Government can provide opportunity. But opportunity means nothing unless people are prepared to seize it.

We are the creative force of our life, and through our own decisions rather than our conditions, if we carefully learn to do certain things, we can accomplish those goals.

Agency is a divine gift to you. You are free to choose what you will be and what you will do.

I was set free because my greatest fear had been realized, and I still had a daughter who I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

Well, no one gives aid to Zimbabwe through the Mugabe government.

The world around me has changed, and I have learned to adapt but not change. But I’m changing into the woman I am meant to be.

Sexism is part of every industry and must be addressed. But I try not to focus on the negative but the positive side of what we can bring.

A black person grows up in this country – and in many places – knowing that racism will be as familiar as salt to the tongue. Also, it can be as dangerous as too much salt. I think that you must struggle for betterment for yourself and for everyone.

We must open the doors of opportunity. But we must also equip our people to walk through those doors.

I still consider it a summer job, though. So, I try to maintain that summer job as long as I can. But it’s exciting to be able to have the opportunity to do things I always dreamed of as a kid.

Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.

Liberty must be limited in order to be possessed.

Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.

We do not need the empire to give us anything.

Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.

The government, whether state or central, is elected. That means we have a responsibility to elect the right kind of leaders.

Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear – kept us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor – with the cry of grave national emergency.

Now I do whatever I want.

The republican is the only form of government which is not eternally at open or secret war with the rights of mankind.

Most of us believe, or should believe, that every child can learn, given the opportunity, but try substitute teaching just once and you will see firsthand the socioeconomic issues that distract our kids from taking advantage of that opportunity.

No fundamental social change occurs merely because government acts. It’s because civil society, the conscience of a country, begins to rise up and demand – demand – demand change.

Free government is the most difficult of all government. But it is everlastingly true that the plain people will make fewer mistakes than any other group of men, no matter how powerful.

I feel you’re in charge of your own situation.

This nuclear option is ultimately an example of the arrogance of power.

When I get up and work out, I’m working out just as much for my girls as I am for me, because I want them to see a mother who loves them dearly, who invests in them, but who also invests in herself. It’s just as much about letting them know as young women that it is okay to put yourself a little higher on your priority list.

Nothing is ever done in this world until men are prepared to kill one another if it is not done.

I think a lot of people love to convolute what everyone else does in order to disempower women.

I hated to be treated as a child. I thought it was the worst situation.

I have often thought that if a rational Fascist dictatorship were to exist, then it would choose the American system.

I believe that God has put gifts and talents and ability on the inside of every one of us. When you develop that and you believe in yourself and you believe that you’re a person of influence and a person of purpose, I believe you can rise up out of any situation.

How can we help President Obama?

Most of us have far more courage than we ever dreamed we possessed.

No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.

The fact is that ours is the first generation that can look disease and extreme poverty in the eye, look across the ocean to Africa, and say this, and mean it. We do not have to stand for this. A whole continent written off – we do not have to stand for this.

Cage Warriors is a brilliant organisation. They’re doing great things for European MMA, and they’re giving the platform for guys like me who came through. They’re vital. I’m forever grateful for the opportunities I got.

Every wall is a door.

My main goal is to be a self-made man and have control over what’s mine.

Governments don’t control people like they used to.

I think women want freedom. They want to be empowered. They want hope. They want love; they want all the things that I want, and I’m not afraid to say those things and act on them, and I think that’s why they identify with me.

We all hoped in 2001 that we could put in place an Afghan government under President Karzai that would be able to control the country, make sure al-Qaeda didn’t come back, and make sure the Taliban wasn’t resurging. It didn’t work out.

We have the best government that money can buy.

If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.

We have an obligation and a responsibility to be investing in our students and our schools. We must make sure that people who have the grades, the desire and the will, but not the money, can still get the best education possible.

If you get an opportunity to work with David Simon, anybody with good taste would.

By definition, a government has no conscience. Sometimes it has a policy, but nothing more.

I walk tall; I got a tall attitude.

When I was writing the Destiny’s Child songs, it was a big thing to be that young and taking control. And the label at the time didn’t know that we were going to be that successful, so they gave us all control. And I got used to it.

God has equipped you to handle difficult things. In fact, He has already planted the seeds of discipline and self-control inside you. You just have to water those seeds with His Word to make them grow!

Any government that supports, protects or harbours terrorists is complicit in the murder of the innocent and equally guilty of terrorist crimes.

A Christian who does not pray for those who govern is not a good Christian.

In Britain, like most of the developed world, stem-cell research is regarded as a great opportunity. America will be left behind if it doesn’t change policy.

Barack knows the American Dream because he’s lived it, and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are or where we’re from or what we look like or who we love.

Unless your government is respectable, foreigners will invade your rights; and to maintain tranquillity, it must be respectable – even to observe neutrality, you must have a strong government.

The government’s job is good governance for everybody. My government will make policies; if you fit into it, come on board, or stay where you are. My job is not to spoon-feed anyone.

Be the hunter, not the hunted.

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.

If a great opportunity opens itself up, I would love to be involved… or star in a movie.

If we can but prevent the government from wasting the labours of the people, under the pretence of taking care of them, they must become happy.

We don’t have to let extremists define us.

The rights of persons, and the rights of property, are the objects, for the protection of which Government was instituted.

I say luck is when an opportunity comes along and you’re prepared for it.