I’m proof against that word failure. I’ve seen behind it. The only failure a man ought to fear is failure of cleaving to the purpose he sees to be best.

I loved photography and everybody said it was a crazy thing to do because in those days nobody made it into the film business. I mean, unless you were related to somebody there was no way in.

Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed… Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.

Whenever you do something, people try to re-do it and do a better version, especially if they’re in another country.

I do have motivation. A lot of motivation.

I’ve never gone into business to make money. Every Virgin product and service has been made into a reality to make a positive difference in people’s lives. And by focusing on the happiness of our customers, we have been able to build a successful group of companies.

My dad used to have an expression – ‚It is the lucky person who gets up in the morning, puts both feet on the floor, knows what they are about to do, and thinks it still matters.‘

I hate pain, despite my ability to tolerate it beyond all known parameters, which is not necessarily a good thing.

Everybody wants to be somebody; nobody wants to grow.

Opera happens because a large number of things amazingly fail to go wrong.

I want to go and go, and then drop dead in the middle of something I’m loving to do. And if that doesn’t happen, if I wind up sitting in a wheelchair, at least I’ll have my high heels on.

Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.

If you’re going to wake up early all the time, and you’re working hard, and you’re working out, sometimes you’re going to get tired. It’s OK. It’s acceptable – somewhat. We’re all human, unfortunately.

I just think it is important that you realize, that you’re the best in the world. Whether you are a Democrat or Republican or whether you’re libertarian or whatever, you are the best. And we should not ever forget that. And when somebody does not do the job, we got to let them go.

Here is the rule to remember in the future, When anything tempts you to be bitter: not, ‚This is a misfortune‘ but ‚To bear this worthily is good fortune.‘

Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks in great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself.

I have short goals – to get better every day, to help my teammates every day – but my only ultimate goal is to win an NBA championship. It’s all that matters. I dream about it. I dream about it all the time, how it would look, how it would feel. It would be so amazing.

Why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me.

Thirty-three-years-old, still creating art. It’s rage, it’s creativity, it’s pain, it’s hurt, but it’s the opportunity to still have my voice get out there through music.

A family shares hardships and a connected history.

Now, you lose something in your life, or you come into a conflict, and there’s gonna come a time that you’re gonna know: There was a reason for that. And at the end of your life, all the things you thought were periods, they turn out to be commas. There was never a full stop in any of it.

Rule number one is: Beat your team-mate.

I’ve felt like an outsider all my life. It comes from my mother, who always felt like an outsider in my father’s family. She was a powerful woman, and she motivated my father.

Most people already know what they’re doing wrong. When I get them to church I want to tell them that you can change.

You have to motivate yourself with challenges. That’s how you know you’re still alive.

The experience of pain or loss can be a formidably motivating force.

I’m not the sort to back away from a fight. I don’t believe in shrinking from anything. It’s not my speed; I’m a guy who meets adversities head on.

Trouble has no necessary connection with discouragement. Discouragement has a germ of its own, as different from trouble as arthritis is different from a stiff joint.

When all is said and done, more is said than done.

On Sundays when I speak, I hopefully give somebody something that they can use the next day at work or at home.

I defy gravity.

I know what it feels like to struggle to get the education that you need.

I’ve made my share of mistakes along the way, but if I have changed even one life for the better, I haven’t lived in vain.

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

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

Anyone can have a good day, but you have to be able to perform on a bad day.

Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.

I can do whatever I want.

Whatever you want to do, do with full passion and work really hard towards it. Don’t look anywhere else. There will be a few distractions, but if you can be true to yourself, you will be successful for sure.

What I admire most about Hillary is that she never buckles under pressure. She never takes the easy way out. And Hillary Clinton has never quit on anything in her life. And when I think about the kind of president that I want for my girls and all our children, that’s what I want.

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.

Next to excellence is the appreciation of it.

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

There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.

Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn’t have the power to say yes.

The place where you made your stand never mattered. Only that you were there… and still on your feet.

The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure criticism without resentment.

Anyone who proposes to do good must not expect people to roll stones out of his way, but must accept his lot calmly, even if they roll a few stones upon it.

The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today.

The courage we desire and prize is not the courage to die decently, but to live manfully.

I always tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity.

Physical strength can never permanently withstand the impact of spiritual force.

I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‚Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.

No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.

It started to weigh on me that I was responsible for the moves that had made me successful, but I wasn’t reaping the lion’s share of the profits, and that was problematic for me.

Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.

The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.

Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness.

If you start by promising what you don’t even have yet, you’ll lose your desire to work towards getting it.

Whatever you want to do, if you want to be great at it, you have to love it and be able to make sacrifices for it.

The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerance. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors, and deserves respect if not enthusiastic acceptance.