Instead of being critical of people in authority over you and envious of their position, be happy you’re not responsible for everything they have to do. Instead of piling on complaints, thank them for what they do. Overwhelm them with encouragement and appreciation!

Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light.

It is very important to generate a good attitude, a good heart, as much as possible. From this, happiness in both the short term and the long term for both yourself and others will come.

In war, you can only be killed once, but in politics, many times.

You make yourself broad. You make yourself appealing. ‚Hey, y’all, I’m cool with everybody.‘ That’s my message.

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

Being the boss anywhere is lonely. Being a female boss in a world of mostly men is especially so.

When you begin to worry, go find something to do. Get busy being a blessing to someone; do something fruitful. Talking about your problem or sitting alone, thinking about it, does no good; it serves only to make you miserable. Above all else, remember that worrying is totally useless. Worrying will not solve your problem.

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.

In my opinion eight years as president is enough and sometimes too much for any man to serve in that capacity.

‚Royal Beatings‘ was my first story, and it was published in 1977. But I sent all my early stories to ‚The New Yorker‘ in the 1950s, and then I stopped sending for a long time and sent only to magazines in Canada. ‚The New Yorker‘ sent me nice notes, though – penciled, informal messages. They never signed them. They weren’t terribly encouraging.

Be careful what you set your heart upon – for it will surely be yours.

God wants to use you to make other people happy! And the happier you make others, the happier you will be because you reap what you sow.

I believe in Coach Louis Wong. He is so much more than just a football coach.

Our life is what our thoughts make it.

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.

All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming.

Military school was great and especially great for leadership and then I spent two years in Vietnam.

Must is a hard nut to crack, but it has a sweet kernel.

The world is indebted for all triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression.

Life is precious.

With Malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds.

There are three kinds of intelligence: one kind understands things for itself, the other appreciates what others can understand, the third understands neither for itself nor through others. This first kind is excellent, the second good, and the third kind useless.

I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.

I always entertain great hopes.

People want to listen to a message, word from Jah. This could be passed through me or anybody. I am not a leader. Messenger. The words of the songs, not the person, is what attracts people.

What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.

Protect your enthusiasm from the negativity of others.

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.

If we had more hell in the pulpit, we would have less hell in the pew.

To rule a country of a thousand chariots, there must be reverent attention to business, and sincerity; economy in expenditure, and love for men; and the employment of the people at the proper seasons.

Take off your bedroom slippers. Put on your marching shoes,‘ he said, his voice rising as applause and cheers mounted. ‚Shake it off. Stop complainin‘. Stop grumblin‘. Stop cryin‘. We are going to press on. We have work to do.

Our chief justices have probably had more profound and lasting influence on their times and on the direction of the nation than most presidents.

Here in the West, people often don’t like listening to their leaders, even if they are right.

I was a chemistry major, but I’m always winding up as a teacher in English departments, so I’ve brought scientific thinking to literature. There’s been very little gratitude for this.

I’m convinced of this: Good done anywhere is good done everywhere. For a change, start by speaking to people rather than walking by them like they’re stones that don’t matter. As long as you’re breathing, it’s never too late to do some good.

Human nature is not nearly as bad as it has been thought to be.

Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish – too much handling will spoil it.

A man’s interest in a single bluebird is worth more than a complete but dry list of the fauna and flora of a town.

When fate hands you a lemon, make lemonade.

I don’t think that a leader can control, to any great extent, his destiny. Very seldom can he step in and change the situation if the forces of history are running in another direction.

No man who has once heartily and wholly laughed can be altogether irreclaimably bad.

Anything important is never left to the vote of the people. We only get to vote on some man; we never get to vote on what he is to do.

There is love enough in this world for everybody, if people will just look.

And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.

I have no delusions about my likability in every scenario. I know that in order to get things done the way you want them, oftentimes your position will be unpopular.

Those who can win a war well can rarely make a good peace and those who could make a good peace would never have won the war.

I played by the rules of politics as I found them.

In a relationship each person should support the other; they should lift each other up.

Good leaders must communicate vision clearly, creatively, and continually. However, the vision doesn’t come alive until the leader models it.

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.

God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.

Over the years, I’ve learned that a confident person doesn’t concentrate or focus on their weaknesses – they maximize their strengths.

I’m no longer just a candidate. I’m the President. I know what it means to send young Americans into battle, for I have held in my arms the mothers and fathers of those who didn’t return. I’ve shared the pain of families who’ve lost their homes, and the frustration of workers who’ve lost their jobs.

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else.

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‚I used everything you gave me‘.

Wow, I get to wake up again? Ok. You have to make good with what you’ve got.

I’m not looking to get away from anything. I like what I’ve done. I like what I get to do and I enjoy working with my friends. I loved those movies, but this is incredible.

The American President resembles the commander of a ship at sea. He must have a helm to grasp, a course to steer, a port to seek.

We can feel joy even while having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year!

It is a fine thing to have ability, but the ability to discover ability in others is the true test.