When I was writing the Destiny’s Child songs, it was a big thing to be that young and taking control. And the label at the time didn’t know that we were going to be that successful, so they gave us all control. And I got used to it.

My brother had written ‚Ocean Eyes,‘ and we recorded it, basing all of the production around contemporary and lyrical dance. I think of most songs that way – if you can’t dance to a song, it’s not a song.

If my films don’t show a profit, I know I’m doing something right.

No woman in my time will be prime minister or chancellor or foreign secretary – not the top jobs. Anyway, I wouldn’t want to be prime minister; you have to give yourself 100 percent.

My main goal is to be a self-made man and have control over what’s mine.

Certainly in the next 50 years we shall see a woman president, perhaps sooner than you think. A woman can and should be able to do any political job that a man can do.

To the person with a firm purpose all men and things are servants.

I’m very type-A, and many things in my life are about control and domination, but eating should be a submissive experience, where you let down your guard and enjoy the ride.

I always thought that if I made it big or got successful at what I had started out to do, that I wanted to come back to my part of the country and do something great, something that would bring a lot of jobs into this area.

That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.

Music is something no one can control.

Young people can create beautiful things.

After one has been in prison, it is the small things that one appreciates: being able to take a walk whenever one wants, going into a shop and buying a newspaper, speaking or choosing to remain silent. The simple act of being able to control one’s person.

I want to go down in the history books with what I’ve achieved.

Of course, I do everything for money.

I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.

Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of.

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.

The man who is intent on making the most of his opportunities is too busy to bother about luck.

I don’t think that a leader can control, to any great extent, his destiny. Very seldom can he step in and change the situation if the forces of history are running in another direction.

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

I don’t think a coach becomes the right coach until he wins a championship.

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.

When I was performing the songs on ‚Kiss Land,‘ it was a great singalong. But there were moments where I realized some parts were catchier than the others. There’s maybe two choruses on all of ‚Kiss Land.‘

Success is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.

Take the course opposite to custom and you will almost always do well.

Energy and persistence conquer all things.

To those of you who received honours, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you, too, can be president of the United States.

The wage for most musicians is a modest amount, and that includes me some of the time.

‚Nothin‘ on You‘ by B.o.B was the first song where I heard myself on the radio. I’d been trying my whole career to write a song like that, which incorporates live instruments with hip-hop and singing.

Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.

Control your own destiny! Control your own destiny!

Even though I’m known as a pop musician, I have a seriousness about what I do.

Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer, and forgiveness.

Everything you are against weakens you. Everything you are for empowers you.

Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.

Once you publish a book, it is out of your control. You cannot dictate how people read it.

I was a little worried that young people would think the only game was being political and manipulative when really the bigger game is being so good at what you do that nobody can argue with your results.

Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.

Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!

However my parents – both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing quirk that would never pay a mortgage or secure a pension.

Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.

If you understand the universe, you control it, in a way.

I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion.

Put it this way: If I asked, ‚How’s business?‘ and you say, ‚Boomin‘ or ‚Amazing,‘ I already know the answer.

It doesn’t matter where you come from, what you have or don’t have, what you lack, or what you have too much of. But all you need to have is faith in God, an undying passion for what you do and what you choose to do in this life, and a relentless drive and the will to do whatever it takes to be successful in whatever you put your mind to.

Wood burns because it has the proper stuff in it; and a man becomes famous because he has the proper stuff in him.

My lyrics are generated by various peculiar processes. Very random and similar to automatic writing.

For unflagging interest and enjoyment, a household of children, if things go reasonably well, certainly all other forms of success and achievement lose their importance by comparison.

I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God’s help I shall succeed.

The more you can increase fear of drugs and crime, welfare mothers, immigrants and aliens, the more you control all the people.

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.

I just wanted to be a songwriter. I did really not like the sound of my own voice.

God’s desire is that we excel.

Lyrics are the only thing to do with music that haven’t been made easier technically.

I’ve had a lot of success; I’ve had failures, so I learn from the failure.

We’re not a fragile people. We’re not a frightful people. Our power doesn’t come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order as long as we do things his way. We don’t look to be ruled.

Success is always dangerous, and we need to be alert and avoid becoming the victims of our own success. Will we influence the world for Christ, or will the world influence us?

The highest reward that God gives us for good work is the ability to do better work.

Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.

We are twice armed if we fight with faith.