I nearly failed when Virgin was in its infancy; I nearly failed in the early 1980s, and, of course, I have nearly died more than once trying to achieve a world record for boating or ballooning. But through a combination of luck and planning, both Virgin and I are still here.

One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.

The place where you made your stand never mattered. Only that you were there… and still on your feet.

Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible.

I think you can have 10,000 explanations for failure, but no good explanation for success.

Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.

But, the thing is, since I always had my own little shop and direct access to the public, I’ve been able to build up a technique without marketing people ever telling me what the public wants.

In England, when an athlete gets to the top, we do our best to destroy him.

Growth is the great separator between those who succeed and those who do not. When I see a person beginning to separate themselves from the pack, it’s almost always due to personal growth.

Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.

Talent without working hard is nothing.

I enjoy competition. I enjoy challenges. If a challenge is in front of me and it appeals to me, I will go ahead and conquer it.

If two smart, intelligent, clever guys sit together on a table, and you both want the same, where can be the problem? We all want to be successful.

The best people renounce all for one goal, the eternal fame of mortals; but most people stuff themselves like cattle.

No man is ever whipped until he quits in his own mind.

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.

I like the good life too much, I’m not good at going on stage night after night and on wet Wednesday afternoons.

Sometimes God will deliver you from the fire, and other times God will make you fireproof.

Someone said to me, ‚If fifty percent of the experts in Hollywood said you had no talent and should give up, what would you do?‘ My answer was then and still is, ‚If a hundred percent told me that, all one hundred percent would be wrong.‘

The successful men I admired all built their bodies.

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.

I do not like to repeat successes, I like to go on to other things.

Just because I managed to do a little something, I don’t want anyone back home to think I got the big head.

Live dangerously and you live right.

In order to become prosperous, a person must initially work very hard, so he or she has to sacrifice a lot of leisure time.

People will try to bring you down, but you gotta go up.

A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.

Under the worst conditions, horrendous conditions, people still, you know, fight for their rights and don’t just succumb.

I was a journeyman chef of middling abilities. Whatever authority I have as a commenter on this world comes from the sheer weight of 28 years in the business. I kicked around for 28 years and came out the other end alive and able to form a sentence.

If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.

Successful people are simply those with successful habits.

‚Suffering should not make us bitter people,‘ my mother once said, ‚it should make us better comforters.‘ Young people need to hear this from those who have walked before them, because someday they’ll be walking those same steps, but there may not be anyone following behind.

Pennies do not come from heaven. They have to be earned here on earth.

In all my work, in the movies I write, the lyrics, the poetry, the prose, the essays, I am saying that we may encounter many defeats – maybe it’s imperative that we encounter the defeats – but we are much stronger than we appear to be and maybe much better than we allow ourselves to be. Human beings are more alike than unalike.

Being self-made means never making an excuse as to why you can’t take steps toward whatever your goal is.

I’d go to, like, six different schools in one year. We were on welfare, and my mom never ever worked.

I didn’t want to be a writer, but I became one. And now I have many readers, in many countries. I think that’s a miracle. So I think I have to be humble regarding this ability. I’m proud of it and I enjoy it, and it is strange to say it this way, but I respect it.

No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause.

We will be more successful in all our endeavors if we can let go of the habit of running all the time, and take little pauses to relax and re-center ourselves. And we’ll also have a lot more joy in living.

A cat is only itself, representative of the strong forces of life that won’t let go.

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

Celebrity is the chastisement of merit and the punishment of talent.

There is a tendency for things to right themselves.

Every time I think that I’m getting old, and gradually going to the grave, something else happens.

How great are the dangers I face to win a good name in Athens.

When we look back on all the perils through which we have passed and at the mighty foes that we have laid low and all the dark and deadly designs that we have frustrated, why should we fear for our future? We have come safely through the worst.

The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure criticism without resentment.

I always wanted to have a headphone line but I feel like I’m going to do more than just headphones eventually, but we want to wake the world up right now with this.

Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.

One mustn’t close one’s eyes to difficulty and to shortcomings; the more one recognizes them, the less they upset one.

You have to dream before your dreams can come true.

There are definitely people who disagree with certain creative decisions you make. Pleasing everyone is pretty hard.

Nobody, as long as he moves about among the chaotic currents of life, is without trouble.

I don’t think you get successful to brag and throw what you have in the world’s face. That’s all private.

I worked out early on to give up things I couldn’t do well at all.

Behind every successful man is a woman, behind her is his wife.

There is no way to prosperity, prosperity is the way.

I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.

I just hate meetings. Though it’s true that once you’ve made a lot of money, people around you might be full of ideas about ways to make lots more money and might be disappointed that you don’t want to seize every opportunity to do so.

In any court-like environment of power, you will inevitably find people who are drawn to those who are successful or powerful, not out of admiration, but out of secret envy.

The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous.