The moment I said I’d finished a book, I knew what would happen. There would be a bidding war, and I would end up with someone who’d got the fattest wallet, who had bought it because I’d written Harry Potter. That would have been why.

‚Classic.‘ A book which people praise and don’t read.

Those who say it can’t be done are usually interrupted by others doing it.

Books are sharks… because sharks have been around for a very long time. There were sharks before there were dinosaurs, and the reason sharks are still in the ocean is that nothing is better at being a shark than a shark.

Whatever you want to do, do with full passion and work really hard towards it. Don’t look anywhere else. There will be a few distractions, but if you can be true to yourself, you will be successful for sure.

When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.

No great intellectual thing was ever done by great effort.

I’ve never been a very prolific person, so when creativity flows, it flows. I find myself scribbling on little notepads and pieces of loose paper, which results in a very small portion of my writings to ever show up in true form.

It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.

People want to know why I do this, why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the heart of a small boy… and I keep it in a jar on my desk.

I get really restless when I haven’t worked for a day and a half. I have a recurring dream that people are lined up next to my bed, waiting for autographs and taking pictures of me!

If cash comes with fame, come fame; if cash comes without fame, come cash.

One thing that writers have in common is that they are readers first. They have read lots and lots of stuff, because they’re just infested with lots of stuff.

You would think that a rock star being married to a supermodel would be one of the greatest things in the world. It is.

I feel like I want to take care of everyone and I also feel this terrible guilt if I am unable to. And I have felt this way ever since all this success started.

The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear.

A book should serve as the ax for the frozen sea within us.

The day when I am no more than a writer I shall cease to be a writer.

You aren’t going to find anybody that’s going to be successful without making a sacrifice and without perseverance.

Personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures.

The secret of success is to be ready when your opportunity comes.

My superhero has always been Tendulkar, and it will be Tendulkar for life. He is someone who has inspired me immensely. Just watching him play for India, I used to dream of winning games for India, because he used to do it single handedly.

We’ve had three big ideas at Amazon that we’ve stuck with for 18 years, and they’re the reason we’re successful: Put the customer first. Invent. And be patient.

It isn’t sufficient just to want – you’ve got to ask yourself what you are going to do to get the things you want.

That’s the most terrible thing about being an author – standing there at your mother’s funeral, but you don’t switch the author off. So your own innermost thoughts are grist for the mill. Who was it said – one of the famous lady novelists – ‚unhappy is the family that contains an author‘?

You can say that 2016 was my finest. It went well for the national team, started by winning the SAFF Cup, we reached the finals of AFC Cup, we reached the semis of ISL. I think it was a fruitful season.

I like writing. I get cranky when I can’t. Yes, I write books back to back, and I work very hard on them.

The problem with writing a book in verse is, to be successful, it has to sound like you knocked it off on a rainy Friday afternoon. It has to sound easy. When you can do it, it helps tremendously because it’s a thing that forces kids to read on. You have this unconsummated feeling if you stop.

I would never say I was an icon, but so many people have said I am, so I suppose I am. I mean, I can’t not be what everyone says I am. But I don’t feel like an icon.

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.

If you work hard and play by the rules, this country is truly open to you. You can achieve anything.

There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.

The multitude of books is making us ignorant.

The thermometer of success is merely the jealousy of the malcontents.

The man who knows it can’t be done counts the risk, not the reward.

Bayern want a decade of success like Barca. That’s OK if you have the money because it increases the possibility of success. But it’s not guaranteed.

When I’m writing, I don’t feel neurotic. So it’s better for the family if I’m working.

Kings are not born: they are made by artificial hallucination.

People want you to fail.

In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves… self-discipline with all of them came first.

Be more dedicated to making solid achievements than in running after swift but synthetic happiness.

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

Collegiality is crucial to the success of our mission. We could not do the job the Constitution assigns to us if we didn’t – to use one of Justice Antonin Scalia’s favorite expressions – ‚Get over it!‘

Gold is a treasure, and he who possesses it does all he wishes to in this world, and succeeds in helping souls into paradise.

If a man can… make a better mousetrap, the world will make a beaten path to his door.

I don’t mind saying, you know, that I don’t take a salary from the church, and God has blessed me with more money than I could imagine from my books.

I got interested in reading very early, because a story was read to me, by Hans Christian Andersen, which was ‚The Little Mermaid,‘ and I don’t know if you remember ‚The Little Mermaid,‘ but it’s dreadfully sad. The little mermaid falls in love with this prince, but she cannot marry him because she is a mermaid.

With self-discipline most anything is possible.

We are often attracted to the wrong things, whether it be money, fame, or approval.

I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success… such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.

Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.

I wasn’t a normal professor. I had worked in government. I hadn’t written nine zillion books. I was a hands-on professor.

A fortunate author can write maybe twelve novels in his lifetime.

It’s very difficult to read a book on your computer.

Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I’ll show you someone who has overcome adversity.

I’m filthy rich!

The main problem with writing in verse is, if your fourth line doesn’t come out right, you’ve got to throw four lines away and figure out a whole new way to attack the problem. So the mortality rate is terrific.

The fame isn’t important to me. It’s a blessing to have. Having so many people that support me, that love me and listen to my music, is beautiful.

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

If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.

Genius is patience.