No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.

It’s certainly not wrong to want to be a better person. God gave us that desire.

What I’ve learned is that you really don’t need to be a celebrity or have money or have the paparazzi following you around to be famous.

Without football, my life is worth nothing.

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.

There is no man on Earth or devil in Hell who can keep you from the very best God put in you.

Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well.

It’s better to be a lion for a day than a sheep all your life.

I have great respect for the semicolon; it is a mighty handy little fellow.

Words without thoughts never to heaven go.

You know, as a writer, I’m more of a listener than a writer, cuz if I hear something I will write it down.

Every setback means you’re one step closer to seeing the dream come to pass.

In a battle all you need to make you fight is a little hot blood and the knowledge that it’s more dangerous to lose than to win.

I have brought myself, by long meditation, to the conviction that a human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it, and that nothing can resist a will which will stake even existence upon its fulfillment.

Life’s a fight. It’s a good fight of faith.

My whole thing is to inspire, to better people, to better myself forever in this thing that we call rap, this thing that we call hip hop.

No man ever achieved worth-while success who did not, at one time or other, find himself with at least one foot hanging well over the brink of failure.

‚The New Yorker‘ was really my first experience with serious editing. Previously, I’d more or less just had copyediting with a few suggestions – not much.

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.

This is Sunday, and the question arises, what’ll I start tomorrow?

There is one thing that gets you out of bed in the morning, and that is discipline. Because your dreams and your goals are not there waking up for you in the morning.

When nature has work to be done, she creates a genius to do it.

Above anything else, I hate to lose.

You can’t hire someone to practice for you.

He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.

Small aim is a crime; have great aim.

Prices are important not because money is considered paramount but because prices are a fast and effective conveyor of information through a vast society in which fragmented knowledge must be coordinated.

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

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

Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action, and we have trusted only to rhetoric. If we are really to be a great nation, we must not merely talk; we must act big.

Desperation is sometimes as powerful an inspirer as genius.

When I write, I tend to twist my hair. Something for my small mind to do, I guess.

I promised myself that I would write as well as I can, tell the truth, not to tell everything I know, but to make sure that everything I tell is true, as I understand it. And to use the eloquence which my language affords me.

Luck marches with those who give their very best.

The temptation to take the easy road is always there. It is as easy as staying in bed in the morning and sleeping in. But discipline is paramount to ultimate success and victory for any leader and any team.

The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.

No money is better spent than what is laid out for domestic satisfaction.

A good indignation brings out all one’s powers.

Since day one, since the first time I touched the pen, I wanted to be the best at what I do.

Love is the answer to everything. It’s the only reason to do anything. If you don’t write stories you love, you’ll never make it. If you don’t write stories that other people love, you’ll never make it.

Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.

We don’t want to wait on someone to hire us and give us a check. We want to create our own opportunities.

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.

As soon as I accomplish one goal, I replace it with another one. I try not to get too far ahead of myself. I just say to myself, ‚All right, well, I’d like to headline a tour,‘ and then when I get there, we’ll see what my next goal is.

Aim for the highest.

I just do the best I can and write something interesting, to tell stories in an interesting way and move forward from there.

Remember your dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want from life. There is just one thing that makes your dream become impossible: the fear of failure.

I will carry on writing, to be sure. But I don’t know if I would want to publish again after Harry Potter.

Reduce your plan to writing. The moment you complete this, you will have definitely given concrete form to the intangible desire.

I am only an average man but, by George, I work harder at it than the average man.

There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.

Give a critic an inch, he’ll write a play.

Writing is like a ‚lust,‘ or like ‚scratching when you itch.‘ Writing comes as a result of a very strong impulse, and when it does come, I, for one, must get it out.

Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.

We all sort of do want incentives for creative people to still exist at a certain level. You know, maybe rock stars shouldn’t make as much; who knows? But you want as much creativity to take place in the future as took place in the past.

It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires great strength to decide on what to do.

‚They‘ is… stay away from them, please. There is so many different definitions of ‚they.‘ You might have a personal ‚they.‘ They against you; they want you broken and miserable. They don’t like winners; they don’t like people who’s blessed. So everybody’s got a different ‚they.‘

Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.

Most people work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough money not to quit.

Modern poets talk against business, poor things, but all of us write for money. Beginners are subjected to trial by market.

It doesn’t matter who you are – if you dream big and if you work really hard, you can achieve unimaginable results, and that’s really good for the nation.