The harder I work, the luckier I become.

Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.

The smallest seed of faith is better than the largest fruit of happiness.

I would hear stories about Steve Jobs and feel like he was at 100 percent exactly what he wanted to do, but I’m sure even a Steve Jobs has compromised. Even a Rick Owens has compromised. You know, even a Kanye West has compromised. Sometimes you don’t even know when you’re being compromised till after the fact, and that’s what you regret.

Anytime I feel lost, I pull out a map and stare. I stare until I have reminded myself that life is a giant adventure, so much to do, to see.

I will prepare and some day my chance will come.

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

Genius is patience.

Hitch your wagon to a star.

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

Well begun is half done.

I just do the best I can and write something interesting, to tell stories in an interesting way and move forward from there.

One’s only rival is one’s own potentialities. One’s only failure is failing to live up to one’s own possibilities. In this sense, every man can be a king, and must therefore be treated like a king.

When I started Virgin from a basement in west London, there was no great plan or strategy. I didn’t set out to build a business empire… For me, building a business is all about doing something to be proud of, bringing talented people together and creating something that’s going to make a real difference to other people’s lives.

I had a good time boxing. I enjoyed it – and I may come back.

Earn your success based on service to others, not at the expense of others.

Ability is nothing without opportunity.

For a long time, I had the idea that I would do a certain amount of work the best I could, and then I would reach a comfort zone, and I wouldn’t be pushed to write more. I would become a different person. It’s a surprise to me that this hasn’t happened. Your body ages, but your mind is the same.

Only the guy who isn’t rowing has time to rock the boat.

Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.

When I prepare, I am not messing around. I find the right places, the right people, and the right environment. Iceland is one of those places.

I am only an average man but, by George, I work harder at it than the average man.

If cash comes with fame, come fame; if cash comes without fame, come cash.

Intellectual passion drives out sensuality.

And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high.

Tomorrow, every Fault is to be amended; but that Tomorrow never comes.

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.

No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit.

And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values, like you work hard for what you want in life. That your word is your bond; that you do what you say you’re going to do. That you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them and even if you don’t agree with them.

I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time.

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

Above anything else, I hate to lose.

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

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.

I think it’s healthy for a person to be nervous. It means you care – that you work hard and want to give a great performance. You just have to channel that nervous energy into the show.

If you wish to be a writer, write.

The truth is, anyone can start projects. The world is full of just-started projects that looked great at the time but were never completed.

My success rate speaks for itself.

For a long time now I have tried simply to write the best I can. Sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can.

The eye of the master will do more work than both his hands.

I never thought of losing, but now that it‘ s happened, the only thing is to do it right. That’s my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life.

She never envisioned a legal career for me, but she did think it was very important that I be able to support myself, and I think she would be pleased to see what has become of me.

You must capture and keep the heart of the original and supremely able man before his brain can do its best.

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.

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.

Well I think a lot of times we’re putting things off and I’m going to do it later. I’m going to break this bad habit or I’m going to pursue this dream or I’m going to treat my spouse better.

Losers are people who are afraid of losing.

Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.

When you are aspiring to the highest place, it is honorable to reach the second or even the third rank.

Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far.

I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.

Let each become all that he was created capable of being.

Finite to fail, but infinite to venture.

Faced with what is right, to leave it undone shows a lack of courage.

You do things when the opportunities come along. I’ve had periods in my life when I’ve had a bundle of ideas come along, and I’ve had long dry spells. If I get an idea next week, I’ll do something. If not, I won’t do a damn thing.

Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.

No one can guarantee success in war, but only deserve it.

Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.

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.

As a producer, as a CEO of Hartbeat Productions, I am making deals to put my company in place to win, to put my staff to work so that while all this stuff is going on, they’re in the kitchen cooking. So it’s understanding the longevity of the entertainment business; you get out of it what you put into it.

The secret to success is to offend the greatest number of people.