to screw up so she can take your place.

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.

Ideas excite me, and as soon as I get excited, the adrenaline gets going and the next thing I know I’m borrowing energy from the ideas themselves.

Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What’s a sundial in the shade?

There has never yet been a man in our history who led a life of ease whose name is worth remembering.

New ideas pass through three periods: 1) It can’t be done. 2) It probably can be done, but it’s not worth doing. 3) I knew it was a good idea all along!

Idleness is the parent of psychology.

You have enough people against you… be for yourself.

If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.

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.

Once you say you’re going to settle for second, that’s what happens to you in life.

Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.

Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people.

If virtue promises happiness, prosperity and peace, then progress in virtue is progress in each of these for to whatever point the perfection of anything brings us, progress is always an approach toward it.

Many times, we miss out on God’s best because we give up too soon. We don’t realize how close we are to victory.

The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.

If you lose a big fight, it will worry you all of your life. It will plague you – until you get your revenge.

Nothing succeeds like success. Get a little success, and then just get a little more.

If it wasn’t for the fun and money, I really don’t know why I’d bother.

Unwearied ceaseless effort is the price that must be paid for turning faith into a rich infallible experience.

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

I don’t think the ebbs and flows – get in great shape and then get out of shape and then see if you can get back into shape – is a good thing. So I prefer to keep my arm always ready to go.

It is not, of course, complete yet – but some sentences were understood this afternoon… I feel that I have at last struck the solution of a great problem – and the day is coming when telegraph wires will be laid onto houses just like water or gas – and friends converse with each other without leaving home.

In pop music, the public usually see the results – the hit records, the Grammy Awards performances, the concert tours – but not all the work that goes into getting into the spotlight. And not everyone realizes that, even if you have a lot of talent, chances are you won’t make it.

Failed plans should not be interpreted as a failed vision. Visions don’t change, they are only refined. Plans rarely stay the same, and are scrapped or adjusted as needed. Be stubborn about the vision, but flexible with your plan.

Energy and persistence conquer all things.

I’m not going to get somewhere and say, ‚OK, I’m done.‘ Success is never final; I’ll just keep on going. The same way as failure never being fatal. Just keep going. I’m going to the stars and then past them.

If a man constantly aspires is he not elevated?

Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster.

I don’t think about the end game. I’ve got lots to occupy my mind. It’s the rage that keeps me going.

Dignify and glorify common labor. It is at the bottom of life that we must begin, not at the top.

Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that’s real power.

I feel like this: Whatever is in your path and in your heart, you need to do.

Oh, give us the man who sings at his work.

I’ve had big record label presidents look me in the face and say, ‚Your music sucks, you don’t know who you are, your music is all over the place, and we don’t know how to market this stuff. Pick a lane and come back to us.‘

One thing that I find very unmotivating is the kind of Plan B argument: when Earth gets destroyed, you want to be somewhere else. That doesn’t work for me. We have sent robotic probes now to every place in the solar system, and this is the best one.

Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.