Finite to fail, but infinite to venture.

The best workers, like the happiest livers, look upon their work as a kind of game: the harder they play the more enjoyable it becomes.

Only those who want everything done for them are bored.

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

There is always safety in valor.

Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.

I have short goals – to get better every day, to help my teammates every day – but my only ultimate goal is to win an NBA championship. It’s all that matters. I dream about it. I dream about it all the time, how it would look, how it would feel. It would be so amazing.

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

Don’t wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you’ve got to make yourself.

I have learned that I really do have discipline, self-control, and patience. But they were given to me as a seed, and it’s up to me to choose to develop them.

Never lose a holy curiosity.

Siren voices tell me, ‚You don’t have to keep going on.‘ And then you think, ‚I’m a writer. What do I do? Sit there watching my wife clean up?‘ I don’t know. I like being a writer.

Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.

Sometimes, getting up in the morning and brushing your teeth is the hardest part of the day – it all just hurts.

I was never really good at anything except for the ability to learn.

Adjusting to the passage of time, I think, is a key to success and to life: just being able to roll with the punches.

Eradications are special. Zero is a magic number. You either do what it takes to get to zero and you’re glad you did it; or you get close, give up and it goes back to where it was before, in which case you wasted all that credibility, activity, money that could have been applied to other things.

I’ve had no contact with my daughter for years. That’s her choice. Anyway, you move on. If people don’t want to bother with me, fine. You know, God bless them, and move on.

You should read history and look at ostracism, persecution, martyrdom, and that kind of thing. They always happen to the best men, you know.

When the negative thoughts come – and they will; they come to all of us – it’s not enough to just not dwell on it… You’ve got to replace it with a positive thought.

The one excellent thing that can be learned from a lion is that whatever a man intends doing should be done by him with a whole-hearted and strenuous effort.

You sort of start thinking anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.

Bring your desires down to your present means. Increase them only when your increased means permit.

I know I want to always do the best I can.

While the crash only took place six months ago, I am convinced we have now passed the worst, and with continued unity of effort, we shall rapidly recover. There is one certainty of the future of a people of the resources, intelligence and character of the people of the United States – that is, prosperity.

For me, money is not my definition of success. Inspiring people is a definition of success.

The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.

Man needs difficulties; they are necessary for health.

I hope my story inspires everyone out there to keep hustling and chasing their dreams.

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

I’m never gonna step away from stand-up. I can’t. That’s what got me where I am, and that’s also my muse. That’s how I stay level-headed. That’s what keeps me going.

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

Go as far as you can see; when you get there you’ll be able to see farther.

First ask yourself: What is the worst that can happen? Then prepare to accept it. Then proceed to improve on the worst.

If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self.

Ideas have a short shelf life. You must act on them before the expiration date.

Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong.

My parents were just constantly affirming me in everything that I did. Late at night, I’d wake up and hear my mother talking over my bed, saying, ‚You’re going to do great on this test. You can do anything you want.‘

Ego is only fine when it is working for your motivation.

I couldn’t ever go back home without being something. I probably would never have gone back home. That was definitely a big motivation. To get back home, and not empty-handed.

Success is due to our stretching to the challenges of life. Failure comes when we shrink from them.

You see things; and you say ‚Why?‘ But I dream things that never were; and I say ‚Why not?‘

Do what you feel in your heart to be right- for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.

I don’t know what can be so dangerous about giving people hope. Causing people to have better relationships. I’m not leading them to some false God or something like that.

I’m not resigned, but I’m realistic too. The statistics in my case are very poor. Not many people come through esophageal cancer and live to talk about it, or not for long. And the other wager is, the part of the wager, it’s a certainty you’ll have a terrible time and you may wish you were dying because it’s an awful process.

I enjoy competition. I enjoy challenges. If a challenge is in front of me and it appeals to me, I will go ahead and conquer it.

Sometimes you need faith and victory spoken over your life. Words have created power. When you receive them into your spirit, they can ignite seeds of increase on the inside.

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.

Positional leaders ignore the fact that every person has hopes, dreams, desires, and goals of his own. And leaders must bring their vision and the aspirations of the people they lead together in a way that benefits everyone.

In a lot of ways, success is much harder than I thought it would be. I figured that you’d get here and then everything would be happily ever after. But, it’s hard work, almost harder once you’re successful because you’ve got to maintain it.

Even if you have nothing to write, write and say so.

I worked out early on to give up things I couldn’t do well at all.

Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of.

He only earns his freedom and his life Who takes them every day by storm.

There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.

People say you have to hit rock bottom, and, I can tell you, almost dying is as rock bottom as it gets.

People’s blessings give you the power to work tirelessly. The only thing required is commitment.

I kept writing not because I felt I was so good, but because I felt they were so bad, including Shakespeare, all those. The stilted formalism, like chewing cardboard.

I like to work and am a focused person.

I can live for two months on a good compliment.

Success or failure depends more upon attitude than upon capacity successful men act as though they have accomplished or are enjoying something. Soon it becomes a reality. Act, look, feel successful, conduct yourself accordingly, and you will be amazed at the positive results.