You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.

One thing Britons have always been celebrated for, and that is being able to stick it out in a tight place.

It is well for the world that in most of us, by the age of thirty, the character has set like plaster, and will never soften again.

Failure means a stripping away of the inessential.

Nobody can ever say that being negative ever helped them at all – not in any way.

I’m not going to change the way I look or the way I feel to conform to anything. I’ve always been a freak. So I’ve been a freak all my life and I have to live with that, you know. I’m one of those people.

What we need to do is always lean into the future; when the world changes around you and when it changes against you – what used to be a tail wind is now a head wind – you have to lean into that and figure out what to do because complaining isn’t a strategy.

I don’t ever want to be caught up in a system of thinking I can do one thing ‚cos that’s just… that’s just telling yourself a lie.

You’re going to go through tough times – that’s life. But I say, ‚Nothing happens to you, it happens for you.‘ See the positive in negative events.

You should never give up your inner self.

We are not animals. We are not a product of what has happened to us in our past. We have the power of choice.

With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.

Where would I be without baseball? Who am I without baseball?

For me, money is not my definition of success. Inspiring people is a definition of success.

It’s important that we invest in America – literally. The terrorists wanted to destroy our economy, and we can’t let our system fall apart. We also have to invest in one another.

No person is important enough to make me angry.

It’s very unnatural to be someone for so many people. But of course it’s very nice.

Remorse sleeps during prosperity but awakes bitter consciousness during adversity.

Always do whatever’s next.

I don’t think anything about a personal legacy. I mean, those words would never come out of my mouth unless I just repeated them. Those things have never been important to me.

My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it interferes with. Don’t be disabled in spirit as well as physically.

Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become.

You get to a point where it’s like you can’t really do anything right, and people will pick on you for whatever decisions you make, so I just try and take no notice and get on with my music.

Billy Graham is one of my great lifetime heroes. I think he epitomizes the essence of what a Christian leader should be. I have participated in some of his crusades a couple of times in Atlanta. I’ve seen the profound impact he’s had on me personally, and on other people who were not Christians and accepted Christ as Savior.

A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.

I’ve done many ads because that’s my new career. It’s an inspiring extension for my mind.

Libraries raised me.

While I thought that I was learning how to live, I have been learning how to die.

Instead of blaming everyone and everything else for your problems, pray for God to help you take an inventory of what’s been on your mind so you can think about what you’ve been thinking about.

If I make a fool of myself, who cares? I’m not frightened by anyone’s perception of me.

Before finding music, I didn’t have too many aspirations. I wanted to hang out, make a little money from whatever I had to do.

You might be tough, but you can only be so tough for so long, you know what I mean? The brain can only take so much damage. The body can only take so much damage.

My future is righteousness.

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own.

Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know – and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use it to destroy ourselves? Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance.

I got teased my entire school life. What they were picking on I don’t even understand.

I like to recede away from classifications. You might say that indicates a fundamental lack of commitment. I suppose that’s true to some degree.

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

What we seek we shall find; what we flee from flees from us.

I don’t believe in ‚thinking‘ old. Although I’ve transitioned through many bodies – a baby, toddler, child, teen, young adult, mid-life and older adult – my spirit is unchanged. I support my body with exercise, my mind with reading and writing, and my spirit with the knowing that I am part of the Divine source of all life.

‚Tis education forms the common mind; just as the twig is bent the tree’s inclined.

If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them, and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself.

I don’t know what drives me to succeed.

To enjoy freedom we have to control ourselves.

Not what I have, but what I do is my kingdom.

Before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.

I’m crazy, but I’m not too crazy.

If I were a Negro, I’d be fighting, as Martin Luther King fought, for human recognition and justice. I’d rather go down with my flag flying. If you’re weak or crippled, or you can’t speak out or fight back in some way, then people don’t hesitate to treat you badly.

Always say ‚yes‘ to the present moment… Surrender to what is. Say ‚yes‘ to life – and see how life starts suddenly to start working for you rather than against you.

Must is a hard nut to crack, but it has a sweet kernel.

People always say that you can’t please everybody. I think that’s a cop-out. Why not attempt it? ‚Cause think of all the people you will please if you try.

In other words, don’t expect to always be great. Disappointments, failures and setbacks are a normal part of the lifecycle of a unit or a company and what the leader has to do is constantly be up and say ‚we have a problem, let’s go and get it‘.

I respect myself and insist upon it from everybody. And because I do it, I then respect everybody, too.

No one’s policing their own minds more than an author. You spend a lot of time in your own head analysing what you think about things, and a philosophy comes.

I’m like a recovering perfectionist. For me it’s one day at a time.

My mother had a saying: ‚Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you’re not the last.‘

The truth is, somebody is always talking about you, so you have to let it go… if it’s not a part of your God-given destiny.

When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire can never be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, ‚Oh yes – I already have everything that I really need.‘

I say luck is when an opportunity comes along and you’re prepared for it.

We do not need the empire to give us anything.