He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.

I never thought much of the courage of a lion tamer. Inside the cage he is at least safe from people.

The price of greatness is responsibility.

Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.

Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.

As is the case with most people in this game, I am driven by financial motives and creative motives; the question I had to answer is which motive I will give priority to?

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

The coward wretch whose hand and heart Can bear to torture aught below, Is ever first to quail and start From the slightest pain or equal foe.

You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.

Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will.

We are America, second to none, and we own the finish line. Don’t forget it.

Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.

There is no substitute for victory.

Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.

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.

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.

Great dreams of great dreamers are always transcended.

It requires more courage to suffer than to die.

Once you begin to fall off the track and believe you breathe different air to everyone else, you’re doomed; you’re finished.

Words without thoughts never to heaven go.

If I can put one touch of rosy sunset into the life of any man or woman, I shall feel that I have worked with God.

We are never defeated unless we give up on God.

You have to stay faithful to what you’re working on.

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.

If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.

If at first you don’t succeed… so much for skydiving.

No great deed is done by falterers who ask for certainty.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake.

Whether you come from a council estate or a country estate, your success will be determined by your own confidence and fortitude.

When people are around us, they should leave better off than they were previously. Rather than feeling discouraged or defeated, people should feel challenged and inspired after spending any time with you and me.

The secret of getting ahead is getting started.

I dwell in possibility.

To have done anything just for money is to have been truly idle.

Never regret what you don’t write.

If I inspire you, pay for it, period.

Courage – you develop courage by doing small things like just as if you wouldn’t want to pick up a 100-pound weight without preparing yourself.

Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen.

I was always trying – I never wanted to let my fans down; I always wanted them to see me in my art form.

The greatest mistake we make is living in constant fear that we will make one.

Those who lack the courage will always find a philosophy to justify it.

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.

As soon as I accomplish one goal, I replace it with another one. I try not to get too far ahead of myself. I just say to myself, ‚All right, well, I’d like to headline a tour,‘ and then when I get there, we’ll see what my next goal is.

If you don’t like what you’re doing, then don’t do it.

The future is like heaven, everyone exalts it, but no one wants to go there now.

In war there is no prize for runner-up.

Nothing will work unless you do.

I’m not afraid to die, I just don’t want to be there when it happens.

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

Inspiration is hard to come by. You have to take it where you find it.

It was the experience of mystery – even if mixed with fear – that engendered religion.

There are many victories worse than a defeat.

When you are laboring for others let it be with the same zeal as if it were for yourself.

Whenever you hear a man speak of his love for his country, it is a sign that he expects to be paid for it.

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.

My attitude has always been, if you fall flat on your face, at least you’re moving forward. All you have to do is get back up and try again.

To those of you who received honours, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you, too, can be president of the United States.

Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.

It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things.

Anytime we step out boldly to make changes, we take a chance that we might fail. But the only way to get better is to try.

Since day one, since the first time I touched the pen, I wanted to be the best at what I do.

We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.