Men do not shape destiny, Destiny produces the man for the hour.

The barriers are not erected which can say to aspiring talents and industry, ‚Thus far and no farther.‘

When I start to write, I don’t have any plan at all. I just wait for the story to come.

People want to feel hopeful.

Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.

To be great is to be misunderstood.

People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.

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.

Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.

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

The progress of India is the destiny of one-sixth of humanity. And it will also mean a world more confident of its prosperity and more secure about its future.

Most men are individuals no longer so far as their business, its activities, or its moralities are concerned. They are not units but fractions.

All men hate the nagging.

You never achieve success unless you like what you are doing.

It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.

Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.

What is a fear of living? It’s being preeminently afraid of dying. It is not doing what you came here to do, out of timidity and spinelessness. The antidote is to take full responsibility for yourself – for the time you take up and the space you occupy. If you don’t know what you’re here to do, then just do some good.

The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true.

Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.

Passion rebuilds the world for the youth. It makes all things alive and significant.

You see something, then it clicks with something else, and it will make a story. But you never know when it’s going to happen.

Deep down, I know I have this intuition or instinct that a lot of creative people have, that their demons are also what make them create.

Why don’t you start believing that no matter what you have or haven’t done, that your best days are still out in front of you.

Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.

If a man knows not what harbor he seeks, any wind is the right wind.

You have to dream intentionally. Most people dream a dream when they are asleep. But to be a writer, you have to dream while you are awake, intentionally.

Is it not rather what we expect in men, that they should have numerous strands of experience lying side by side and never compare them with each other?

Art is the proper task of life.

It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go.

When we speak of faith – the faith that can move mountains – we are not speaking of faith in general but of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Freedom is what everyone wants – to be able to act and live with freedom. But the only way to get to a place of freedom is through discipline.

I think you can have 10,000 explanations for failure, but no good explanation for success.

Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.

Anything I do, I want to do it well.

Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They’re just braver five minutes longer.

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.

There’s a lack of people in power that are motivated by the idea of helping people.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

My interest in creating anything is that it be useful.

Every man over forty is a scoundrel.

A God without dominion, providence, and final causes, is nothing else but fate and nature.

When words are scarce they are seldom spent in vain.

If you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward, then you won’t see why we go.

You have to feel confident. If you don’t, then you’re going to be hesitant and defensive, and there’ll be a lot of things working against you.

The U. S. Constitution doesn’t guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself.

The greatest difficulty always comes right before the birth of a dream.

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 lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.

You should treat a muse like a fairy.

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.

I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.

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

For a true writer, each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something that is beyond attainment. He should always try for something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. Then sometimes, with great luck, he will succeed.

Why go through life if you’re not going to challenge yourself?

I don’t feel pressure in a negative way. I like pressure. I feel excitement and calm at the same time. No pressure, no diamonds. I want pressure: pressure creates drama, creates emotion.

I’m never going to go to Mars, but I’ve helped inspire, thank goodness, the people who built the rockets and sent our photographic equipment off to Mars.

Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat.

I will be unhappy if I know I have not accomplished something I should have done that was possible.