Take off your bedroom slippers. Put on your marching shoes,‘ he said, his voice rising as applause and cheers mounted. ‚Shake it off. Stop complainin‘. Stop grumblin‘. Stop cryin‘. We are going to press on. We have work to do.

If I get stuck, I look at a book that tells me how someone else did it. I turn the pages, and then I say, ‚Oh, I forgot that bit,‘ then close the book and carry on. Finally, after you’ve figured out how to do it, you read how they did it and find out how dumb your solution is and how much more clever and efficient theirs is!

So never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often in such matters the mustard-seed germinates and roots itself.

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

The events of October 1962 are widely hailed as Kennedy’s finest hour.

You can choose a future where more Americans have the chance to gain the skills they need to compete, no matter how old they are or how much money they have. Education was the gateway to opportunity for me. It was the gateway for Michelle. And now more than ever, it is the gateway to a middle-class life.

My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them.

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.

My philosophy in life is, Decide what you want to do. You have to have something to hope for.

Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. You don’t fail overnight. Instead, failure is a few errors in judgement, repeated every day.

There are times when a leader must move out ahead of the flock, go off in a new direction, confident that he is leading his people the right way.

Let my skin and sinews and bones dry up, together with all the flesh and blood of my body! I welcome it! But I will not move from this spot until I have attained the supreme and final wisdom.

To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions.

Scripture is filled with examples of men and women whom God used late in life, often with great impact – men and women who refused to use old age as an excuse to ignore what God wanted them to do.

The secret of success is constancy to purpose.

Let’s be very clear: Strong men – men who are truly role models – don’t need to put down women to make themselves feel powerful. People who are truly strong lift others up. People who are truly powerful bring others together.

Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful.

Ambition is the last refuge of the failure.

The key to winning is choosing to do God’s will and loving others with all you’ve got.

He who walks in the eightfold noble path with unswerving determination is sure to reach Nirvana.

Black Power is giving power to people who have not had power to determine their destiny.

Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another.

I was raised by strong women, and that DNA is in my daughter and wife.

I don’t create companies for the sake of creating companies, but to get things done.

What really motivates people at Facebook is building something that’s worthwhile, that they’re going to be proud to show to friends and family.

I don’t like looking back. I’m always constantly looking forward. I’m not the one to sort of sit and cry over spilt milk. I’m too busy looking for the next cow.

When one’s expectations are reduced to zero, one really appreciates everything one does have.

As a songwriter, you respect and appreciate the writings of other people, and I often get asked, are there songs out there I wish I’d written? Yes. There’s many of them!

The presidency has made every man who occupied it, no matter how small, bigger than he was; and no matter how big, not big enough for its demands.

I don’t believe we are supposed to go through life defeated and not having enough money to pay our bills or send our kids to college.

Deep down, I know I have this intuition or instinct that a lot of creative people have, that their demons are also what make them create.

Right now, when we’re hearing so much disturbing and hateful rhetoric, it is so important to remember that our diversity has been – and will always be – our greatest source of strength and pride here in the United States.

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.

With drive and a bit of talent, you can move mountains. I know. I’ve done it.

We have to confront ourselves. Do we like what we see in the mirror? And, according to our light, according to our understanding, according to our courage, we will have to say yea or nay – and rise!

It is not God’s will merely that we should be happy, but that we should make ourselves happy.

Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong.

Ability is nothing without opportunity.

I’m honored that everybody’s inspired off my inspiration.

It was patriotism, not communism, that inspired me.

They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea.

I believe in a president whose religious views are his own private affair, neither imposed by him upon the nation or imposed by the nation upon him as a condition to holding that office.

We have one planet in our solar system that’s habitable, and that’s the Earth, and space travel can transform things back here for the better. First of all, by just having people go to space and look back on this fragile planet we live on. People have come back transformed and have done fantastic things.

Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.

When I signed up for BFC, then-coach Ashley Westwood wanted me to play on the left as an attacking midfielder. I was not sure initially but I believed in his vision. For the first six-seven games, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I was like a headless chicken. But he kept backing me.

All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.

Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.

The most important thing is to enjoy your life – to be happy – it’s all that matters.

Not brute force but only persuasion and faith are the kings of this world.

The idea that is not dangerous is not worthy of being called an idea at all.

We have a choice about how we take what happens to us in our life and whether or not we allow it to turn us. We can become consumed by hate and darkness, or we’re able to regain our humanity somehow, or come to terms with things and learn something about ourselves.

Ambition has become a dirty word, and I believe it is a great evolutionary force for the positive. If people fail or go astray in their ambition I can live with it but not with people lowering their expectations, wasting time, slacking off and glorifying failure and stupidity.

I wouldn’t say I’m a feminist, but I don’t like girls pretending to be stupid because it’s easier.

Since I was old enough to understand what a songwriter/producer is, I’ve had a curiosity about how Max Martin creates what he creates. I wanted to see that happen. I wanted to be there. I wanted to learn from him.

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.

Be the chief but never the lord.

If there is only one thing in my life that I am proud of, it’s that I’ve never been a kept woman.

Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.

Example is leadership.

Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.

Better to have beasts that let themselves be killed than men who run away.