It always remains true that if we had been greater, circumstance would have been less strong against us.

Fear is stupid. So are regrets.

Life is about growing and improving and getting better.

No one can give you better advice than yourself.

Self-belief and hard work will always earn you success.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake.

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

Everybody who is incapable of learning has taken to teaching.

I think I could go away tomorrow. I’ve already accomplished something. It’s such a selfish business that sometimes I get sick of myself.

In other words, don’t expect to always be great. Disappointments, failures and setbacks are a normal part of the lifecycle of a unit or a company and what the leader has to do is constantly be up and say ‚we have a problem, let’s go and get it‘.

You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.

I always say, decisions I make, I live with them. There’s always ways you can correct them or ways you can do them better. At the end of the day, I live with them.

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

I don’t know what drives me to succeed.

Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.

The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.

I never expected to be anybody important.

Don’t wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you’ve got to make yourself.

In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves… self-discipline with all of them came first.

Don’t bring your need to the marketplace, bring your skill. If you don’t feel well, tell your doctor, but not the marketplace. If you need money, go to the bank, but not the marketplace.

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.

There is no security on this earth; there is only opportunity.

I think a role model is a mentor – someone you see on a daily basis, and you learn from them.

The shortest answer is doing the thing.

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.

It’s easy to get negative because you get beat down. You go through a few disappointments and it’s easy to stay in that negative frame of mind. Choosing to be positive and having a grateful attitude is a whole cliche, but your attitude is going to determine how you’re going to live your life.

If a man constantly aspires is he not elevated?

Well, I wouldn’t say that I was in the great class, but I had a great time while I was trying to be great.

The self is hateful.

My philosophy in life is, Decide what you want to do. You have to have something to hope for.

He too serves a certain purpose who only stands and cheers.

The man who has no problems is out of the game.

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.

My goal is to entertain myself and others.

I liked school, but I used to dread those moments when the teacher would call me up to give an oral report. I forced myself to deal with it and not dwell on the class in front of me – to keep a straight face, give the report and concentrate on getting it right. That’s normally how I perform. That’s how I am.

I am a good listener. I think that came from my schooling.

Every man is a consumer, and ought to be a producer. He is by constitution expensive, and needs to be rich.

Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.

God has already done everything He’s going to do. The ball is now in your court. If you want success, if you want wisdom, if you want to be prosperous and healthy, you’re going to have to do more than meditate and believe; you must boldly declare words of faith and victory over yourself and your family.

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

I won’t accept anything less than the best a player’s capable of doing… and he has the right to expect the best that I can do for him and the team!

My powers are ordinary. Only my application brings me success.

Resist the need to be ‚right‘ all the time or to always have the last word.

Luck marches with those who give their very best.

The only happiness a brave person ever troubles themselves in asking about, is happiness enough to get their work done.

Personally I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.

My old drama coach used to say, ‚Don’t just do something, stand there.‘ Gary Cooper wasn’t afraid to do nothing.

The only real security that a man can have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience and ability.

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.

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.

Transformation literally means going beyond your form.

Men of lofty genius when they are doing the least work are most active.

People who use time wisely spend it on activities that advance their overall purpose in life.

As we advance in life we learn the limits of our abilities.

Begin – to begin is half the work, let half still remain; again begin this, and thou wilt have finished.

If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.

Success or failure depends more upon attitude than upon capacity successful men act as though they have accomplished or are enjoying something. Soon it becomes a reality. Act, look, feel successful, conduct yourself accordingly, and you will be amazed at the positive results.

When you are enthusiastic about what you do, you feel this positive energy. It’s very simple.

Indeed, it is as important to learn how to receive a blessing as it is to be willing to give one.

I learned a long time ago how to be coachable.