“Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss.”

“Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground. ”

“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray. ”

“How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours. ”

“I have found no greater satisfaction than achieving success through honest dealing and strict adherence to the view that, for you to gain, those you deal with should gain as well. ”

“It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure. ”

“Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least.”

“Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance. ”

“That's all a man can hope for during his lifetime- to set an example- and when he is dead, to be an inspiration for history.”

“Hold fast to dreams. For if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.”

“To finish first, you must first finish. ”

“An invincible determination can accomplish almost anything, and in this lies the great distinction between great men and little men.”

“You know, I used to think the future was solid or fixed, something you inherited like an old building that you move into when the previous generation moves out or gets chased out. But it's not. The future is not fixed; it's fluid. You can build your own building, or hut or condo...the world is more malleable than you think and it's waiting for you to hammer it into shape.”

“A desire presupposes the possibility of action to achieve it; action presupposes a goal which is worth achieving. ”

“Excellence is never an accident; it is the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, skillful execution and the vision to see obstacles as opportunities.”

“Light yourself on fire with passion and people will come from miles to watch you burn.”

“Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose- a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.”

“Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same.”

“Millions of men have lived to fight, build palaces and boundaries, shape destinies and societies; but the compelling force of all times has been the force of originality and creation profoundly affecting the roots of human spirit. ”

“If your success is not on your own terms, if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your heart, it is not success at all.”

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. ”

“Nothing happens to any man that he is not formed by nature to bear. ”

“Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one's better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one's ideas, to take a calculated risk- and to act. ”

“Patience will achieve more than force. ”

“The friend in my adversity I shall always cherish most. I can better trust those who helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity. ”

“It takes tremendous discipline to control the influence, the power you have over other people's lives. ”

“Are you bored with life? Then throw yourself into some work you believe in with all your heart, live for it, die for it, and you will find happiness that you had thought could never be yours. ”

“Pride slays thanksgiving, but a humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves. ”

“The future turns out to be something that you make instead of find. It isn't waiting for your arrival, either with an arrest warrant or a band, nor is it any further away than the next sentence, the next best guess, the next sketch for the painting of a life portrait that might become a masterpiece. The future is an empty canvas or a blank sheet of paper, and if you have the courage of your own thought and your own observation, you can make of it what you will. ”

“Dreams are the touchstones of our characters. ”

“Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. ”

“One of the most difficult things everyone has to learn is that for your entire life you must keep fighting and adjusting if you hope to survive. No matter who you are or what your position is you must keep fighting for whatever it is you desire to achieve. ”

“An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox. ”