My mother and my father have been married 50 years, and he’s just started to understand that something’s wrong with the system. He accepted the whole thing, you see. Yet this industrious kind of engagement didn’t bring him the success, according to American terms, that he wanted. I was probably affected by this very much. In fact, I know I was.

Becoming famous was never what I wanted to do. There’s a lot of things that come with fame – it’s what people in the limelight have to do.

Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man; but for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity.

Accident counts for as much in companionship as in marriage.

Children make your life important.

Success has always been a great liar.

Being self-made means never making an excuse as to why you can’t take steps toward whatever your goal is.

Your attitude towards failure determines your altitude after failure.

A mother defends herself with a heart filled with love before doing so with words. I wonder whether there is any love for the church in the hearts of those who pay so much attention to the scandals.

Ideas are the beginning points of all fortunes.

I’m married. My wife, Stella – a beautiful woman. She’s brought a lot of peace to my life, a lot of wisdom.

I sang a song at my sister’s wedding. My mother forced me into that, too. But that one felt all right.

Until you have formed the habit of looking for the good instead of the bad there is in others, you will be neither successful nor happy.

If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.

Family and friendships are two of the greatest facilitators of happiness.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

Every man has a right to be conceited until he is successful.

I’ve done the bad-boy thing. It was fun for a good three months. But the thing about bad boys is, you have to keep in mind, you’re never gonna marry a bad boy.

He has achieved success who has worked well, laughed often, and loved much.

Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.

We named the book ‚Extreme Ownership‘ because we really found that when we looked at not only at leaders but at teams that were the most successful, we found that the ones that had this attitude of extreme ownership were the ones that did the best, and it’s definitely an attitude that I had.

The only thing I have to go by is what my mother and father told me, how I was brought up.

The first time I stepped on an NBA court I became a businessman.

I would be married, but I’d have no wife, I would be married to a single life.

Hollywood has a way of making everything seem like an overnight success.

Marriage has no guarantees. If that’s what you’re looking for, go live with a car battery.

I grew up upper-class. Private school. My dad had a Jaguar. We’re African-American, and we work together as a family, so people assume we’re like the Jacksons. But I didn’t have parents using me to get out of a bad situation.

The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%.

If the people are happy, united, wealthy, and powerful, we presume the rest. We conclude that to be good from whence good is derived.

I imagine I will spend my days traveling from country to country to visit our children, who I expect will live around the world.

When people say ‚marriage‘ to me… It’s always a means to an end. Everyone’s so in a rush to define the relationship.

Giving responsibility is the key to success with boys, especially with the rowdiest and most difficult boys.

Getting rich is about fun. It’s a game, and you have to treat it that way.

I have a lot of other stuff to accomplish before I get to kids. Whenever the time is right, I’ll just know. If I had a girl, she’d probably be really rebellious. She would be like a bundle of karma. I would love to bring them up in Barbados.

As you know, I’m an immigrant. I came over here as an immigrant, and what gave me the opportunities, what made me to be here today, is the open arms of Americans. I have been received. I have been adopted by America.

Our patience will achieve more than our force.

Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.

The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail.

I wanted to sell a million records, and I sold a million records. I wanted to go platinum; I went platinum. I’ve been working nonstop since I was 15. I don’t even know how to chill out.

A pint of sweat, saves a gallon of blood.

I believe the home and marriage is the foundation of our society and must be protected.

Whenever a husband and wife begin to discuss their marriage they are giving evidence at a coroner’s inquest.

My father wasn’t a cruel man. And I loved him. But he was a pretty tough character. His own father was even tougher – one of those Victorians, hard as iron – but my dad was tough enough.

I don’t think marriage is a civil right, but I think that being able to transfer property is a civil right.

Not every difficult and dangerous thing is suitable for training, but only that which is conducive to success in achieving the object of our effort.

There’s different kinds of laughs. It’s like a baseball lineup: this guy’s your power hitter, this guy gets on base, this guy works out walks. If everybody does their job, we’re gonna win.

The way I try to represent my family and coaches, I think all are characteristics the league aspires to portray. That’s just who I am.

Once you hear the details of victory, it is hard to distinguish it from a defeat.

As a father, safety is always a top of mind issue for me.

You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.

The man who knows it can’t be done counts the risk, not the reward.

Americans… still believe in an America where anything’s possible – they just don’t think their leaders do.

Magic has five championships. I have five championships. I’m pretty sure we both know what we’re doing.

What is virtue but the Trade Unionism of the married?

Within one’s own family, money is not the measure of things, unless the person is an absolute Scrooge. Only the most extreme kind of monster would put a price on everything.

My mother was born in Baltimore, and before her marriage, she was an artist and teacher of art.

Nothing flatters a man as much as the happiness of his wife; he is always proud of himself as the source of it.

I firmly believe that unless one has tasted the bitter pill of failure, one cannot aspire enough for success.

We can succeed only by concert. It is not, ‚Can any of us imagine better,‘ but, ‚Can we all do better?‘

It’s not proper for the government to intrude too thoroughly into the domain of the family. It’s inappropriate.

The problem with me, as far as getting married and having a family, is that my comedy is so important to me. So I don’t know if I’ll ever be as good a dad as my dad.