When someone bestows something on you, no matter how true it is, when someone says, ‚Sexiest Man Alive,‘ I’m honestly going, ‚Thank you. Right on.‘ For me, it’s never canceled out anything, it’s never made me go, ‚Does this make me less talented of an actor?‘

Martyrdom: The only way a man can become famous without ability.

Our greatness has always come from people who expect nothing and take nothing for granted – folks who work hard for what they have, then reach back and help others after them.

So many people are looking at what’s wrong, and I try to encourage them to look at what’s right in their life. A lot of people have it a lot worse than you do.

There are three kinds of intelligence: one kind understands things for itself, the other appreciates what others can understand, the third understands neither for itself nor through others. This first kind is excellent, the second good, and the third kind useless.

So long as I’m Commander-in-Chief, we will sustain the strongest military the world has ever known. When you take off the uniform, we will serve you as well as you’ve served us – because no one who fights for this country should have to fight for a job, or a roof over their head, or the care that they need when they come home.

I definitely don’t plead guilty to being a heartthrob.

A career is born in public – talent in privacy.

It undoubtedly feels nice when you are being appreciated and you get complimented by girls. Who doesn’t like that? Having said that, I don’t take it as any pressure.

Not everyone loves me, but I have to be okay no matter what they think about me.

I have a very good family. I’m very fortunate to have a very good family. I believe very strongly in the family. It’s one of the things we have in our platform, is to talk about it.

By appreciation, we make excellence in others our own property.

The way to know life is to love many things.

To excel at the highest level – or any level, really – you need to believe in yourself, and hands down, one of the biggest contributors to my self-confidence has been private coaching.

I like not only to be loved, but also to be told I am loved.

Americans adore me and will go on adoring me until I say something nice about them.

I wouldn’t be here today if it were not for the NHS. I have received a large amount of high-quality treatment without which I would not have survived.

I’ve never wanted to use my age as a gimmick, as something that would get me ahead of other people. I’ve wanted the music to do that.

The first man gets the oyster, the second man gets the shell.

One of the best things that ever happened to me is that I’m a woman. That is the way all females should feel.

As far as a glass ceiling, I feel that all you can do is give it your absolute best with whatever gifts the universe has given you. And if you make it in some way that other people can recognize, that’s fine. But even if you don’t quote-unquote make it, you’re fine if you’ve given it your whole heart and soul.

Few women, I fear, have had such reason as I have to think the long sad years of youth were worth living for the sake of middle age.

Ridicule is the tribute paid to the genius by the mediocrities.

Can people who hunger so desperately for what other people have ever have enough?

Americans are far more remarkable than we give ourselves credit for. We’ve been so busy damning ourselves for years. We’ve done it all, and yet we don’t take credit for it.

Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.

I’m grateful to intelligent people. That doesn’t mean educated. That doesn’t mean intellectual. I mean really intelligent. What black old people used to call ‚mother wit‘ means intelligence that you had in your mother’s womb. That’s what you rely on. You know what’s right to do.

I wake up in the morning and my heart is light, man. It’s not heavy. I don’t have skeletons in the closet on their way out.

Mere bashfulness without merit is awkwardness.

I had nothing growing up, but I always wanted to be ‚sexy,‘ even before I knew what the word was.

The barriers are not erected which can say to aspiring talents and industry, ‚Thus far and no farther.‘

I wake up some mornings and sit and have my coffee and look out at my beautiful garden, and I go, ‚Remember how good this is. Because you can lose it.‘

I don’t like looking back. I’m always constantly looking forward. I’m not the one to sort of sit and cry over spilt milk. I’m too busy looking for the next cow.

You have to come to your closed doors before you get to your open doors… What if you knew you had to go through 32 closed doors before you got to your open door? Well, then you’d come to closed door number eight and you’d think, ‚Great, I got another one out of the way’… Keep moving forward.

Happiness is within the reach of everyone, rich or poor. Yet comparatively few people are happy. I believe the reason for this is that the majority don’t recognize happiness even when it is within their grasp.

With mindfulness, you can establish yourself in the present in order to touch the wonders of life that are available in that moment.

I’m trying to do what Eddie Murphy did for his generation. You have to show people, ‚I’m different. I’m not just a comedian.‘ I’m trying to become a rock star.

Becoming a ‚Sir‘ is slightly uncomfortable at first, although it is a considerable honor. It is amazing how quickly you become accustomed to it.

You are not a problem that needs solving.

No great deed is done by falterers who ask for certainty.

I hear my friends and my mom tell me I’m special, but honestly, I still don’t get it.

People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.

That it will never come again is what makes life sweet.

There are only two things. Truth and lies. Truth is indivisible, hence it cannot recognize itself; anyone who wants to recognize it has to be a lie.

You’re never as good as everyone tells you when you win, and you’re never as bad as they say when you lose.

I am not handsome or sexy. Of course, it’s not like I am hopeless.

Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light.

Sometimes I’m fascinated with how famous my work could be while I’m not so famous.

He has the most who is most content with the least.

Great acts are made up of small deeds.

If you’re a human being, you can attempt to do what other human beings have done. We don’t understand talent any more than we understand electricity.

I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well.

There are so many men and women who hold no distinctive positions but whose contribution towards the development of society has been enormous.

Every day is a gift from God, no matter how old we are.

If anyone remembers me, it’s about my hard work.

It was wonderful to find America, but it would have been more wonderful to miss it.

I would venture to guess that the biggest reason creative types don’t produce isn’t because they don’t have vision… or talent… in most cases, it’s a lack of discipline.

I love to play. And fortunately, I don’t know a lot of musicians that suck. I know a bunch of really good ones, and they’re always up for playing.

Never be ashamed! There’s some who’ll hold it against you, but they’re not worth bothering with.

It’s always wonderful to get to know women, with the mystery and the joy and the depth. If you can make a woman laugh, you’re seeing the most beautiful thing on God’s Earth.

One must be poor to know the luxury of giving!