I defy gravity.

I always feel like it’s two key ingredients when it comes to following your dreams, making something happen that the average person deems difficult. If you truly believe it, that’s step one. Step two, is, you know, the hard work that goes along with it.

I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

Let us be shy no longer. Let us go to our strength. Let us offer hope. Let us tell the world that a new age is not only possible but probable.

I wanted to sell a million records, and I sold a million records. I wanted to go platinum; I went platinum. I’ve been working nonstop since I was 15. I don’t even know how to chill out.

I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‚Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.

Great tragedy has come to us, and we are meeting it with the best that is in our country, with courage and concern for others because this is America. This is who we are.

I’ve got a woman’s ability to stick to a job and get on with it when everyone else walks off and leaves it.

What I admire most about Hillary is that she never buckles under pressure. She never takes the easy way out. And Hillary Clinton has never quit on anything in her life. And when I think about the kind of president that I want for my girls and all our children, that’s what I want.

If you see everything from the point of view of women being victims in some way, you don’t see the wood for the trees. It is better to be a person than a woman.

Human beings must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it.

It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires great strength to decide on what to do.

You see, idealism detached from action is just a dream. But idealism allied with pragmatism, with rolling up your sleeves and making the world bend a bit, is very exciting. It’s very real. It’s very strong.

I knew early on that I wanted to entertain in some form. And I knew I would work as hard as anyone to do it.

I worked my way up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty.

Keep your nose out the sky, keep your heart to god, and keep your face to the raising sun.

If you can speak what you will never hear, if you can write what you will never read, you have done rare things.

Genius is patience.

A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.

Every wall is a door.

Imagine your family finally making it from nothing to something, and finally getting things going, and finally buying a beautiful house and taking care of your children – and the next day, it’s completely all gone. Zero. Boom. Flat broke. So that’s when I had to man up.

At one point he decided enough was enough.

Early on in my life, I had a broken soul. I was abused by my father, abandoned by my mother and ended up in a destructive first marriage. By the time I was 23, I was broken in my soul. I didn’t know how to think right. I felt wrong about everything. But God stepped into my life, and I came out on the other side and didn’t even smell like smoke.

I think women want to take care of themselves, and I think having a voice in how that is done is very important.

I know I’m a good professional, I know that no one’s harder on me than myself and that’s never going to change, under any circumstances.

Tears shed for self are tears of weakness, but tears shed for others are a sign of strength.

My friends, no matter how rough the road may be, we can and we will, never, never surrender to what is right.

There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.

Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.

Courage is being scared to death… and saddling up anyway.

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

With patient and firm determination, I am going to press on for jobs. I’m going to press on for equality. I’m going to press on for the sake of our children. I’m going to press on for the sake of all those families who are struggling right now. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I am going to press on.

The future rewards those who press on. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I’m going to press on.

I always tell young girls, surround yourself with goodness. I learned early on how to get the haters out of my life.

Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is.

What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

I tend not to really think about what other people say. I’d rather just try and focus on what I’m doing, try and win basically.

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

You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.

It is never too late to be what you might have been.

Unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. In this world, fear has no place. Only strength respects strength.

To see things in the seed, that is genius.

Successful people will always tell you you can do something. It’s the people who have never accomplished anything who will always discourage you from trying to achieve excellent things.

If life gives you limes, make margaritas.

I was in a queer mood, thinking myself very old: but now I am a woman again – as I always am when I write.

Together, we can help make sure that every family that walks into a restaurant can make an easy, healthy choice.

If you want to cut your own throat, don’t come to me for a bandage.

The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.

You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.

The separation of church and state is a source of strength, but the conscience of our nation does not call for separation between men of state and faith in the Supreme Being.

Mindfulness practices enhance the connection between our body, our mind and everything else that is around us. Mindful living is the key to understanding our struggles with weight and to empowering us to control our weight.

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.

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.

Never despair, but if you do, work on in despair.

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.

Get place and wealth, if possible with grace; if not, by any means get wealth and place.

You can tell the strength of a nation by the women behind its men.

Get busy living, or get busy dying.

You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.

The most successful men in the end are those whose success is the result of steady accretion.

To the person with a firm purpose all men and things are servants.