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

The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things.

The one way to get me to work my hardest was to doubt me.

I’ve been blessed to be somebody that’s been climbing that success mountain top for years of hard work, you know, but now it’s all connecting. And now, the whole world is watching, you know what I’m saying, and it feels good ‚cause it’s good energy. This is all positive vibes, and good vibes and good energy, so it feels incredible.

Being humble matters.

I wish everyone well, but you need to focus on yourself. You need to stop putting your hand out. Everyone wants hand outs. Everyone wants things for free. You’ve got to put in the work. You’ve got to grind. You’ve got go through the struggle, and you’ve got to get it.

Though she be but little, she is fierce.

I can be a cruel person.

Remembering what you’ve been through and how that has strengthened your mindset can lift you out of a negative brain loop and help you bypass those weak, one-second impulses to give in. Even if you’re feeling low and beat down by life right now, I guarantee you can think of a time or two when you overcame odds and tasted success.

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

Everyone, no doubt, remains first and foremost a man of his own country and continues to draw from it his motive force.

I believe that we should own the fruits of our labor and the assets of our creations.

Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it.

One cannot become a saint when one works sixteen hours a day.

Big results require big ambitions.

Man is not the creature of circumstances, circumstances are the creatures of men. We are free agents, and man is more powerful than matter.

I do believe in self-help.

When I was writing the Destiny’s Child songs, it was a big thing to be that young and taking control. And the label at the time didn’t know that we were going to be that successful, so they gave us all control. And I got used to it.

If you can’t sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It’s the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep.

Do not let Sunday be taken from you. If your soul has no Sunday, it becomes an orphan.

A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle.

You can’t be afraid to fail. It’s the only way you succeed – you’re not gonna succeed all the time, and I know that.

You know, when I have a bad game, it continues to humble me and know that, you know, you still have work to do and you still have a lot of people to impress.

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

I do believe in the energy and the productivity of the American business world.

Nearly everything you do is of no importance, but it is important that you do it.

I wanted to get a job being creative, and I did.

Sometimes, if you begin to sing in a halfhearted mood, you can sing yourself up the ladder. Singing will often make the heart rise.

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.

The important thing is that men should have a purpose in life. It should be something useful, something good.

I use my celebrity status to inspire someone, to give them hope.

Difficulties mastered are opportunities won.

Fun is one of the most important – and underrated – ingredients in any successful venture. If you’re not having fun, then it’s probably time to call it quits and try something else.

What keeps me going is goals.

The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself; to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile.

Once you say you’re going to settle for second, that’s what happens to you in life.

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

Life doesn’t require that we be the best, only that we try our best.

To do your best is no longer good enough. We now have to do the seemingly impossible.

As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way.

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.

You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.

Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world.

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.

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.

I’m of the school of thought where if you can’t sort something out for yourself then no one can help you.

People won’t have time for you if you are always angry or complaining.

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

The fact is that ours is the first generation that can look disease and extreme poverty in the eye, look across the ocean to Africa, and say this, and mean it. We do not have to stand for this. A whole continent written off – we do not have to stand for this.

It takes tremendous discipline to control the influence, the power you have over other people’s lives.

It’s empowering to know I am doing something, I am taking a stand, I am disrupting.

Don’t compare yourself with other people; compare yourself with who you were yesterday.

Her body calculated to a millimeter to suggest a bud yet guarantee a flower.

If we’re going to bring out the best in people, we, too, need to sow seeds of encouragement.

The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.

I work hard for the audience. It’s entertainment. I don’t need validation.

Hold on with a bulldog grip, and chew and choke as much as possible.

People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine.

Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work.

My goals are so high that I don’t have time to relax in any way, shape or form.