When I was nine years old, living on the south side of Chicago, my father was a minister and my mother used to scrub floors. I had seven brothers and four sisters. I told my mama, ‚One of these days I’m going to be big and strong and buy you a beautiful house.‘ That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do with my life, is to take care of my mother.

Conviction is worthless unless it is converted into conduct.

It is better to risk starving to death then surrender. If you give up on your dreams, what’s left?

I think that success is having fun.

Forward, as occasion offers. Never look round to see whether any shall note it… Be satisfied with success in even the smallest matter, and think that even such a result is no trifle.

I see fighters make funny videos about me and stick them on Facebook and get 20 likes. When I make a video, I sell it to Fox and make seven figures. That’s the difference.

The bird is powered by its own life and by its motivation.

The strongest influences in my life and my work are always whomever I love. Whomever I love and am with most of the time, or whomever I remember most vividly. I think that’s true of everyone, don’t you?

Little children are still the symbol of the eternal marriage between love and duty.

Marriage destroyed my relationship with two wonderful men.

The greenhorn is the ultimate victor in everything; it is he that gets the most out of life.

My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth.

A number of analysts have observed that although bin Laden was finally killed, he won some major successes in his war against the U.S.

Intense love does not measure, it just gives.

Any man who doesn’t love his mama can’t be no friend of mine.

The great question of our time is, ‚Will we be motivated by materialistic philosophy or by spiritual power?‘

One that desires to excel should endeavor in those things that are in themselves most excellent.

Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.

Going home helps the content.

You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.

I love hugging people. I still hug everybody in my meet-and-greet lines.

Love is a sacred reserve of energy; it is like the blood of spiritual evolution.

When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.

How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child!

It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.

The harder I work, the luckier I become.

What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.

People want to feel hopeful.

I praticed making faces in the mirror and it would drive my mother crazy. She used to scare me by saying that I was going to see the devil if I kept looking in the mirror. That fascinated me even more, of course.

You always want to quit while you are ahead. You don’t want to be like a fighter who stays too long in the ring until you’re not performing at your best.

I’m more of a realist when it comes to life, and I’d much rather my mother be in a spiritual place in Heaven than in a bed, sick, fighting for her life.

If I held you any closer I would be on the other side of you.

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.

The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.

Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.

You can close more business in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you.

No one was ever great without some portion of divine inspiration.

Love is like a beautiful flower which I may not touch, but whose fragrance makes the garden a place of delight just the same.

You know, when I have a bad game, it continues to humble me and know that, you know, you still have work to do and you still have a lot of people to impress.

Success is due to our stretching to the challenges of life. Failure comes when we shrink from them.

Everybody has goals, aspirations or whatever, and everybody has been at a point in their life where nobody believed in them.

You may think it was a very little thing, and in these days it seems to me like a trifle, but it was a most important incident in my life. I could scarcely credit that I, the poor boy, had earned a dollar in less than a day; that by honest work, I had earned a dollar. I was a more hopeful and thoughtful boy from that time.

Love has reasons which reason cannot understand.

I was offered a job on Wall Street by my uncle. But I wanted to get out. Make-it-on-my-own kinda thing.

Winning takes precedence over all. There’s no gray area. No almosts.

Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.

All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

My biggest criticism is how can people be so easily satisfied? Even people with talent.

We are America, second to none, and we own the finish line. Don’t forget it.

Natural ability without education has more often raised a man to glory and virtue than education without natural ability.

My measure of success is whether I’m fulfilling my mission.

It has been hard for me to find it, but I have found love.

Pray that success will not come any faster than you are able to endure it.

Find your voice and inspire others to find theirs.

We do not judge the people we love.

Never lose a holy curiosity.

I remember talking with Arcade Fire after their first record, when they were getting all kinds of offers from major labels, and I don’t think I gave them any advice. They survived that whole onslaught pretty well anyway without me.

To live without Hope is to Cease to live.

You want to know whether we’re better off? I’ve got a little bumper sticker for you: Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive. Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive! Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive!