I’m not going to get somewhere and say, ‚OK, I’m done.‘ Success is never final; I’ll just keep on going. The same way as failure never being fatal. Just keep going. I’m going to the stars and then past them.

So many objections may be made to everything, that nothing can overcome them but the necessity of doing something.

There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and the tired man who wants a book to read.

Fame and power are the objects of all men. Even their partial fruition is gained by very few; and that, too, at the expense of social pleasure, health, conscience, life.

Working hard is very important. You’re not going to get anywhere without working extremely hard.

Just do some kind of workout. Doesn’t matter if it’s going for a walk around the block, going for a jog, doing some calisthenics, lifting weights, going to a pool and swimming – you name it. But do something that gets your blood flowing and gets your mind in the game.

You do projects with the hope they will be big and hope they will go beyond what you imagine.

Our real problem, then, is not our strength today; it is rather the vital necessity of action today to ensure our strength tomorrow.

We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent.

I was always trying – I never wanted to let my fans down; I always wanted them to see me in my art form.

I don’t go to bed at 1 A.M. and wake up at 5 A.M. and say, ‚Let’s see if I can get this done today.‘

Everything rises and falls on leadership.

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

He only earns his freedom and his life Who takes them every day by storm.

Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.

Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.

My mother was a very wonderful woman. When she and my dad divorced, she moved to California and worked two jobs in the cannery at night and as a waitress during the day. But she saved enough money to establish a restaurant.

I’ve never thought about any kind of prejudice about women in country music because I never felt like it affected me. I was fortunate enough to come about in a time when I didn’t feel that kind of energy at all, and it was always my theory that if you want to play in the same ballgame as the boys, you’ve got to work as hard as them.

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

When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.

I have promised myself that I’m going to do everything I can for as long as I can.

You either make dust or eat dust.

Immense power is acquired by assuring yourself in your secret reveries that you were born to control affairs.

It is for us to pray not for tasks equal to our powers, but for powers equal to our tasks, to go forward with a great desire forever beating at the door of our hearts as we travel toward our distant goal.

My dear friend, clear your mind of cant.

From a certain point onward there is no longer any turning back. That is the point that must be reached.

I know a lot of people say they always believed they could get into F1, but I didn’t quite believe that, certainly not when I was 7 and maybe not until I was 14. It was always so far away.

When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and you argue about what to do about it only after you have had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb.

Not brute force but only persuasion and faith are the kings of this world.

Richard Burton came from the same town as me, so I thought I’d follow my nose, and follow my luck. I think I’ve been very lucky.

Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.

The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get.

Ambition never is in a greater hurry than I; it merely keeps pace with circumstances and with my general way of thinking.

The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.

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 father was not a failure. After all, he was the father of a president of the United States.

I’m kind of fascist with myself, you know.

It doesn’t matter if the water is cold or warm if you’re going to have to wade through it anyway.

This is Sunday, and the question arises, what’ll I start tomorrow?

The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of tiny pushes of each honest worker.

Sometimes it is better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness.

Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.

The person who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore.

Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.

Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.

Changes and progress very rarely are gifts from above. They come out of struggles from below.

The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.

To win a national championship, you’ve got to be a little lucky.

Even as you make progress, you need the discipline to keep from backtracking and sabotaging the success as it’s happening.

I don’t believe we are supposed to go through life defeated and not having enough money to pay our bills or send our kids to college.

It’s not ‚can‘; it’s ‚will.‘ You have to will things into fruition.

If you don’t set the tone for the day, the devil will set it for you.

Patience is not simply the ability to wait – it’s how we behave while we’re waiting.

Collegiality is crucial to the success of our mission. We could not do the job the Constitution assigns to us if we didn’t – to use one of Justice Antonin Scalia’s favorite expressions – ‚Get over it!‘

These young guys are playing checkers. I’m out there playing chess.

I think when smallpox was eliminated, the whole world got pretty excited about that because it’s just such a dramatic success.

What kind of people do they think we are? Is it possible they do not realize that we shall never cease to persevere against them until they have been taught a lesson which they and the world will never forget?

Genius is patience.

The presence of passion within you is the greatest gift you can receive. Treat it as a miracle.

As is the case with most people in this game, I am driven by financial motives and creative motives; the question I had to answer is which motive I will give priority to?