Sometimes you have to take two steps back to take ten forward.

Life isn’t meant to be easy. It’s hard to take being on the top – or on the bottom. I guess I’m something of a fatalist. You have to have a sense of history, I think, to survive some of these things… Life is one crisis after another.

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

Many people, especially young people, would like to be more independent and on their own. But it is very difficult and they suffer from feelings of isolation. I think that is one reason why young readers support my work.

Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.

The best is the enemy of the good.

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

The men who learn endurance, are they who call the whole world, brother.

We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.

A child wants things to be a certain way. When you get to be an adult, you just understand that some people are good, some are not, and you can’t be naive.

For every disciplined effort there is a multiple reward.

Do all you can to make your dreams come true.

I am simply trying to struggle through life; trying to do God’s bidding.

You have freedom when you’re easy in your harness.

Probably the greatest harm done by vast wealth is the harm that we of moderate means do ourselves when we let the vices of envy and hatred enter deep into our own natures.

I started writing at the kitchen table after midnight. It took ten months to finish that first book; I sent it to a publisher and I got some kind of prize, so it was like a dream – I was surprised to find it happening.

A lot of people cry and complain and put their hand out and beg. It never goes well.

If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation.

Any man who has had the job I’ve had and didn’t have a sense of humor wouldn’t still be here.

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

You can become an even more excellent person by constantly setting higher and higher standards for yourself and then by doing everything possible to live up to those standards.

Even as you make progress, you need the discipline to keep from backtracking and sabotaging the success as it’s happening.

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

For a long time I was scared I’d find out I was like my mother.

I’m not a person who defends myself very often. I kind of let my actions speak for me.

Becoming an inspiration for kids is great. I want to inspire them to do whatever they want to.

Believe me, I’m much easier to be around when we win than when we lose.

Speak the truth, do not yield to anger; give, if thou art asked for little; by these three steps thou wilt go near the gods.

We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man’s estate, is the gift of education.

I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act.

Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.

You might be tough, but you can only be so tough for so long, you know what I mean? The brain can only take so much damage. The body can only take so much damage.

I had a lot of resistance, and not just to fame. I was always conscious of not changing.

It is always your next move.

Success has always been a great liar.

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

We are the creative force of our life, and through our own decisions rather than our conditions, if we carefully learn to do certain things, we can accomplish those goals.

I have seen many storms in my life. Most storms have caught me by surprise, so I had to learn very quickly to look further and understand that I am not capable of controlling the weather, to exercise the art of patience and to respect the fury of nature.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.

If your treat an individual… as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.

Great acts are made up of small deeds.

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.

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

Most of us aren’t defeated in one decisive battle. We are defeated one tiny, seemingly insignificant surrender at a time that chips away at who we should really be.

The longer a man’s fame is likely to last, the longer it will be in coming.

If you’re trying too hard to be the girl next door, you’re not going to be.

That he delights in the misery of others no man will confess, and yet what other motive can make a father cruel?

Most employees only want to know how much they get paid and how much time off they get – they probably don’t have the mission in their souls.

I am who I am today because of my mother.

I would rather earn 1% off a 100 people’s efforts than 100% of my own efforts.

I feel like this: Whatever is in your path and in your heart, you need to do.

With fame, you know, you can read about yourself, somebody else’s ideas about you, but what’s important is how you feel about yourself – for survival and living day to day with what comes up.

Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than the one with all the facts.

Bring your desires down to your present means. Increase them only when your increased means permit.

You may think it was a very little thing, and in these days it seems to me like a trifle, but it was a most important incident in my life. I could scarcely credit that I, the poor boy, had earned a dollar in less than a day; that by honest work, I had earned a dollar. I was a more hopeful and thoughtful boy from that time.

Whatever is done for love always occurs beyond good and evil.

Who had deceived thee so often as thyself?

Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated.

Rule number one is: Beat your team-mate.

Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.