Let every dawn be to you as the beginning of life, and every setting sun be to you as its close.

Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal.

Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

There is only one way… to get anybody to do anything. And that is by making the other person want to do it.

Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don’t have time for all that.

Practically everybody in New York has half a mind to write a book, and does.

I’ve never met a genius. A genius to me is someone who does well at something he hates. Anybody can do well at something he loves – it’s just a question of finding the subject.

And poets, in my view, and I think the view of most people, do speak God’s language – it’s better, it’s finer, it’s language on a higher plane than ordinary people speak in their daily lives.

There have to be reasons that you get up in the morning and you want to live. Why do you want to live? What’s the point? What inspires you? What do you love about the future? If the future does not include being out there among the stars and being a multi-planet species, I find that incredibly depressing.

The confessional is not a torture chamber, but the place in which the Lord’s mercy motivates us to do better.

If I’m inspired to make a certain kind of song, I’m going to make that kind of song, no matter if it’s what they know me as or think I am.

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

When I’m writing a record, I kind of don’t listen to much music. Just because I want to be inspired solely on the emotion; just based on how it feels.

When I’m in the studio, I’m looking for creativity I haven’t matched yet, a feeling I haven’t felt. It’s a high.

I will do this job as long as I feel that I can do it full steam.

Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second.

I always say I wanna work with Alicia Keys. I’m in awe of her.

What I’ve discovered is that in art, as in music, there’s a lot of truth-and then there’s a lie. The artist is essentially creating his work to make this lie a truth, but he slides it in amongst all the others. The tiny little lie is the moment I live for, my moment. It’s the moment that the audience falls in love.

Conviction is worthless unless it is converted into conduct.

I always knew that St. Jude was an amazing organization but meeting the kids and seeing how the hospital works first hand was truly beautiful. It doesn’t feel like a regular hospital all dreary and sad. It’s a colorful, beautiful, comfortable, fun place to live and the energy is wonderful.

If a man does his best, what else is there?

I’m not very ambitious at all.

Small aim is a crime.

See, winners embrace hard work.

A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.

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

Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.

Are you bored with life? Then throw yourself into some work you believe in with all your heart, live for it, die for it, and you will find happiness that you had thought could never be yours.

Not only must we be good, but we must also be good for something.

Idleness is the beginning of all vice, the crown of all virtues.

Throughout my career, I fed off the fuel of people not being able to understand me.

If you’re not failing every now and again, it’s a sign you’re not doing anything very innovative.

Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.

I’ve never been to New Zealand before. But one of my role models, Xena, the warrior princess, comes from there.

Instead of being concerned that you have no office, be concerned to think how you may fit yourself for office. Instead of being concerned that you are not known, seek to be worthy of being known.

Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.

Imagination decides everything.

I like to work with artists from around the world. There are so many new inspiring filmmakers.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Pennies do not come from heaven. They have to be earned here on earth.

Refuse to be a lazy Christian, and resist a passive, apathetic attitude.

I never wanted to be the next Bruce Lee. I just wanted to be the first Jackie Chan.

Don’t think in the morning. That’s a big mistake that people make. They wake up in the morning and they start thinking. Don’t think. Just execute the plan. The plan is the alarm clock goes off, you get up, you go work out. Get some.

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 are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.

If the Christian is a restorationist, a legalist, if he wants everything clear and safe, then he will find nothing. Tradition and memory of the past must help us to have the courage to open up new areas to God.

A man is not paid for having a head and hands, but for using them.

It started to weigh on me that I was responsible for the moves that had made me successful, but I wasn’t reaping the lion’s share of the profits, and that was problematic for me.

I wish everyone well, but you need to focus on yourself. You need to stop putting your hand out. Everyone wants hand outs. Everyone wants things for free. You’ve got to put in the work. You’ve got to grind. You’ve got go through the struggle, and you’ve got to get it.

The way for a young man to rise is to improve himself in every way he can, never suspecting that anybody wishes to hinder him.

There is no failure except in no longer trying.

I’ve made my share of mistakes along the way, but if I have changed even one life for the better, I haven’t lived in vain.

Never complain and never explain.

Every day, the people I meet inspire me… every day, they make me proud… every day they remind me how blessed we are to live in the greatest nation on earth.

Protect your enthusiasm from the negativity of others.

Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.

A home without books is a body without soul.

I write for the same reason I breathe – because if I didn’t, I would die.

As your career grows, the list of things that makes you happy should not become smaller, it should become bigger.

Success is due to our stretching to the challenges of life. Failure comes when we shrink from them.