The last thing you want is to not be recognized for all of the hard work you put in.

The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.

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

Sometimes you recognize that there is a category of human experience that has not been identified but everyone knows about it. That is when I find a term to describe it.

Getting recognized is insane. It just blows my mind. Like, someone who you don’t know at all can just be like, ‚Oh my God – are you Billie?‘

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.

To get a name can happen but to few; it is one of the few things that cannot be brought. It is the free gift of mankind, which must be deserved before it will be granted, and is at last unwillingly bestowed.

Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.

That’s what a man wants in a wife, mostly; he wants to make sure one fool tells him he’s wise.

I don’t want flowers or candy or anything like that. I just want somebody to say, ‚Wow, you’ve done a great job.‘

I’ve always loved black culture; I don’t know any other way to put it. Since I was a kid I loved music and early jazz, Sly and the Family Stone. I’m older – I’m in my early 50s – so you’ll have to excuse me. That was always very exciting to me to connect to the culture on that level.

Gratitude is a duty which ought to be paid, but which none have a right to expect.

The ideas associated with the problems of the development of science, as far as I can see by looking around me, are not of the kind that everyone appreciates.

I worked my way up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty.

Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.

I know you’ve heard it a thousand times before. But it’s true – hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don’t love something, then don’t do it.

I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.

One thing I just want to say to the military families – while you might not wear a uniform, I know – we all know, the nation knows – that you serve and sacrifice right alongside of your loved ones. And we are so grateful and proud of all of you for your service to this nation.

The cross of the Legion of Honor has been conferred on me. However, few escape that distinction.

One must work and dare if one really wants to live.

He has achieved success who has worked well, laughed often, and loved much.

It is easy to say how we love new friends, and what we think of them, but words can never trace out all the fibers that knit us to the old.

Those who weep for the happy periods which they encounter in history acknowledge what they want; not the alleviation but the silencing of misery.

There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.

If anyone remembers me, it’s about my hard work.

No better way is there to learn to love Nature than to understand Art. It dignifies every flower of the field. And, the boy who sees the thing of beauty which a bird on the wing becomes when transferred to wood or canvas will probably not throw the customary stone.

It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.

I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs.

Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones.

Happiness is within the reach of everyone, rich or poor. Yet comparatively few people are happy. I believe the reason for this is that the majority don’t recognize happiness even when it is within their grasp.

It doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are. If it doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong.

Give yourself a gift of five minutes of contemplation in awe of everything you see around you. Go outside and turn your attention to the many miracles around you. This five-minute-a-day regimen of appreciation and gratitude will help you to focus your life in awe.

There is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me.

It is wonderful to have someone praise you, to be desired.

The best part of beauty is that which no picture can express.

Becoming a ‚Sir‘ is slightly uncomfortable at first, although it is a considerable honor. It is amazing how quickly you become accustomed to it.

Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine.

The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer.

I know a lot of people who wouldn’t be comfortable with everything that comes with being in a band as big as Nirvana. The thing that I don’t understand is not appreciating that simple gift of being able to play music.

He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.

I like not only to be loved, but also to be told I am loved.

It was wonderful to find America, but it would have been more wonderful to miss it.

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.

Understand, when you eat meat, that something did die. You have an obligation to value it – not just the sirloin but also all those wonderful tough little bits.

The harder I work, the luckier I become.

It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is.

I don’t believe I’ll ever get credit for anything I do in foreign affairs, no matter how successful it is, because I didn’t go to Harvard.

There are things around, and I know where they can be got quite easily, but I quite like waking up to the sunshine.

I do value the respect I get from my contemporaries, but to have Oasis cover my song, to have Puff Daddy cover a song, to have Goldie come along to my gigs – that’s where my ego is at. To have my fellow musicians like what I do, that’s very cool.

I knew no one who’d ever been in the public eye.

I was the one who took football off the back pages and put it on to page one.

Never take anything for granted.

There is a soak-the-rich attitude in the air, a feeling that if you have a lot of money you must have got it by some ghastly means. I can quite happily say there was never any family money. All the money we got was mine, just from writing books.

I’m not looking to get away from anything. I like what I’ve done. I like what I get to do and I enjoy working with my friends. I loved those movies, but this is incredible.

Go to foreign countries and you will get to know the good things one possesses at home.

We see God face to face every hour, and know the savor of Nature.

Success isn’t supposed to happen, no matter how hard you work. There’s no guarantee you’re going to succeed. There’s nothing set in stone.

I probably work harder, putting in a lot of time and effort, than a lot of drivers because all I think about, and all I do, is to do with racing, trying to make myself a better driver.

Have convictions. Be friendly. Stick to your beliefs as they stick to theirs. Work as hard as they do.

Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before.

No one wants advice – only corroboration.