What starts the process, really, are laughs and slights and snubs when you are a kid. If your anger is deep enough and strong enough, you learn that you can change those attitudes by excellence, personal gut performance.

You’re not a product of your nature. That is your genetic makeup or your nurture, the things that have happened to you. Of course those things affect you powerfully, but they do not determine you.

God is not on the side of the big battalions, but on the side of those who shoot best.

They know enough who know how to learn.

I am what time, circumstance, history, have made of me, certainly, but I am also, much more than that. So are we all.

Me not finishing school – in my head, I still have this insecurity when I’m talking to someone educated.

Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life.

Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice… No one can prevent you from being aware of each step you take or each breath in and breath out.

No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.

We’re going to be OK because of the American people. They have more grit, determination and courage than you can imagine.

If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.

Accept the terrible responsibility of life with eyes wide open.

I used to worry about every little thing, trying to figure out every problem. Well, I realize now how foolish that was. I was no more in control of my life than the man on the moon.

It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody.

I don’t expect to live forever, but I do intend to hang on as long as possible.

The greatest magnifying glasses in the world are a man’s own eyes when they look upon his own person.

The reward of suffering is experience.

It kills me to lose. If I’m a troublemaker, and I don’t think that my temper makes me one, then it’s because I can’t stand losing. That’s the way I am about winning, all I ever wanted to do was finish first.

Find people who will make you better.

Cowardice… is almost always simply a lack of ability to suspend functioning of the imagination.

I don’t live in the past at all; I’m always wanting to do something new. I make a point of constantly trying to forget and get things out of my mind.

Many years ago, I concluded that a few hair shirts were part of the mental wardrobe of every man. The president differs from other men in that he has a more extensive wardrobe.

To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.

Every day we have plenty of opportunities to get angry, stressed or offended. But what you’re doing when you indulge these negative emotions is giving something outside yourself power over your happiness. You can choose to not let little things upset you.

I think so many people live their whole life in fear and doubt and shame.

Whenever you are angry, be assured that it is not only a present evil, but that you have increased a habit.

The worst thing one can do is not to try, to be aware of what one wants and not give in to it, to spend years in silent hurt wondering if something could have materialized – never knowing.

The question of sexual dominance can exist only in the nightmare of that soul which has armed itself, totally, against the possibility of the changing motion of conquest and surrender, which is love.

Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.

One always has time enough, if one will apply it well.

There will always be something to ruin our lives, it all depends on what or which finds us first. We are always ripe and ready to be taken.

I think that we have opportunities all around us – sometimes we just don’t recognize them.

I don’t lose any sleep at night over the potential for failure. I cannot even spell the word.

A broad margin of leisure is as beautiful in a man’s life as in a book. Haste makes waste, no less in life than in housekeeping. Keep the time, observe the hours of the universe, not of the cars.

I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future.

Some men never feel small, but these are the few men who are.

It’s not necessary to fear the prospect of failure but to be determined not to fail.

Relish everything that’s inside of you, the imperfections, the darkness, the richness and light and everything. And that makes for a full life.

What consumerism really is, at its worst is getting people to buy things that don’t actually improve their lives.

No crime is so great as daring to excel.

Don’t be afraid to see what you see.

What most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy.

Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.

I think I’m pretty smart. I think I’m pretty clever. But there’s a lot that you hone in on when you finish your education.

In the fight between you and the world, back the world.

People who use time wisely spend it on activities that advance their overall purpose in life.

When I write about a 15-year old, I jump, I return to the days when I was that age. It’s like a time machine. I can remember everything. I can feel the wind. I can smell the air. Very actually. Very vividly.

We are always getting ready to live but never living.

To those whose talents are above mediocrity, the highest subjects may be announced. To those who are below mediocrity, the highest subjects may not be announced.

Never despair, but if you do, work on in despair.

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.

I knew I wasn’t going to be a rocket scientist – let’s not be fools – but I wasn’t going to be a bum.

He that humbleth himself wishes to be exalted.

If selfishness is the key to being miserable, then selflessness must be the key to being happy!

We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.

In art the best is good enough.

Self-belief and hard work will always earn you success.

Personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures.

Nothing is stopping me from doing what I love to do.

By taking responsibility for how you choose to respond to anything or anyone, you’re aligning yourself with the beautiful dance of life.

I was never really good at anything except for the ability to learn.