So many people have this idea: I want to achieve something great or be somebody great. And they neglect the step that leads to greatness. They don’t honor this step at this moment because they have this idea of some future moment where they are going to be great.

I always have to be writing.

No great man ever complains of want of opportunity.

First and last, what is demanded of genius is love of truth.

I just want people to be the best thems and live the happiest lives possible.

It is far harder to kill a phantom than a reality.

We’re just enthusiastic about what we do.

Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power.

Every writer has his writing technique – what he can and can’t do to describe something like war or history. I’m not good at writing about those things, but I try because I feel it is necessary to write that kind of thing.

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

My parents shared not only an improbable love, they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an African name, Barack, or blessed, believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success.

The primary distinction of the artist is that he must actively cultivate that state which most men, necessarily, must avoid; the state of being alone.

Not what I have, but what I do is my kingdom.

All achievements, all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea.

You can change your world by changing your words… Remember, death and life are in the power of the tongue.

There’s a reason that I have confidence out there, and it’s about how I prepare for games and for series and seasons and whatnot, so we’ve got to stick with that kind of thought process.

Whoever renders service to many puts himself in line for greatness – great wealth, great return, great satisfaction, great reputation, and great joy.

I could not do what I do, and teach a class, and never miss a deadline, never be late for anything if I was a lush, OK? I would really love to read a piece that said, ‚He is not a lush.‘ That would be fabulous, it would be a first, I could show it to people and say, ‚Look!‘

Your daily life is your temple and your religion. When you enter into it take with you your all.

I don’t think I will ever be content. I am somebody who is always hungry.

Writing is a dreadful labor, yet not so dreadful as Idleness.

If I feel good about my parenting, I have no interest in judging other people’s choices. If I feel good about my body, I don’t go around making fun of other people’s weight or appearance. We’re hard on each other because we’re using each other as a launching pad out of our own perceived deficiency.

Everybody wants to be me. What can I say?

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

All cruelty springs from weakness.

It is never too late to give up our prejudices.

From the time that ‚Nevermind‘ came out in September of 1991 to the time that Nirvana was over, it was really just a few years, and a lot happened in those few years.

An unclean person is universally a slothful one.

Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.

To me, constructive criticism is when people take ownership of their ideas. That’s why I don’t listen to anything that’s anonymous. But it’s hard; when there’s something hurtful out there, I still want to read it over and over and memorize it and explain my point of view to the person.

My main goal is to be a self-made man and have control over what’s mine.

If you enjoy living, it is not difficult to keep the sense of wonder.

Do the duty which lies nearest to you, the second duty will then become clearer.

One of the wonderful things about Oprah: She teaches you to keep on stepping.

If you take no risks, you will suffer no defeats. But if you take no risks, you win no victories.

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

When you look at the light bulb above you, you remember Thomas Alva Edison. When the telephone bell rings, you remember Alexander Graham Bell. Marie Curie was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize. When you see the blue sky, you think of Sir C.V. Raman.

Find a job you like and you add five days to every week.

An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered.

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

One thing is sure. We have to do something. We have to do the best we know how at the moment… If it doesn’t turn out right, we can modify it as we go along.

Don’t ever play yourself.

I remember being in Japan when Destiny’s Child put out ‚Independent Women,‘ and women there were saying how proud they were to have their own jobs, their own independent thinking, their own goals. It made me feel so good, and I realized that one of my responsibilities was to inspire women in a deeper way.

When you cease to make a contribution, you begin to die.

There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded.

We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent.

It would be a terrific innovation if you could get your mind to stretch a little further than the next wisecrack.

We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.

I never dreamt, in my dream, I’m Dalai Lama.

God wants you to be a winner, not a whiner.

Ambition never is in a greater hurry than I; it merely keeps pace with circumstances and with my general way of thinking.

The worst part of success is, to me, adapting to it. It’s scary.

I know the blessing of having a dad who played 16 years in the league. That experience, and seeing him as an example, let me know that it’s possible. It’s not easy, but it’s possible.

Art’s everything we hope life would be, a lot of times.

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.

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

I think whether you’re having setbacks or not, the role of a leader is to always display a winning attitude.

This ain’t fun. But you watch me, I’ll get it done.

I have my permanent muses and my muses of the moment.

The world is full of willing people; some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.

To take a few nouns, and a few pronouns, and adverbs and adjectives, and put them together, ball them up, and throw them against the wall to make them bounce. That’s what Norman Mailer did. That’s what James Baldwin did, and Joan Didion did, and that’s what I do – that’s what I mean to do.