Fires can’t be made with dead embers, nor can enthusiasm be stirred by spiritless men. Enthusiasm in our daily work lightens effort and turns even labor into pleasant tasks.

Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.

If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love.

An employer of mine back in the ’80s was kind enough to take me on after a rough patch, and it made a big difference in my life that I knew I was the sort of person who showed up on time. It’s a basic tell of character.

Men of lofty genius sometimes accomplish the most when they work least, for their minds are occupied with their ideas and the perfection of their conceptions, to which they afterwards give form.

A creation of importance can only be produced when its author isolates himself, it is a child of solitude.

It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.

Rule number one is: Beat your team-mate.

Never stop fighting until you arrive at your destined place – that is, the unique you. Have an aim in life, continuously acquire knowledge, work hard, and have perseverance to realise the great life.

In my father’s generation, the product was 80 percent of what you were putting into the world, and your personal life was 20 percent. It now seems that 80 percent of the product I put out is silly, made-up stories and what I’m wearing.

History shows that the majority of people that have done anything great have passed their youth in seclusion.

Anything you really want, you can attain, if you really go after it.

You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.

I take a lot of pride in the work I do, because people pay to see me. They’ve got to get babysitters, park their car, get popcorn and candy. I’ve got to be conscious of that.

I wish I could play bass like Larry Graham or Bootsy Collins. My God, I’d give up just about everything else for that.

I think there are a number of things that you can do to encourage your kids‘ dreams, but I do believe in speaking by experience of having a lot of help along the way, stumbling in the past. We’ve all stumbled, and we certainly all deserve to get up and walk again.

You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot – it’s all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive.

Art is the proper task of life.

I don’t focus on the critics. Everyone who is making any difference in any field has critics. As long as I feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing, then I don’t worry about it.

Nature study will show you how full of beautiful and wonderful things God has made the world for you to enjoy. Be contented with what you have got and make the best of it. Look on the bright side of things instead of the gloomy one.

Years ago I met Richard Burton in Port Talbot, my home town, and afterwards he passed in his car with his wife, and I thought, ‚I want to get out and become like him‘. Not because of Wales, because I love Wales, but because I was so limited as a child at school and so bereft and lonely, and I thought becoming an actor would do that.

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.

Growing up I’ve watched Lewis and aspired to have some of his attributes, mainly his speed. His raw pace is probably the best of everyone on the whole grid, so there are bits you want from different drivers.

Where fear is, happiness is not.

We all gonna die eventually from something or other, but don’t be a wimp. Put up a good fight.

The happiness of this life depends less on what befalls you than the way in which you take it.

The world has the habit of making room for the man whose actions show that he knows where he is going.

We have to confront ourselves. Do we like what we see in the mirror? And, according to our light, according to our understanding, according to our courage, we will have to say yea or nay – and rise!

A loving heart is the truest wisdom.

Music comes to me more readily than words.

Imagination decides everything.

What is the use of writing plays, what is the use of writing anything, if there is not a will which finally moulds chaos itself into a race of gods.

I only type every third night. I have no plan. My mind is a blank. I sit down. The typewriter gives me things I don’t even know I’m working on. It’s a free lunch. A free dinner. I don’t know how long it is going to continue, but so far there is nothing easier than writing.

There is no waste of time in life like that of making explanations.

When the best leader’s work is done the people say, ‚We did it ourselves.‘

When younger writers and poets, musicians and painters are weakened by a stemming of funds, they come to me saddened, not as full of dreams and excitement and ideas. I am then weakened and diminished, and made less rich.

Hope is not a resting place but a starting point – a cactus, not a cushion.

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.

I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.

Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul.

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.

When I get down, I don’t waller around for long.

There are no big problems, there are just a lot of little problems.

Failure is not an option. Everyone has to succeed.

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.

Anyone can be a Superman, but nobody can be Jackie Chan.

Oh, you weak, beautiful people who give up with such grace. What you need is someone to take hold of you – gently, with love, and hand your life back to you.

The writing process, the way I go about it is I do whatever the beat feels like, whatever the beat is telling me to do. Usually when the beat comes on, I think of a hook or the subject I want to rap about almost instantly. Within four, eight bars of it playing I’m just like, ‚Oh, OK. This is what I wanna do‘.

For just when ideas fail, a word comes in to save the situation.

All my life affection has been showered upon me, and every forward step I have made has been taken in spite of it.

Speak ill of no man, but speak all the good you know of everybody.

I think we understand that for the Court to work well, we have to not only respect but genuinely like each other.

Getting out of bed is like the foundation of the discipline, and I think it carries over into everything else.

When you’re one of the leaders of the team, there are no days off.

Miracles come in moments. Be ready and willing.

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.

Art is never finished, only abandoned.

I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter.

Vanity is great motivation, to be fair.

As far as a glass ceiling, I feel that all you can do is give it your absolute best with whatever gifts the universe has given you. And if you make it in some way that other people can recognize, that’s fine. But even if you don’t quote-unquote make it, you’re fine if you’ve given it your whole heart and soul.

Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed.