It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.

What’s dangerous is not to evolve.

I put a lot of pressure on myself. I think something’s not good enough, and I won’t stop until I feel like I’ve made it. I’m never satisfied.

Lets have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.

I was raised in a family where vulnerability was barely tolerated: no training wheels on our bicycles, no goggles in the pool, just get it done. And so I grew up not only with discomfort about my own vulnerability, I didn’t care for it in other people either.

Don’t worry about motivation. Motivation is fickle. It comes and goes. It is unreliable – and when you are counting on motivation to get your goals accomplished, you will likely fall short.

I invented my life by taking for granted that everything I did not like would have an opposite, which I would like.

Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.

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.

Better to fight for something than live for nothing.

We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.

If you enjoy living, it is not difficult to keep the sense of wonder.

Even when you’re 50, you can make the effort to improve your standards.

I’m definitely gaining new fans, and that’s the key of any success… gain more love.

See, winners embrace hard work.

We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.

The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.

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.

There are still many causes worth sacrificing for, so much history yet to be made.

I had my moments of being humiliated, and then I had moments of doing something humiliating. I’m glad I lived out both roles.

The individual who can do something that the world wants done will, in the end, make his way regardless of his race.

I’m not the same man I used to be, I’m not out hell-raising, stuff like that. I am a changed man.

People have to go through trials and tribulations to get where they at. Do your thing – continue to rock it – because obviously, God wants you here.

That is America. That is America. Those bonds of affection; that common creed. We don’t fear the future; we shape it. We embrace it, as one people, stronger together than we are on our own.

This above all, to refuse to be a victim.

Don’t wait to be successful at some future point. Have a successful relationship with the present moment and be fully present in whatever you are doing. That is success.

There are some people who hate my guts. But that goes with the territory.

Truth cannot be brought down; rather, the individual must make the effort to ascend to it. You cannot bring the mountaintop to the valley. If you would attain to the mountaintop, you must pass through the valley, climb the steeps, unafraid of the dangerous precipices.

A mind at peace, a mind centered and not focused on harming others, is stronger than any physical force in the universe.

The best government is that which teaches us to govern ourselves.

If some years were added to my life, I would give fifty to the study of the Yi, and then I might come to be without great faults.

Don’t be dependent. At all. Ever. Period.

There wasn’t much as a kid that inspired me in what I did as an adult, but I was always very interested in what motivates people, and in telling stories and building things.

To know oneself, one should assert oneself.

What keeps me motivated is love and passion.

Defeat doesn’t finish a man, quit does. A man is not finished when he’s defeated. He’s finished when he quits.

If there is anything that we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.

When I was four, my mother insisted I get out of the car and find my own way home. Although I got lost, I did find my way home. It taught me the value of independence at an early age.

What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with us. The greatest university of all is a collection of books.

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

Never complain and never explain.

We must open the doors of opportunity. But we must also equip our people to walk through those doors.

One truth stands firm. All that happens in world history rests on something spiritual. If the spiritual is strong, it creates world history. If it is weak, it suffers world history.

I don’t see how people are comfortable with seeing other people be great. You can be happy for anybody, but what is your excuse to not want to be great? These people are great because they just say, ‚I’ma do that,‘ and they do it. That’s it. There’s no scientifical process.

The world is full of willing people; some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.

Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.

We should purify our innate well of contentment – what a wonderful expression – and then external things will be in harmony with us.

I am grateful to be a woman. I must have done something great in another life.

Freedom is something that dies unless it’s used.

You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.

Any lady who is first lady likes being first lady. I don’t care what they say, they like it.

It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult.

History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats.

He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it’s at the end of your arm, as you get older, remember you have another hand: The first is to help yourself, the second is to help others.

You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway.

Giving up cannot be an option.

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.

To the person with a firm purpose all men and things are servants.

In this great country, we celebrate success. We don’t want to penalize those who have done well.