He who waits to do a great deal of good at once will never do anything.

I do believe in self-help.

Confession of errors is like a broom which sweeps away the dirt and leaves the surface brighter and clearer. I feel stronger for confession.

As far as men go, it is not what they are that interests me, but what they can become.

It is a most delightful reflection that if I come to the throne of God in prayer, I may feel a thousand defects, but yet there is hope. I usually feel more dissatisfied with my prayers than with anything else I do.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

I vividly remember a conversation I had many years ago in 1974, which marked a turning point in my leadership journey. I was sitting at a Holiday Inn with my friend, Kurt Campmeyer, when he asked me if I had a personal growth plan. I didn’t. In fact, I didn’t even know you were supposed to have one.

If you have the ability to pick yourself up by the bootstraps and start over, you come out stronger because you learn from whatever mistakes you made.

Personally I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.

The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.

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 never worry about action, but only inaction.

Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.

If you wish to achieve worthwhile things in your personal and career life, you must become a worthwhile person in your own self-development.

Every seven years, I sit down and make a whole new plan.

Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.

All achievements, all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea.

Action expresses priorities.

Writing is a dreadful labor, yet not so dreadful as Idleness.

A passionate belief in your business and personal objectives can make all the difference between success and failure. If you aren’t proud of what you’re doing, why should anybody else be?

The nobler a man, the harder it is for him to suspect inferiority in others.

I think being able to age gracefully is a very important talent. It is too late for me.

Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.

Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.

We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction.

I didn’t work hard to sit down and not work.

I’m interested in what motivates individuals to participate in atrocious acts to support their ideological identification.

If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.

I think songwriting is the ultimate form of being able to make anything that happens in your life productive.

I’m my own worst critic, and if I don’t pull off what I think I wanted to do in my head, then I won’t be a happy girl.

Whenever you give up something, you must replace it with something.

There is a great discovery still to be made in literature, that of paying literary men by the quantity they do not write.

We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.

To be idle and to be poor have always been reproaches, and therefore every man endeavors with his utmost care to hide his poverty from others, and his idleness from himself.

I don’t see how people are comfortable with seeing other people be great. You can be happy for anybody, but what is your excuse to not want to be great? These people are great because they just say, ‚I’ma do that,‘ and they do it. That’s it. There’s no scientifical process.

As a father, I always want my son to be perfect. When he was young, I tried to train him in martial arts, but he said, ‚I don’t want to become like Bruce Lee’s son, with everybody telling me how good my father was.‘ I just think my son is too lazy.

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

The starting point of all achievement is desire.

Losers are people who are afraid of losing.

I don’t feel too much pressure. I only see an opportunity.

The chief condition on which, life, health and vigor depend on, is action. It is by action that an organism develops its faculties, increases its energy, and attains the fulfillment of its destiny.

Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.

Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.

I don’t want to make money, I just want to be wonderful.

I had a rough childhood coming up, and I just took all that negative energy and made it very positive for myself to drive me. I’m a very driven person. I have passion that almost scares people, just to be successful and make it no matter what.

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.

Do I have chocolate chip cookies? Yes, I do. Do I have mint chocolate chip milkshakes? Yes, I do. I love them. They are fantastic. But when I have them, they’re worth it. I earned them. I did something. I worked out super hard. I stayed clean on food.

No sanction can stand against ignited minds.

The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.

This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.

Correcting bad habits cannot be done by forbidding or punishment.

To forget one’s purpose is the commonest form of stupidity.

You cannot see the changes that you’re dreaming about, because they’re internal.

We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.

I haven’t been faithful to my own advice in the past. I will in the future.

There are three methods to gaining wisdom. The first is reflection, which is the highest. The second is limitation, which is the easiest. The third is experience, which is the bitterest.

One of the best mental disciplines for people to implement is simply putting together a schedule or a task list and actually executing it. Write the list or the schedule the night before, and then do what you said you would do. Life becomes much better when you do that.

We should never lose an occasion. Opportunity is more powerful even than conquerors and prophets.

I mean we all need a second chance sometimes.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

We want to do a lot of stuff; we’re not in great shape. We didn’t get a good night’s sleep. We’re a little depressed. Coffee solves all these problems in one delightful little cup.