The thornbush is the old obstacle in the road. It must catch fire if you want to go further.

So never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often in such matters the mustard-seed germinates and roots itself.

History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats.

The men who learn endurance, are they who call the whole world, brother.

The struggle alone pleases us, not the victory.

It doesn’t matter if the water is cold or warm if you’re going to have to wade through it anyway.

Truth is mysterious, elusive, always to be conquered. Liberty is dangerous, as hard to live with as it is elating. We must march toward these two goals, painfully but resolutely, certain in advance of our failings on so long a road.

Books that you carry to the fire, and hold readily in your hand, are most useful after all.

Time and the hour run through the roughest day.

When I started my last business, I didn’t receive a paycheck for 13 months. The average person can’t handle that pressure.

Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.

These times are so hard, and they’re getting even harder.

The ninety and nine are with dreams, content but the hope of the world made new, is the hundredth man who is grimly bent on making those dreams come true.

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.

I was scared many times on Everest, but this is all part of the challenge. When I fell down a crevasse, it was pretty scary.

The marvelous richness of human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were no limitations to overcome. The hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse.

You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.

A hundred struggle and drown in the breakers. One discovers the new world. But rather, ten times rather, die in the surf, heralding the way to that new world, than stand idly on the shore.

I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‚Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.

I focus on one thing and one thing only – that’s trying to win as many championships as I can.

With Kansas, I had a four-year deal. The initial two months were real tough. I had to adjust a lot. Then, things started looking up.

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.

It isn’t necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice. There are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia.

Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he will pick himself up and continue on.

What I admire most about Hillary is that she never buckles under pressure. She never takes the easy way out. And Hillary Clinton has never quit on anything in her life.

I was a fighting machine with a will of iron.

I’ll never, ever be full. I’ll always be hungry. Obviously, I’m not talking about food. Growing up, I had nothing for such a long time. Someone told me a long time ago, and I’ve never forgotten it, ‚Once you’ve ever been hungry, really, really hungry, then you’ll never, ever be full.‘

But in truth, should I meet with gold or spices in great quantity, I shall remain till I collect as much as possible, and for this purpose I am proceeding solely in quest of them.

Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.

You can’t knock on opportunity’s door and not be ready.

The greatest difficulty always comes right before the birth of a dream.

You know, there is always times where you feel discouraged and things coming against you, but I don’t know if I ever wanted to throw in the towel.

A jug fills drop by drop.

My attitude has always been, if you fall flat on your face, at least you’re moving forward. All you have to do is get back up and try again.

Good fame is like fire; when you have kindled you may easily preserve it; but if you extinguish it, you will not easily kindle it again.

There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.

You have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have.

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.

Losing is not an option in Kolkata. It’s not easy, a lot of players even quit.

I have to write 100 songs before you write the first good one.

If you look at space companies, they’ve failed either because they’ve had a technical solution where success was not a possible outcome, they were unable to attract a critical mass of talent, or they just ran out of money. The finish line is usually a lot further away than you think.

I think as long as I do a good job and put in all my effort to proving that I’m worth it, then everything should be fine.

Never, never, never give up.

If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.

Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.

Not to go back is somewhat to advance, and men must walk, at least, before they dance.

There are phases in life which surface at times, and it makes you understand that despite you working hard, everything what you are doing is probably not enough. That’s when you need to look around, and beyond.

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.

Life is a journey. When we stop, things don’t go right.

It is easier to stay out than get out.

At Columbia Law School, my professor of constitutional law and federal courts, Gerald Gunther, was determined to place me in a federal court clerkship, despite what was then viewed as a grave impediment: On graduation, I was the mother of a 4-year-old child.

If four things are followed – having a great aim, acquiring knowledge, hard work, and perseverance – then anything can be achieved.

Truth cannot be brought down; rather, the individual must make the effort to ascend to it. You cannot bring the mountaintop to the valley. If you would attain to the mountaintop, you must pass through the valley, climb the steeps, unafraid of the dangerous precipices.

Racing, competing, it’s in my blood. It’s part of me, it’s part of my life; I have been doing it all my life and it stands out above everything else.

There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit.

Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.

You can’t die with an unfinished book.

At the end of the day, I understand that life has road blocks, and life is like school – you’ll be tested; we gotta pass it.

There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.

The difference between us and them, between you and success, is not that you never fail, but it’s how you recover from those failures – is that you keep getting up time and time again. You figure out what you did wrong, and then you make it right. I say that to my kids every day.

Just do what must be done. This may not be happiness, but it is greatness.