In a gentle way, you can shake the world.

The human body has two ends on it: one to create with and one to sit on. Sometimes people get their ends reversed. When this happens they need a kick in the seat of the pants.

There will be days when I walk in an arena and people will cheer and then there might be days when I walk in an arena and people might boo, but it all sounds the same to me because it’s all just noise that lets me know that I’m relevant.

I get up every morning and say, ‚Father, give me strength today, not strength so I can lift 500 pounds, but give me strength, Lord, so when I speak, my words might motivate, might inspire somebody, Lord, when they see me, let them see you. When they hear me, Lord, let them hear you. In your holy name I pray.‘

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

It’s really hard to guarantee things in life. I guarantee if you get up in the morning and you work out, and you work hard, you will have a better day – 100% guaranteed.

I didn’t work hard to sit down and not work.

The possibilities are numerous once we decide to act and not react.

There are some days when I think I’m going to die from an overdose of satisfaction.

Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

I always make my dreams into goals.

All men are prepared to accomplish the incredible if their ideals are threatened.

Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.

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.

My job is to bring out in people what they wouldn’t dare do themselves.

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.

Although the circumstances of our lives may seem very disengaged, with me standing here as the First Lady of the United States of America and you just getting through school, I want you to know we have very much in common. For nothing in my life ever would have predicted that I would be standing here as the first African-American First Lady.

I think beating myself up sometimes and knowing I am not happy when I do it makes me work harder to do a good job.

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.

With self-discipline most anything is possible.

God’s desire is that we excel.

It is natural to want to have a future.

Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.

People want to feel hopeful.

I feel that God wants me to coach; otherwise, he wouldn’t have put the desire in me.

A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.

There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded.

Talk that does not end in any kind of action is better suppressed altogether.

I came, I saw, I conquered.

To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

I find a lot of inspiration through visuals. When I was 12, I saw Aurora’s ‚Runaway‘ music video. Something inside me clicked, like, ‚That is what I want to do, no matter whether it goes anywhere or not.‘

I wouldn’t ever say if you’re having tough times then there must be something wrong with you or your attitude. Life’s a fight. It’s a good fight of faith. I encourage people to stay up, stay hopeful, stay faith-filled.

What by a straight path cannot be reached by crooked ways is never won.

It was clear to me that if I could get through Princeton at the top of my class, I could do anything in the world.

Protect your enthusiasm from the negativity of others.

I have dreams, and I want to see them come to fruition.

Keep your nose out the sky, keep your heart to god, and keep your face to the raising sun.

Aim for the highest.

When I did have some success, it further emboldens you to be like, ‚No, I’m just going to write what I feel I should write.‘

With patient and firm determination, I am going to press on for jobs. I’m going to press on for equality. I’m going to press on for the sake of our children. I’m going to press on for the sake of all those families who are struggling right now. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I am going to press on.

Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind.

My success isn’t a result of arrogance – it’s a result of belief.

Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far.

A passionate belief in your business and personal objectives can make all the difference between success and failure. If you aren’t proud of what you’re doing, why should anybody else be?

So never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often in such matters the mustard-seed germinates and roots itself.

Human beings must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it.

A great secret of success is to go through life as a man who never gets used up.

All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.

I want it said of me by those who knew me best, that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.

If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster.

Everything is my demon muse. I have a muse which whispers in my ear and says, ‚Do this, do that,‘ but it’s my demon who provokes me.

I am only an average man but, by George, I work harder at it than the average man.

If what you are doing is not moving you towards your goals, then it’s moving you away from your goals.

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

If we don’t plant the right things, we will reap the wrong things. It goes without saying. And you don’t have to be, you know, a brilliant biochemist and you don’t have to have an IQ of 150. Just common sense tells you to be kind, ninny, fool. Be kind.

Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.

Hope is not a resting place but a starting point – a cactus, not a cushion.

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.

The secret is not to give up hope. It’s very hard not to because if you’re really doing something worthwhile I think you will be pushed to the brink of hopelessness before you come through the other side.

If you’re bored with life – you don’t get up every morning with a burning desire to do things – you don’t have enough goals.