Celebrity is the chastisement of merit and the punishment of talent.

Unless and until you inspire the people, you will not get results. Imposition will never give you the results. Inspiration will always give you the results.

If I’d observed all the rules, I’d never have got anywhere.

Only the public can make a star. It’s the studios who try to make a system out of it.

It’s not essential for me to have a big debut week; it’s not essential for me to have big radio records.

If a star or studio chief or any other great movie personages find themselves sitting among a lot of nobodies, they get frightened – as if somebody was trying to demote them.

Bottom line is, I didn’t return to Apple to make a fortune. I’ve been very lucky in my life and already have one. When I was 25, my net worth was $100 million or so. I decided then that I wasn’t going to let it ruin my life. There’s no way you could ever spend it all, and I don’t view wealth as something that validates my intelligence.

It’s a piece of cake until you get to the top. You find you can’t stop playing the game the way you’ve always played it.

When the gods wish to punish us they answer our prayers.

It’s stasis that kills you off in the end, not ambition.

Someone said to me, ‚If fifty percent of the experts in Hollywood said you had no talent and should give up, what would you do?‘ My answer was then and still is, ‚If a hundred percent told me that, all one hundred percent would be wrong.‘

I want to be part of that long list who have achieved great things with McLaren, won races and championships.

What one has, one ought to use: and whatever he does he should do with all his might.

Ambition can creep as well as soar.

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

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

The principle of all successful effort is to try to do not what is absolutely the best, but what is easily within our power, and suited for our temperament and condition.

In ‚Unfair Advantage: The Power of Financial Education‘ and ‚Why A Students Work for C Students,‘ I reveal the secrets of the wealthy and what schools will never teach you about money.

Sometimes people make it seem like you have to have certain prerequisites or a crazy life story in order to be successful in this world. But the truth is you really don’t.

Pretension is a poor joke that you play on yourself. Snap out of it. Recognise your strengths, work on your weaknesses. Real achievement is liking what you see in the mirror every morning.

Remember, always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. Always remember, others may hate you. But those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself.

I think Clinton, after getting into office and into Washington, was shocked at being bludgeoned. So he spent time trying to be all things to all people – one way guaranteed not to be successful or respected in a lion’s den. You can’t just play around with all those big cats – you’ve got to take somebody on.

The human bird shall take his first flight, filling the world with amazement, all writings with his fame, and bringing eternal glory to the nest whence he sprang.

Applause is the spur of noble minds, the end and aim of weak ones.

Failure is not an option. Everyone has to succeed.

Doing well is the result of doing good. That’s what capitalism is all about.

I know I’m talented, but I wasn’t put here to sing. I was put here to be a wife and a mom and look after my family. I love what I do, but it’s not where it begins and ends.

I’m not a star. I don’t feel I’m so great. So how can I make you feel great just because you’ve got my signature on a piece of paper?

I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.

It doesn’t matter who you are – if you dream big and if you work really hard, you can achieve unimaginable results, and that’s really good for the nation.

People don’t care about what someone says about you in a movie – or even what you say, right? They care about what you build. And if you can make something that makes people’s life better, then that’s something that’s really good.

It needs time. Nobody wants to hear it, but that’s the truth: if you want to have success in the future, you have to be ready to work now.

Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.

The only difference between Benito and Bad Bunny is 16 million followers on Instagram. And the money that Bad Bunny has in the bank. Benito had, like, $7. The numbers are different, but I’m still the same. Even my insecurities remain the same.

I have two Golden Boot awards at home. It would be nice to win another, but I wouldn’t mind it if I didn’t.

Appraisals are where you get together with your team leader and agree what an outstanding member of the team you are, how much your contribution has been valued, what massive potential you have and, in recognition of all this, would you mind having your salary halved.

Our ambition should be to rule ourselves, the true kingdom for each one of us; and true progress is to know more, and be more, and to do more.

To be successful, a woman has to be much better at her job than a man.

I think my first thought on reaching the summit- of course, I was very, very pleased to be there, naturally – but my first thought was one of a little bit of surprise. I was a little bit surprised that here I was, Ed Hillary, on top of Mt. Everest. After all, this is the ambition of most mountaineers.

When I started Virgin from a basement in west London, there was no great plan or strategy. I didn’t set out to build a business empire… For me, building a business is all about doing something to be proud of, bringing talented people together and creating something that’s going to make a real difference to other people’s lives.

I say, ‚Yeah, Taylor Swift.‘ I think she is a smart, beautiful girl. I think she’s making all the right moves. She’s got a good head on her shoulders. She’s surrounded with wonderful people. Her songs are great. She keeps herself anchored. She knows who she is, and she’s living and standing by that.

I performed in a bowling alley before while people were still bowling. Cut the check, and I will perform anywhere.

Happiness is a how; not a what. A talent, not an object.

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

With drive and a bit of talent, you can move mountains. I know. I’ve done it.

Mickey Mouse popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner.

If you look at anyone who has achieved great success and wealth, people like Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, or Lance Armstrong, they have all focused intensely in order to win.

WWE asked me to be in the Hall of Fame, and I turned it down. You know why? They put Pete Rose in the wrestling Hall of Fame. This guy can’t even get into his own Hall of Fame.

Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness.

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.

I’ve written some great things. That’s a gift, but there’s consequences. Yeah, you get this great work, but you suffer. You really, really suffer.

If you want to reach the top, don’t run over others. Likely, the only way you’ll reach the top is to be carried there by others.

We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success.

Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.

I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‚Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.‘

We cannot attribute to fortune or virtue that which is achieved without either.

‚Soul Plane‘ put me in a position to succeed. I’m glad I had the opportunity to be the lead man.

If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.

Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.

As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information.