The first quality that is needed is audacity.

It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.

What a man can be, he must be. This need we call self-actualization.

I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.

I’m not good at talking about myself.

There are old heads in the world who cannot help me by their example or advice to live worthily and satisfactorily to myself; but I believe that it is in my power to elevate myself this very hour above the common level of my life.

When you can whip any man in the world, you never know peace.

You must capture and keep the heart of the original and supremely able man before his brain can do its best.

It is more difficult to rule yourself than to rule a city.

The paradox of courage is that a man must be a little careless of his life even in order to keep it.

At the core, one of my original goals is to redefine what the streets expect.

Quality is not an act, it is a habit.

And I love that even in the toughest moments, when we’re all sweating it – when we’re worried that the bill won’t pass, and it seems like all is lost – Barack never lets himself get distracted by the chatter and the noise. Just like his grandmother, he just keeps getting up and moving forward… with patience and wisdom, and courage and grace.

Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right.

I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day.

My whole thing now is I know how to think properly to be successful in all aspects of my life. It’s not about ultra running or being a SEAL or pull-up records: it’s about if you want to be better you, have to change your perceived limitations and take the barriers down.

Wherever the invitation of men or your own occasions lead you, speak the very truth, as your life and conscience teach it, and cheer the waiting, fainting hearts of men with new hope and new revelation.

The person who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore.

There are 309 million people out there that are trying to improve their lot in life. And we’ve got a system that allows them to do it.

Real nobility is based on scorn, courage, and profound indifference.

I’m not the sort to back away from a fight. I don’t believe in shrinking from anything. It’s not my speed; I’m a guy who meets adversities head on.

I believe that God has put gifts and talents and ability on the inside of every one of us. When you develop that and you believe in yourself and you believe that you’re a person of influence and a person of purpose, I believe you can rise up out of any situation.

Falsehood is cowardice, the truth courage.

To create something you must be something.

Make yourself necessary to somebody.

One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.

Few people realize that luck is created.

To put it bluntly, I seem to have a whole superstructure with no foundation. But I’m working on the foundation.

Writing in a diary is a really strange experience for someone like me. Not only because I’ve never written anything before, but also because it seems to me that later on neither I nor anyone else will be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl.

A good essay must have this permanent quality about it; it must draw its curtain round us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in not out.

Apply yourself both now and in the next life. Without effort, you cannot be prosperous. Though the land be good, You cannot have an abundant crop without cultivation.

A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.

I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led, and bearding every authority which stood in their way.

To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered.

An unclean person is universally a slothful one.

If the leader is filled with high ambition and if he pursues his aims with audacity and strength of will, he will reach them in spite of all obstacles.

It’s not fun to get out of bed early in the morning. When the alarm goes off, it doesn’t sing you a song: it hits you in the head with a baseball bat. So how do you respond to that? Do you crawl underneath your covers and hide? Or do you get up, get aggressive, and attack the day?

Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way.

Every thought you produce, anything you say, any action you do, it bears your signature.

My powers are ordinary. Only my application brings me success.

Every man is his own hell.

I’d rather be a victor than a victim.

I don’t have any oratory skills. But I would not use them if I had.

Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconcious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character.

Do you really think it is weakness that yields to temptation? I tell you that there are terrible temptations which it requires strength, strength and courage to yield to.

It is after all the greatest art to limit and isolate oneself.

Courage that grows from constitution often forsakes a man when he has occasion for it; courage which arises from a sense of duty acts; in a uniform manner.

The future is called ‚perhaps‘, which is the only possible thing to call the future. And the important thing is not to allow that to scare you.

People who add value to others do so intentionally. I say that because to add value, leaders must give of themselves, and that rarely occurs by accident.

Those who lack the courage will always find a philosophy to justify it.

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

Man is fully responsible for his nature and his choices.

We can approach God’s throne with boldness because we are confident in the power of what Jesus accomplished for us at the cross.

I learned a long time ago how to be coachable.

Often, in the real world, it’s not the smart that get ahead but the bold.

No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause.

I like to be in control of how I look and how I feel and how I act.

We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.

Find people who will make you better.

There are very few people who are going to look into the mirror and say, ‚That person I see is a savage monster;‘ instead, they make up some construction that justifies what they do.

You must not fear death, my lads; defy him, and you drive him into the enemy’s ranks.