I want to put a ding in the universe.

Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.

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

I’ve read a lot of books on the laws of attraction, and in my home, I have a big book on Muhammad Ali, which I’ve read because he is, like, a hero of mine, but other than that, no, I’m not a big reader.

My children came out as individuals in their own right. They were not my products. They had their own characters and were very strong-minded. I gave them a lot of freedom when they were still very young. The one thing they got from me is morals. They would never betray anyone. They are really good people.

You have to dream before your dreams can come true.

The longer I live, the more I feel that true repose consists in ‚renouncing‘ one’s own self, by which I mean making up one’s mind to admit that there is no importance whatever in being ‚happy‘ or ‚unhappy‘ in the usual meaning of the words.

The more you seek the uncomfortable, the more you will become comfortable.

Each success only buys an admission ticket to a more difficult problem.

We usually lose today, because there has been a yesterday, and tomorrow is coming.

I do not live on false promises. I cannot afford to live on bad advice.

Watch out for the joy-stealers: gossip, criticism, complaining, faultfinding, and a negative, judgmental attitude.

I don’t have to be what you want me to be.

Thinking is a wonderful tool if it’s applied. Thinking, however, can not become the master. Thinking is a very bad master. If you’re dominated by thinking then your life becomes very restricted.

I myself would like to become more disciplined within my work.

I think there is a lot made out of age, and what age you feel.

Pessimism never won any battle.

We construct a narrative for ourselves, and that’s the thread that we follow from one day to the next. People who disintegrate as personalities are the ones who lose that thread.

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.

In my career as a director, there’s always been some point where you get halfway through it, or three-quarters, and you go: ‚What is this thing all about, and why am I telling the story? Does anybody really care about seeing this?‘ At that time you have to say: ‚OK, forget that and just go ahead.‘

My moms always told me, ‚How long you gonna play the victim?‘ I can say I’m mad and I hate everything, but nothing really changes until I change myself.

By the time you get dressed, drive out there, play 18 holes and come home, you’ve blown seven hours. There are better things you can do with your time.

Seek ye first the good things of the mind, and the rest will either be supplied or its loss will not be felt.

You’re not going to scare me into being somebody I don’t want to be.

I can’t jump the highest. I’m obviously not the biggest, not the strongest.

I have a memory, and I can just eliminate mistakes when they come up because I’ve already made them.

The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do, and the more genuine may be one’s appreciation of fundamental things like home, and love, and understanding companionship.

I am certainly not one of those who need to be prodded. In fact, if anything, I am the prod.

Why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me.

Each day brings opportunity for decisions for eternity.

At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.

If you don’t like how things are, change it! You’re not a tree.

But for me to have the opportunity to stand in front of a bunch of executives and present myself, I had to hustle in my own way. I can’t tell you how frustrating it was that they didn’t get that. No joke – I’d leave meetings crying all the time.

I’m concerned that my technical skills have advanced to the point where I can get closer to what I’m aiming for, which is not such a good thing.

Women have to summon up courage to fulfill dormant dreams.

It’s certainly not wrong to want to be a better person. God gave us that desire.

One of the huge imbalances in life is the disparity between your daily existence, with its routines and habits, and the dream you have within yourself of some extraordinarily satisfying way of living.

There is only one failure in life possible, and that is not to be true to the best one knows.

I’ve always been surrounded by many great people and professors, but my family, especially my mom who was a teacher, was the person who encouraged me to study and pushed me to continue. When we’re young, we don’t understand why our parents bug us so much with school and doing homework, but it’s a blessing to have that support at home.

Choose people who lift you up.

You can’t do it unless you can imagine it.

The ideal girl is driven, working on something other than modeling or being a singer.

The pursuit, even of the best things, ought to be calm and tranquil.

Never marry someone in hope that they’ll change later.

When you smoke the herb, it reveals you to yourself.

I have a dogmatic certainty: God is in every person’s life. God is in everyone’s life. Even if the life of a person has been a disaster, even if it is destroyed by vices, drugs or anything else – God is in this person’s life. You can – you must – try to seek God in every human life.

If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.

It must be quite mysterious to some people why I bother to carry on. Because, you know, I don’t sell that many records.

I have so much in my life. I want to be of value to the world.

A leader is a dealer in hope.

I was always told as a child by my mother that you always have to be impeccable, even when you go to bed.

Commit yourself to a mighty purpose.

Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves, even when we risk disappointing others.

Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

Most people treat the present moment as if it were an obstacle that they need to overcome. Since the present moment is life itself, it is an insane way to live.

With self-discipline most anything is possible.

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

No one has a greater asset for his business than a man’s pride in his work.

Do your duty and a little more and the future will take care of itself.

For me, there is no such thing as a negative experience.