Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose.

Happiness is a ball after which we run wherever it rolls, and we push it with our feet when it stops.

When I did have some success, it further emboldens you to be like, ‚No, I’m just going to write what I feel I should write.‘

The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are. The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.

Kites rise highest against the wind – not with it.

People want you to fail.

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.

I don’t expect to live forever, but I do intend to hang on as long as possible.

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

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is liking what you get.

There is a soak-the-rich attitude in the air, a feeling that if you have a lot of money you must have got it by some ghastly means. I can quite happily say there was never any family money. All the money we got was mine, just from writing books.

It’s never paid to bet against America. We come through things, but its not always a smooth ride.

Around every corner, always protect the engine that powers you.

So never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often in such matters the mustard-seed germinates and roots itself.

I got a greater purpose. God put something in my heart to get across, and that’s what I’m going to focus on, using my voice as an instrument and doing what needs to be done.

Two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light which leads to truth; and second, the courage to follow this faint light wherever it may lead.

Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‚I’m possible‘!

There must be a reason why some people can afford to live well. They must have worked for it. I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things that we could use.

Why did I become Jackie Chan? Mostly because I work very hard. When people were sleeping, I was still training.

That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.

Energy and persistence conquer all things.

I decided to pursue music, so I dropped out of school and I told my parents I didn’t want any money from them. I got three jobs and I just hit the ground running.

As a professional athlete a lot is going to be said about you – but I just try to move forward and try to achieve my goals.

If patience is worth anything, it must endure to the end of time. And a living faith will last in the midst of the blackest storm.

Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man; but for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity.

The ninety and nine are with dreams, content but the hope of the world made new, is the hundredth man who is grimly bent on making those dreams come true.

When I get on a roll with something, it’s really hard for me to put it down unfinished.

Sometimes I wonder why I’m a novelist right now. There is no definite career reason why I became a writer. Something happened, and I became a writer. And now I’m a successful writer.

I can’t keep somebody from being a star, and I can’t make somebody a star, and nobody can.

The reason we want to go on and on is because we live in an impoverished present.

It kills me to lose. If I’m a troublemaker, and I don’t think that my temper makes me one, then it’s because I can’t stand losing. That’s the way I am about winning, all I ever wanted to do was finish first.

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

True glory takes root, and even spreads; all false pretences, like flowers, fall to the ground; nor can any counterfeit last long.

My dream is to continue filming until my body tells me to stop.

In the world today many people rightfully feel entitled to have success and the good things in life, but they usually understand it will require sacrifice and hard work.

Bayern want a decade of success like Barca. That’s OK if you have the money because it increases the possibility of success. But it’s not guaranteed.

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.

Mickey Mouse popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner.

I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‚Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.

My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them.

I should be a postage stamp, because that’s the only way I’ll ever get licked. I’m beautiful. I’m fast. I’m so mean I make medicine sick. I can’t possibly be beat.

I think the Iranians are clearly determined to have a nuclear program. And we have to assume that with a nuclear program they have the capability and the will to create a nuclear weapon.

Perseverance is also key to success in any endeavor, but without perseverance in combat, there can be no victory.

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.

Even though you are on the right track – you will get run over if you just sit there.

Affluence means influence.

I believe the returns on investment in the poor are just as exciting as successes achieved in the business arena, and they are even more meaningful!

It’s a common misconception that money is every entrepreneur’s metric for success. It’s not, and nor should it be.

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.

Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all.

The superior man makes the difficulty to be overcome his first interest; success only comes later.

So many people have this idea: I want to achieve something great or be somebody great. And they neglect the step that leads to greatness. They don’t honor this step at this moment because they have this idea of some future moment where they are going to be great.

Whenever things go a bit sour in a job I’m doing, I always tell myself, ‚You can do better than this.‘

Believe you can and you’re halfway there.

In two decades I’ve lost a total of 789 pounds. I should be hanging from a charm bracelet.

If you stop struggling, then you stop life.

To sit back hoping that someday, some way, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last – but eat you he will.

No man can succeed in a line of endeavor which he does not like.

A man can do only what he can do. But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day.

When we look back on all the perils through which we have passed and at the mighty foes that we have laid low and all the dark and deadly designs that we have frustrated, why should we fear for our future? We have come safely through the worst.

The worst part of success is, to me, adapting to it. It’s scary.