This is the mark of a really admirable man: steadfastness in the face of trouble.

The Lord gets his best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction.

I have spent my life going from mania to mania. Somehow it has all paid off.

If at first you don’t succeed, then skydiving definitely isn’t for you.

Every man’s reputation proceeds from those of his own household.

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.

I don’t believe in pessimism. If something doesn’t come up the way you want, forge ahead. If you think it’s going to rain, it will.

We must not sit still and look for miracles; up and doing, and the Lord will be with thee. Prayer and pains, through faith in Christ Jesus, will do anything.

Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think.

Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.

What we face may look insurmountable. But I learned something from all those years of training and competing. I learned something from all those sets and reps when I didn’t think I could lift another ounce of weight. What I learned is that we are always stronger than we know.

The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.

I stayed true to my dreams and, eventually, they came true.

No man who is occupied in doing a very difficult thing, and doing it very well, ever loses his self-respect.

The farmer has to be an optimist or he wouldn’t still be a farmer.

A man’s true character comes out when he’s drunk.

Whenever things go a bit sour in a job I’m doing, I always tell myself, ‚You can do better than this.‘

Certainly it is valuable to a trained writer to crash in an aircraft which burns. He learns several important things very quickly. Whether they will be of use to him is conditioned by survival. Survival, with honor, that outmoded and all-important word, is as difficult as ever and as all-important to a writer.

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

That is why, no matter how desperate the predicament is, I am always very much in earnest about clutching my cane, straightening my derby hat and fixing my tie, even though I have just landed on my head.

From behind the Iron Curtain, there are signs that tyranny is in trouble and reminders that its structure is as brittle as its surface is hard.

Any of us can be happy and have a good attitude when everything is going our way. But I believe it’s the real test of your character and of your faith to say, ‚Things are not going our way, but I’m still being good to people; I’m still attending church; I still have a good attitude.‘

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.

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

To sit back hoping that someday, some way, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last – but eat you he will.

I’m just a kid that defied the odds. I’m just a kid that ignored the doubt. I’m just a kid from a little place in Dublin, Ireland, that went all the way, and I’m going to continue to go all the way.

Let a man who has to make his fortune in life remember this maxim: Attacking is the only secret. Dare and the world yields, or if it beats you sometimes, dare it again and you will succeed.

It sounds simple telling people to work hard and never quit, but to really execute and demonstrate those principles takes discipline and faith. Those are the two factors that I believe separate the good from the great, the successes from the failures.

Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward.

Treat failure as a lesson on how not to approach achieving a goal, and then use that learning to improve your chances of success when you try again. Failure is only the end if you decide to stop.

You shall, I question not, find a way to the top if you diligently seek for it; for nature hath placed nothing so high that it is out of the reach of industry and valor.

You see, God helps only people who work hard. That principle is very clear.

Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.

Character, in great and little things, means carrying through what you feel able to do.

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.

When you create circumstances together, when you try everything, then you can lose. But you need to show the importance.

Confidence is always a good thing to have going into the weekend. Especially where it’s quite difficult to put the lap together.

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

While they were saying among themselves it cannot be done, it was done.

Though lovers be lost, love shall not.

A great secret of success is to go through life as a man who never gets used up.

It’s easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.

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

The measure of a man is what he does with power.

I’ve seen firsthand that being president doesn’t change who you are. It reveals who you are.

Even the securest financial plan and the finest health coverage aren’t enough to hold us steady when the challenges come… We need something more, something deeper and unshakeable, something that will see us through life’s hard times.

Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.

The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it; and so in great calamities, it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of a loftier character.

Irrespective of whether you have talent or not, one has to work hard. Just being talented doesn’t mean anything; you can end up wasting it before you realize.

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.

Obedience brings success; exact obedience brings miracles.

Real firmness is good for anything; strut is good for nothing.

Heroes are not known by the loftiness of their carriage; the greatest braggarts are generally the merest cowards.

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.

When we make progress quickly, it feeds our emotions. Then, when there’s a period of waiting or we hit a plateau, we find out how committed we really are and whether we’re going to see things through to the finish or quit.

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.

A man’s own manner and character is what most becomes him.

Although the life of a person is in a land full of thorns and weeds, there is always a space in which the good seed can grow. You have to trust God.

When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.

If the leader is filled with high ambition and if he pursues his aims with audacity and strength of will, he will reach them in spite of all obstacles.

To strive with difficulties, and to conquer them, is the highest human felicity.