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

All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.

Poetry surrounds us everywhere, but putting it on paper is, alas, not so easy as looking at it.

When I checked into SEAL Team One many years ago, one of the things that I noticed was there was this old guy, who was younger than I am today, who I decided that I was going to be like. I wanted to emulate what he was doing, and one of those things was he got to work before anybody else.

Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.

Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed.

Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.

A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men.

Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can. Of course, I could be wrong.

By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day.

It’s a piece of cake until you get to the top. You find you can’t stop playing the game the way you’ve always played it.

Fortune befriends the bold.

There’s so much about Dolly Parton that every female artist should look to, whether it’s reading her quotes or reading her interviews or going to one of her live shows. She’s been such an amazing example to every female songwriter out there.

You do things when the opportunities come along. I’ve had periods in my life when I’ve had a bundle of ideas come along, and I’ve had long dry spells. If I get an idea next week, I’ll do something. If not, I won’t do a damn thing.

People always say that you can’t please everybody. I think that’s a cop-out. Why not attempt it? ‚Cause think of all the people you will please if you try.

The Paralympic Games is about transforming our perception of the world.

The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.

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

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

It was a personal decision for me to stand and say that cricket is all I have in life, there’s nothing I need to do other than cricket. If I want to achieve whatever I thought as a kid, I need to work hard and not let it go to waste.

I say luck is when an opportunity comes along and you’re prepared for it.

I guess I’m just inspired to tell stories.

I just love working hard. I love being part of a team; I love working toward a common goal.

Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.

Faith Hill is a big role model.

I like George Carlin’s jokes. I like his humor. He’s one of my heroes, and I like what he did with talking about everyday things.

I have never started a poem yet whose end I knew. Writing a poem is discovering.

I’ve never wanted to use my age as a gimmick, as something that would get me ahead of other people. I’ve wanted the music to do that.

I ain’t never far away from a pencil and paper or a tape recorder.

Men shrink less from offending one who inspires love than one who inspires fear.

You start to become successful, and everybody starts to drive your money train to the bank, and they’re not thinking anymore about what you want as an artist or if any of that even matters to you. It genuinely upsets people in my life that I don’t care about money, and that’s not my problem.

If you are surrounded by your competition and you are outworking these people, outmaneuvering these people, it’s hard not to let your confidence take over. It just builds and builds and builds.

It’s like a jar of salad dressing sitting on a shelf… most of the seasoning settles to the bottom of the bottle. But when you shake that bottle up, all the ingredients mix together and then the dressing can add flavor to a salad. In the same way, we can stir ourselves up and regain the reverence, respect and awe we once had for the Lord.

It is a fact often observed, that men have written good verses under the inspiration of passion, who cannot write well under other circumstances.

If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn’t be here. I guarantee you that.

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.

Finding good partners is the key to success in anything: in business, in marriage and, especially, in investing.

When everything works best, it’s not because you chose writing but because writing chose you. It’s when you’re mad with it, it’s when it’s stuffed in your ears, your nostrils, under your fingernails. It’s when there’s no hope but that.

My dear sisters, whatever your calling, whatever your circumstances, we need your impressions, your insights, and your inspiration. We need you to speak up and speak out in ward and stake councils.

I always thought Johnny Carson was just brilliant, and I used to watch him and all the comics that would be on the show every night – and I’d dream about it being me.

Talent and effort, combined with our various backgrounds and life experiences, has always been the lifeblood of our singular American genius.

Your successes and happiness are forgiven you only if you generously consent to share them.

Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success.

In this knowledge-worker age, it’s now increasingly tied to doing well in school so you can get into better grad schools so you can get better jobs – so the pressure to do well is really high.

The truth of it is that every singer out there with songs on the radio is raising the next generation, so make your words count.

Basketball is booming, and it’s not just an Under Armour standpoint: it’s about the game itself. Kids going out and playing and being inspired by what we do on the court.

Never regret what you don’t write.

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

If I’m a star, then the people made me a star.

I’m not a prophet or a stone aged man, just a mortal with potential of a superman. I’m living on.

Everything in the world exists to end up in a book.

My message, especially to young people is to have courage to think differently, courage to invent, to travel the unexplored path, courage to discover the impossible and to conquer the problems and succeed. These are great qualities that they must work towards. This is my message to the young people.

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.

Even those who write against fame wish for the fame of having written well, and those who read their works desire the fame of having read them.

My dad always said, ‚Champ, the measure of a man is not how often he is knocked down, but how quickly he gets up.‘

I used to feel unsafe right in the moment of an accomplishment – I felt the ground fall from under my feet because this could be the end. And even now, while everyone is celebrating, I’m on to the next thing. I don’t want to get lost in this big cushion of success.

I guess we all like to be recognized not for one piece of fireworks, but for the ledger of our daily work.

Ideas excite me, and as soon as I get excited, the adrenaline gets going and the next thing I know I’m borrowing energy from the ideas themselves.

The finest steel has to go through the hottest fire.

No one was ever great without some portion of divine inspiration.