I know of no single formula for success. But over the years I have observed that some attributes of leadership are universal and are often about finding ways of encouraging people to combine their efforts, their talents, their insights, their enthusiasm and their inspiration to work together.

If you really want to know what Middle-earth is based on, it’s my wonder and delight in the earth as it is, particularly the natural earth.

Love is the answer to everything. It’s the only reason to do anything. If you don’t write stories you love, you’ll never make it. If you don’t write stories that other people love, you’ll never make it.

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

A conductor can’t be too arrogant with an orchestra and try to impose himself too much.

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

I have to admit, I sometimes wonder how much more successful I would have been as a coach had it not been for my spending summers on the golf course. I could have watched more film, that’s for sure. One advantage Joe Paterno had over me was that he didn’t play golf.

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.

There’s a bond among a kitchen staff, I think. You spend more time with your chef in the kitchen than you do with your own family.

A friendship founded on business is better than a business founded on friendship.

I attribute my success to this – I never gave or took any excuse.

In inner-city, low-income communities of color, there’s such a high correlation in terms of educational quality and success.

Which government is the best? The one that teaches us to govern ourselves.

I’ve been a mogul and executive since the beginning of my career. People are just born with that skill.

I’m asking myself, ‚What do my girls, what do all our children deserve in their president? What kind of a president do we want for them?‘ Well, to start with, I think we want someone who is a unifying force in this country: someone who sees our differences not as a threat, but as a blessing.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

You have to dream before your dreams can come true.

He that humbleth himself wishes to be exalted.

Until you have formed the habit of looking for the good instead of the bad there is in others, you will be neither successful nor happy.

The proper study of Man is anything but Man; and the most improper job of any man, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity.

I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained.

Often people become our friend or follower with an undercurrent of resentment in our having more success than they have. They secretly desire the opportunity to take us down a notch; they have a nose for any misstep on our part they can exploit.

For unflagging interest and enjoyment, a household of children, if things go reasonably well, certainly all other forms of success and achievement lose their importance by comparison.

Perseverance is also key to success in any endeavor, but without perseverance in combat, there can be no victory.

Natural ability without education has more often attained to glory and virtue than education without natural ability.

One of the things that was really an issue was I did not want to just be a woman secretary of state. I wanted to be a secretary of a state who was a woman, but not just chosen for that particular reason.

The wish to acquire more is admittedly a very natural and common thing; and when men succeed in this they are always praised rather than condemned. But when they lack the ability to do so and yet want to acquire more at all costs, they deserve condemnation for their mistakes.

Think of yourself as on the threshold of unparalleled success. A whole, clear, glorious life lies before you. Achieve! Achieve!

Success makes so many people hate you. I wish it wasn’t that way. It would be wonderful to enjoy success without seeing envy in the eyes of those around you.

That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.

Art is never finished, only abandoned.

The President is going to benefit from me reporting directly to him when I arrive.

The best government is that which teaches us to govern ourselves.

Well, I think we tried very hard not to be overconfident, because when you get overconfident, that’s when something snaps up and bites you.

The topic of leadership is a touchy one. A lot of leaders fail because they don’t have the bravery to touch that nerve or strike that chord. Throughout my years, I haven’t had that fear.

I just think overall there’s not as many female ministers than there are male ministers.

There is no substitute for victory.

I would rather earn 1% off a 100 people’s efforts than 100% of my own efforts.

I always knew that St. Jude was an amazing organization but meeting the kids and seeing how the hospital works first hand was truly beautiful. It doesn’t feel like a regular hospital all dreary and sad. It’s a colorful, beautiful, comfortable, fun place to live and the energy is wonderful.

Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What’s a sundial in the shade?

Believe you can and you’re halfway there.

Even if you have nothing to write, write and say so.

O! for a muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention.

Most people dream a dream when they are asleep. But to be a writer, you have to dream while you are awake, intentionally. So I get up early in the morning, 4 o’clock, and I sit at my desk and what I do is just dream. After three or four hours, that’s enough. In the afternoon, I run. The next day, the dream will continue.

You cannot be President of the United States if you don’t have faith. Remember Lincoln, going to his knees in times of trial in the Civil War and all that stuff.

My lyrics are generated by various peculiar processes. Very random and similar to automatic writing.

Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, ‚What’s in it for me?‘

Remember that the essence of authority is that people willingly follow your lead.

Arafat’s departure has created an awesome opportunity.

Poetry surrounds us everywhere, but putting it on paper is, alas, not so easy as looking at it.

Every sin is the result of a collaboration.

When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.

The way of fortune is like the milkyway in the sky; which is a number of small stars, not seen asunder, but giving light together: so it is a number of little and scarce discerned virtues, or rather faculties and customs, that make men fortunate.

Nothing is more expensive than a missed opportunity.

If you look at any Muslim society and you make a scale of how developed they are, and how successful the economy is, it’s a straight line. It depends on how much they emancipate their women.

Don’t be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves.

Whether you want to go into music, whether you want to be a lawyer, whether you want to be President of the United States, the bottom line for all of you is that you have got to get your education.

I’m just a kid that defied the odds. I’m just a kid that ignored the doubt. I’m just a kid from a little place in Dublin, Ireland, that went all the way, and I’m going to continue to go all the way.

Get up, stand up, Stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, Don’t give up the fight.

The true measure of the value of any business leader and manager is performance.

See, winners embrace hard work.