Without failure there is no achievement.

Competition is a sin.

I can never be safe; I always try and go against the grain. As soon as I accomplish one thing, I just set a higher goal. That’s how I’ve gotten to where I am.

The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get.

It’s so easy to settle for less than God’s best for us because we don’t always feel like taking responsibility for our behavior or putting forth some effort to do what we need to do so we can accomplish great things for God and help people. But the cost of settling for less is actually harder than being completely obedient to God’s will.

All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.

My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.

No one has a right to consume happiness without producing it.

One of the most basic factors in sports is that winning becomes a habit, and losing is the same way. When failure starts to feel normal in your life or your work or even your darkest vices, you won’t have to go looking for trouble, because trouble will find you. Count on it.

Some people plant in the spring and leave in the summer. If you’re signed up for a season, see it through. You don’t have to stay forever, but at least stay until you see it through.

In war as in life, it is often necessary when some cherished scheme has failed, to take up the best alternative open, and if so, it is folly not to work for it with all your might.

I’ve noticed that when I am selling a lot of records, certain things become easier. I’m not talking about getting a table in a restaurant.

I’ve had a lot of success; I’ve had failures, so I learn from the failure.

My dear friend, clear your mind of cant.

How great are the dangers I face to win a good name in Athens.

I’m not gonna be bad at anything, and I want to actually be the best at anything I’m doing. So if I’m playing basketball, if I’m taking the SATs, like, there’s a competitive spirit behind it. With production, it’s the same thing.

Affluence means influence.

Don’t compare yourself with other people; compare yourself with who you were yesterday.

Man’s only true happiness is to live in hope of something to be won by him. Reverence something to be worshipped by him, and love something to be cherished by him, forever.

When I did have some success, it further emboldens you to be like, ‚No, I’m just going to write what I feel I should write.‘

Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick.

Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains.

No sooner said than done – so acts your man of worth.

The most challenging project I’ve ever done, I think, is every single thing I’ve ever tried to do. It’s never easy.

A gypsy told me I was going to do great things. I was going to make all kinds of money.

I go to cancer wards, and I tell them guys, ‚I’ve beaten it. You can, too.‘

You were not created to just get by with an average, unrewarding, or unfulfilling life. God created you to leave your mark on this generation.

Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.

It was clear to me that if I could get through Princeton at the top of my class, I could do anything in the world.

The moment the alarm goes off is the first test; it sets the tone for the rest of the day. The test is not a complex one: when the alarm goes off, do you get up out of bed, or do you lie there in comfort and fall back to sleep? If you have the discipline to get out of bed, you win – you pass the test.

The bird is powered by its own life and by its motivation.

In difficult times, we’re not supposed to quit believing; we’re not supposed to quit growing.

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

I worked my way up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty.

If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.

Small aim is a crime.

We cannot be sure of having something to live for unless we are willing to die for it.

Glory follows virtue as if it were its shadow.

No one can guarantee success in war, but only deserve it.

I am not designed to come second or third. I am designed to win.

To do your best is no longer good enough. We now have to do the seemingly impossible.

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.

If you lose a big fight, it will worry you all of your life. It will plague you – until you get your revenge.

Success is blocked by concentrating on it and planning for it… Success is shy – it won’t come out while you’re watching.

Power is the measure of the degree of control you have over circumstances in your life and the actions of the people around you. It is a skill that is developed by a deep understanding of human nature, of what truly motivates people, and of the manipulations necessary for advancement and protection.

I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.

It isn’t sufficient just to want – you’ve got to ask yourself what you are going to do to get the things you want.

Stay hungry, stay foolish.

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%.

I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.

You can become an even more excellent person by constantly setting higher and higher standards for yourself and then by doing everything possible to live up to those standards.

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.

I have goals.

The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch.

If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build end up building us.

You have to come to your closed doors before you get to your open doors… What if you knew you had to go through 32 closed doors before you got to your open door? Well, then you’d come to closed door number eight and you’d think, ‚Great, I got another one out of the way’… Keep moving forward.

I didn’t want to become a professor or get tenure or teach or anything. All I wanted to do was get a degree because Louis Leakey said I needed one, which was right, and once I succeeded I could get back to the field.

I think my vice would be outdoing myself.

We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.

Basically, I’m one of the greatest producers ever. And I’m also one of the greatest DJs ever. And I’m also one of the best executives ever.

As soon as I accomplish one goal, I replace it with another one. I try not to get too far ahead of myself. I just say to myself, ‚All right, well, I’d like to headline a tour,‘ and then when I get there, we’ll see what my next goal is.