Often, in the real world, it’s not the smart that get ahead but the bold.

If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.

The woman who can create her own job is the woman who will win fame and fortune.

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

Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine.

The more successful I become, the more I need a man.

I have been up against tough competition all my life. I wouldn’t know how to get along without it.

As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information.

No great man ever complains of want of opportunity.

The more you seek security, the less of it you have. But the more you seek opportunity, the more likely it is that you will achieve the security that you desire.

There’s a silly notion that failure’s not an option at NASA. Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.

He who wishes to be rich in a day will be hanged in a year.

That is my wish, hope, instruction for all of you: Take your education seriously, okay? Always do that. Because I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for my education.

You might well remember that nothing can bring you success but yourself.

Ability is nothing without opportunity.

We learned about honesty and integrity – that the truth matters… that you don’t take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules… and success doesn’t count unless you earn it fair and square.

Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.

By indignities men come to dignities.

The greenhorn is the ultimate victor in everything; it is he that gets the most out of life.

If you’re afraid to fail, then you’re probably going to fail.

Don’t think in the morning. That’s a big mistake that people make. They wake up in the morning and they start thinking. Don’t think. Just execute the plan. The plan is the alarm clock goes off, you get up, you go work out. Get some.

I believe that one key to success is to accept truth, no matter how it’s spoken.

If boyhood and youth are but vanity, must it not be our ambition to become men?

My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.

If you sit there and have that mentality of ‚triple down on what you’re good at,‘ you’re never going to grow. You’re always going to stay the same.

There is nothing impossible to him who will try.

Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.

I think Himalayan climbers tend to mature fairly late. I think most of the successful Himalayan climbers have ranged from 28 to just over 40, really.

My problem is I am Christian, so I think other people must have success, too; it’s not about me.

Just as I wanted to outdo everyone when I played, I had to outdo everyone when we were out on the town.

Pennies do not come from heaven. They have to be earned here on earth.

If you have a success you have it for the wrong reasons. If you become popular it is always because of the worst aspects of your work.

As for accomplishments, I just did what I had to do as things came along.

Surface R&B doesn’t work any more. The whole heartthrob thing, songs about unrealistic love and tearing your shirt off every show – that’s not really where it’s at any more. It’s becoming harder for those guys to sell records, and harder for them to succeed.

The secret of getting ahead is getting started.

Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time, that in our time we did everything that could be done. We finished the race; we kept them free; we kept the faith.

Everybody has goals, aspirations or whatever, and everybody has been at a point in their life where nobody believed in them.

Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result.

I can understand wanting to have millions of dollars; there’s a certain freedom, meaningful freedom, that comes with that.

In business, success often depends upon the relative age of your ideas.

Good planning is important. I’ve also regarded a sense of humor as one of the most important things on a big expedition. When you’re in a difficult or dangerous situation, or when you’re depressed about the chances of success, someone who can make you laugh eases the tension.

A lot of artists fail when they try to act, and they flop. So when I get into acting, it’s going to be to do it well, something good, something of quality. I want people to say, ‚Wow, that movie‘ – or that show or whatever – ‚turned out really well.‘

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.

You can’t knock on opportunity’s door and not be ready.

And now, of course this is another thing I didn’t count on, that now as the governor of the state of California, I am selling California worldwide. You see that? Selling.

We learned about gratitude and humility – that so many people had a hand in our success, from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean… and we were taught to value everyone’s contribution and treat everyone with respect.

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.

The biggest crime in England is to rise above your station. It’s fine to be a pop star. ‚Oh, it’s great, lots of fun, aren’t they sweet, these pop stars! But to think you have anything to say about how the world should work? What arrogance!‘

I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God’s help I shall succeed.

Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties, passing from one step of success to another, forming new wishes and seeing them gratified.

I want a president with a record of public service, someone whose life’s work shows our children that we don’t chase fame and fortune for ourselves: we fight to give everyone a chance to succeed.

Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement.

My goals are so high that I don’t have time to relax in any way, shape or form.

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.

Of course, I do everything for money.

Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness.

What life half gives a man, posterity gives entirely.

As a kid from Compton, you can get all the success in the world and still question your worth.

Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.

When I won the first Grammy, there was no other feeling like that feeling. It just made me feel like I came so far, like that was just a dream a few years before that, and then it was happening right then.