Through perseverance many people win success out of what seemed destined to be certain failure.

What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

In every walk of life, you must have leaders. An education in the spiritual world, in the labor field, in the agricultural field, we must have leaders.

There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.

I’m not a prophet or a stone aged man, just a mortal with potential of a superman. I’m living on.

Desire is the very essence of man.

My enthusiasm seems to cause my world to endlessly offer me cooperative, co-creating experiences. I’m willing and I’m eager, and not just about my writing – I feel the same way about staying in shape, enjoying my family, giving a lecture, or whatever it may be.

I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.

You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.

Siren voices tell me, ‚You don’t have to keep going on.‘ And then you think, ‚I’m a writer. What do I do? Sit there watching my wife clean up?‘ I don’t know. I like being a writer.

I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.

Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.

Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.

With ideas it is like with dizzy heights you climb: At first they cause you discomfort and you are anxious to get down, distrustful of your own powers; but soon the remoteness of the turmoil of life and the inspiring influence of the altitude calm your blood; your step gets firm and sure and you begin to look – for dizzier heights.

My mom cleaned toilets for a long time, and she’d seen a lot of terrible things, but she was still the strength of our family. And there are women like that all across the country – all around the world – who show that type of fortitude.

I don’t get up, get dressed, go out, and think, ‚Okay, I gotta find eight jokes.‘

All men are prepared to accomplish the incredible if their ideals are threatened.

How very little can be done under the spirit of fear.

Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.

The truth of it is that every singer out there with songs on the radio is raising the next generation, so make your words count.

No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

In pop music, the public usually see the results – the hit records, the Grammy Awards performances, the concert tours – but not all the work that goes into getting into the spotlight. And not everyone realizes that, even if you have a lot of talent, chances are you won’t make it.

My celebrity status allows me an opportunity, allows me a pulpit to preach and reach out to the people. Not even always preaching but just leading, motivating them by being a leader.

We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit.

NASA has been one of the most successful public investments in motivating students to do well and achieve all they can achieve. It’s sad that we are turning the programme in a direction where it will reduce the amount of motivation and stimulation it provides to young people.

God sometimes does try to the uttermost those whom he wishes to bless.

However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?

Fame hit me like a ton of bricks.

I was always trying – I never wanted to let my fans down; I always wanted them to see me in my art form.

You learn to know a pilot in a storm.

No pressure, no diamonds.

In my opinion, rankings are a very fickle measurement of one’s success and it is best to not get carried away by it.

Eating words has never given me indigestion.

Real firmness is good for anything; strut is good for nothing.

If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self.

But in truth, should I meet with gold or spices in great quantity, I shall remain till I collect as much as possible, and for this purpose I am proceeding solely in quest of them.

I read everything, but generally more fact than fiction – especially autobiographies and biographies. I’ve read ‚Long Walk to Freedom‘ by Nelson Mandela at least twice on holiday. Every time, I’m totally awed by his vision, strength and forgiveness. I feel honoured to have got to know him and his wonderful wife Graca over the years.

I love the song ‚I Hope You Dance‘ by Lee Ann Womack. I was going to write that song, but someone beat me to it.

I don’t intend to stop making music.

Morse conquered his electrical difficulties although he was only a painter, and I don’t intend to give in either till all is completed.

I dropped out of NYU, moved out of my parent’s house, got my own place, and survived on my own. I made music and worked my way from the bottom up.

Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.

History shows that the majority of people that have done anything great have passed their youth in seclusion.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Nearly all the things I do that are of any merit at all start off just being good fun, and I think I’m sort of building up to doing something else quite soon.

I always seem to get inspiration and renewed vitality by contact with this great novel land of yours which sticks up out of the Atlantic.

If the leader is filled with high ambition and if he pursues his aims with audacity and strength of will, he will reach them in spite of all obstacles.

I don’t think you get successful to brag and throw what you have in the world’s face. That’s all private.

Music is the voice that tells us that the human race is greater than it knows.

The life which men praise and regard as successful is but one kind. Why should we exaggerate any one kind at the expense of the others?

I take inspiration from everyone and everything. I’m inspired by current champions, former champions, true competitors, people dedicated to their dream, hard workers, dreamers, believers, achievers.

To take a few nouns, and a few pronouns, and adverbs and adjectives, and put them together, ball them up, and throw them against the wall to make them bounce. That’s what Norman Mailer did. That’s what James Baldwin did, and Joan Didion did, and that’s what I do – that’s what I mean to do.

We clearly see in God’s Word that anything He tells us to do, He will give us the ability to do it. But do we really believe it? Do we want to believe it? It’s easier to come up with excuses for why we can’t do things that are hard or that we really don’t want to do.

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

What by a straight path cannot be reached by crooked ways is never won.

Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail.