The temptation to take the easy road is always there. It is as easy as staying in bed in the morning and sleeping in. But discipline is paramount to ultimate success and victory for any leader and any team.

In all my work, I try to say – ‚You may be given a load of sour lemons, why not try to make a dozen lemon meringue pies?‘

In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.

The battle is all over except the ‚shouting‘ when one knows what is wanted and has made up his mind to get it, whatever the price may be.

I think a certain amount of stress in life is good. The stress of just working, which takes effort – I think it keeps you going.

You’ve got to invest in the world, you’ve got to read, you’ve got to go to art galleries, you’ve got to find out the names of plants. You’ve got to start to love the world and know about the whole genius of the human race. We’re amazing people.

He who is to be a good ruler must have first been ruled.

The minute you got the Nobel Peace Prize, things that I said yesterday, with nobody paying too much attention, I say the same things after I got it – oh! It was quite crucial for people, and it helped our morale because apartheid did look invincible.

Diligence is the mother of good luck.

The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.

I attribute my success to this – I never gave or took any excuse.

In soloing – as in other activities – it is far easier to start something than it is to finish it.

I can make more generals, but horses cost money.

If you want to be enthusiastic, act enthusiastic.

A word after a word after a word is power.

Don’t think in the morning. That’s a big mistake that people make. They wake up in the morning and they start thinking. Don’t think. Just execute the plan. The plan is the alarm clock goes off, you get up, you go work out. Get some.

Natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience.

Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts, don’t complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don’t bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality. Wake Up and Live!

Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.

There is no failure except in no longer trying.

I’m definitely gaining new fans, and that’s the key of any success… gain more love.

Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.

One must know oneself. If this does not serve to discover truth, it at least serves as a rule of life and there is nothing better.

You do things when the opportunities come along. I’ve had periods in my life when I’ve had a bundle of ideas come along, and I’ve had long dry spells. If I get an idea next week, I’ll do something. If not, I won’t do a damn thing.

If we don’t plant the right things, we will reap the wrong things. It goes without saying. And you don’t have to be, you know, a brilliant biochemist and you don’t have to have an IQ of 150. Just common sense tells you to be kind, ninny, fool. Be kind.

You get one life. I’m going to embrace mine.

When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.

If you don’t know where you are going, every road will get you nowhere.

What the country needs is dirtier fingernails and cleaner minds.

Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.

I’ve always believed that you can think positive just as well as you can think negative.

To enjoy freedom we have to control ourselves.

When you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‚em, ‚Certainly I can!‘ Then get busy and find out how to do it.

My desire to devolve authority has nothing to do with a wish to shirk responsibility.

The book you don’t read won’t help.

Reversing your treatment of the man you have wronged is better than asking his forgiveness.

Work aside, we come to New York for the possibility of interaction and inspiration.

Successful and fortunate crime is called virtue.

There is only one way… to get anybody to do anything. And that is by making the other person want to do it.

The time has come for all evangelists to practice full financial disclosure. The world is watching how we walk and how we talk. We must have the highest standards of morality, ethics and integrity if we are to continue to have influence.

As a matter of self-preservation, a man needs good friends or ardent enemies, for the former instruct him and the latter take him to task.

People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead.

There is nothing, Sir, too little for so little a creature as man. It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery and as much happiness as possible.

I have always been pushed by the negative. The apparent failure of a play sends me back to my typewriter that very night, before the reviews are out. I am more compelled to get back to work than if I had a success.

The nobler a man, the harder it is for him to suspect inferiority in others.

Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick.

The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda.

When you’re one of the leaders of the team, there are no days off.

In action a great heart is the chief qualification. In work, a great head.

I used to get into a lot of fights.

I’m interested in what motivates individuals to participate in atrocious acts to support their ideological identification.

You need to overcome the tug of people against you as you reach for high goals.

I grow daily to honour facts more and more, and theory less and less. A fact, it seems to me, is a great thing; a sentence printed, if not by God, then at least by the Devil.

Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.

If anything is good for pounding humility into you permanently, it’s the restaurant business.

We must use time as a tool, not as a couch.

When you play sports like tennis, you’re alone, and that’s a good school for life, but it’s also a good school for life to bring your best and make those around you better, too – helping others in difficult moments.

Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.

Start wide, expand further, and never look back.

I did my utmost to ensure that everyone below me in the chain of command felt comfortable approaching me with concerns, ideas, thoughts, and even disagreements.

Everyone needs a coach. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a basketball player, a tennis player, a gymnast or a bridge player.