The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result. He does not expect that his advanced ideas will be readily taken up. His work is like that of the planter – for the future. His duty is to lay the foundation for those who are to come, and point the way.

My inspiration is R. Kelly, Michael Jackson, and Prince – for the vocals, anyway.

Have you ever asked yourselves what you are going to do when you grow up? In all likelihood you will get married, and before you know where you are, you will be mothers and fathers; and you will then be tied to a job, or to the kitchen, in which you will gradually wither away. Is that all that your life is going to be?

Van Gogh never made a penny in his entire lifetime. He painted because it was his soul, his excitement. It was what aligned him with his Source of being. It’s the same with me and writing.

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!

When you’re around me and really see that all I do is live and breathe for my work, it’s not strange, it’s just Gaga.

Fires can’t be made with dead embers, nor can enthusiasm be stirred by spiritless men. Enthusiasm in our daily work lightens effort and turns even labor into pleasant tasks.

My heroes are the ones who survived doing it wrong, who made mistakes, but recovered from them.

There is no blue without yellow and without orange.

Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people.

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.

You don’t have to be a renowned artist like Q-Tip to try your hand at poetry. You don’t need any special equipment – that’s the beauty of it.

I think it’s important as an artist to never forget where you’re from.

I experience a period of frightening clarity in those moments when nature is so beautiful. I am no longer sure of myself, and the paintings appear as in a dream.

I go to cancer wards, and I tell them guys, ‚I’ve beaten it. You can, too.‘

Anything you put your mind to and add your imagination into can make your life a lot better and a lot more fun.

Find your voice and inspire others to find theirs.

Mickey Mouse popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner.

Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.

In every walk of life, you must have leaders. An education in the spiritual world, in the labor field, in the agricultural field, we must have leaders.

I often get ideas for songs on the tour bus at odd times. Like at 6am when no one is around, I’d just write.

Everything in the world exists to end up in a book.

An artist has no home in Europe except in Paris.

And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.

Great geniuses have the shortest biographies.

Steven Spielberg was my childhood hero.

As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.

But when I hear a great song, I can’t help but be inspired by it, regardless of whatever genre that song falls under.

Adversity is the diamond dust Heaven polishes its jewels with.

Virtuous people often revenge themselves for the constraints to which they submit by the boredom which they inspire.

You can write any time people will leave you alone and not interrupt you. Or, rather, you can if you will be ruthless enough about it. But the best writing is certainly when you are in love.

Hope travels through, nor quits us when we die.

All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination, Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth.

Thought is the wind and knowledge the sail.

I’m not a prophet or a stone aged man, just a mortal with potential of a superman. I’m living on.

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

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.

I gather from motivation around me – from a lot of personalities who have done well in their respective fields.

I don’t know that much about who directs what movies, but I’m definitely inspired by the look of old movies; I find them to be really beautiful.

Sometimes I’ve called writing a disease. If so, I’m glad that it caught me.

Ambition is the germ from which all growth of nobleness proceeds.

When I inspire myself, I want to spread the word because its important to be healthy. I don’t think they’re teaching us enough about that. I think we should eat better and exercise. Look who’s saying that – a guy who was 300 pounds – but I’m doing a lot better than I used to. I’m letting people know its important because it makes you feel better.

One of the wonderful things about Oprah: She teaches you to keep on stepping.

Hitch your wagon to a star.

No pressure, no diamonds.

My career as Nipsey Hussle is based on my life as Ermias Asghedom.

If you are lucky enough to find something that you love, and you have a shot at being good at it, don’t stop, don’t put it down.

The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another.

To those of you who received honours, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you, too, can be president of the United States.

Most people dream a dream when they are asleep. But to be a writer, you have to dream while you are awake, intentionally. So I get up early in the morning, 4 o’clock, and I sit at my desk and what I do is just dream. After three or four hours, that’s enough. In the afternoon, I run. The next day, the dream will continue.

My kind of composing is more like the work of a gardener. The gardener takes his seeds and scatters them, knowing what he is planting but not quite what will grow where and when – and he won’t necessarily be able to reproduce it again afterwards either.

When you cease to make a contribution, you begin to die.

Instead of worrying about what people say of you, why not spend time trying to accomplish something they will admire.

We did not choose to be the guardians of the gate, but there is no one else.

Never, and I mean never, allow anyone else’s ideas of who you can or can’t become sully your dream or pollute your imagination. This is your territory, and a ‚Keep Out‘ sign is a great thing to erect at all entrances to your imagination.

All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green.

Success is counted sweetest by those who never succeed.

Duty, Honor, Country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be.

You can’t do it unless you can imagine it.

Stand a little less between me and the sun.

The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision.