Sailed this day nineteen leagues, and determined to count less than the true number, that the crew might not be dismayed if the voyage should prove long.

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.

The thornbush is the old obstacle in the road. It must catch fire if you want to go further.

I’m not gonna be bad at anything, and I want to actually be the best at anything I’m doing. So if I’m playing basketball, if I’m taking the SATs, like, there’s a competitive spirit behind it. With production, it’s the same thing.

Never, never, never give up.

Though men determine, the gods doo dispose: and oft times many things fall out betweene the cup and the lip.

Under the worst conditions, horrendous conditions, people still, you know, fight for their rights and don’t just succumb.

I know I’m a good professional, I know that no one’s harder on me than myself and that’s never going to change, under any circumstances.

If you care enough for a result, you will most certainly attain it.

I don’t think about that. I wasn’t a kid growing up saying one day I’ll get an Oscar and make a speech. That wasn’t on my mind. So what I do is the best work I can do.

No sooner said than done – so acts your man of worth.

Immense power is acquired by assuring yourself in your secret reveries that you were born to control affairs.

The resolve of our great nation is being tested. But make no mistake, we will show the world that we will pass the test.

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

Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.

The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective.

A record deal doesn’t make you an artist; you make yourself an artist.

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

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.

Stood off and on during the night, determining not to come to anchor till morning, fearing to meet with shoals; continued our course in the morning; and as the island was found to be six or seven leagues distant, and the tide was against us, it was noon when we arrived there.

I am not designed to come second or third. I am designed to win.

The man who has done his level best… is a success, even though the world may write him down a failure.

The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.

The greatest story of all is Colonel Sanders. He didn’t start until he was sixty-six on a freeway bypass for his chicken shop. Anything is possible!

I’m an all-or-nothing kind of guy, I guess.

Get up tomorrow early in the morning, and earlier than you did today, and do the best that you can. Always stay near me, for tomorrow I will have much to do and more than I ever had, and tomorrow blood will leave my body above the breast.

Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.

Do not reveal what you have thought upon doing, but by wise council keep it secret being determined to carry it into execution.

When the water starts boiling it is foolish to turn off the heat.

I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.

The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.

Real firmness is good for anything; strut is good for nothing.

It kills me to lose. If I’m a troublemaker, and I don’t think that my temper makes me one, then it’s because I can’t stand losing. That’s the way I am about winning, all I ever wanted to do was finish first.

Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness.

The unyielding resistance of the Cuban patriots is symbolized by our 5 Heroes. They shall never back down! They shall never surrender!

I won at every level – all the way since I started playing the game of basketball at nine. I’ve won at every level, won championships at every level. And, you know, it won’t be fulfilled until I win at the highest level.

Giving up cannot be an option.

I plan on taking athletics as far as I can.

We proved that we are still a people capable of doing big things and tackling our biggest challenges.

Someone said to me, ‚If fifty percent of the experts in Hollywood said you had no talent and should give up, what would you do?‘ My answer was then and still is, ‚If a hundred percent told me that, all one hundred percent would be wrong.‘

I wanted to sell a million records, and I sold a million records. I wanted to go platinum; I went platinum. I’ve been working nonstop since I was 15. I don’t even know how to chill out.

We cannot attribute to fortune or virtue that which is achieved without either.

Kites rise highest against the wind – not with it.

I think the Iranians are clearly determined to have a nuclear program. And we have to assume that with a nuclear program they have the capability and the will to create a nuclear weapon.

I’m not going to limit myself just because people won’t accept the fact that I can do something else.

If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.

When I prepare, I am not messing around. I find the right places, the right people, and the right environment. Iceland is one of those places.

Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer to your goal.

People say ‚I want to be rich‘. The question is, ‚Are you willing to do what it takes?‘

The most successful men in the end are those whose success is the result of steady accretion.

I don’t want to be something that just comes and goes.

I’ve learned over the years that when I go to that place of passion within me, there’s no force in the universe that can interfere with my completing a project.

Expect me to continue what I’ve been doing, which is trying to take over the world.

I am not afraid of saying something and going and pursuing it. That’s it. I see it in my mind. I say it out loud. I go and do it.

It doesn’t matter if the water is cold or warm if you’re going to have to wade through it anyway.

You know, not to sound corny or nuthin‘, but I felt like a fighter comin‘ up, man. I felt like, you know, I’m being attacked for this reason or that reason, and I gotta fight my way through this.

The one way to get me to work my hardest was to doubt me.

A lot of times I find that people who are blessed with the most talent don’t ever develop that attitude, and the ones who aren’t blessed in that way are the most competitive and have the biggest heart.

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

Music will never go away, and I will never stop making music; it’s just what capacity or what arena you decide to do it.