Famous Quotes & Sayings

John Hope Franklin

If the house is to be set in the order, one cannot begin with the present; he must begin with the past

When you've done all you can, do just a little bit more. Any extra effort you make will draw immense leverage from all the ordinary efforts which have preceded it. That can be powerful and effective.

Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.

The value of an ambitious goal is not measured by what it will bring to you. The worth of a goal is measured by what it will make of you in the process of following and attaining it.

The real person you are is revealed in the moments when you're certain no other person is watching. When no one is watching, you are driven by what you expect of yourself.

Sure, it's easy to be upbeat when everything is going your way. Anyone can do that. It is far more important, however, to take a positive approach in circumstances that most people would view as negative.

There is a thought in your mind right now. The longer you hold on to it, the more you dwell upon it, the more life you give to that thought. Give it enough life, and it will become real. So make sure the thought is indeed a great one.

Shane Koyczan

I've been shot down so many times I get altitude sickness just from standing up for myself.

Sergei Bubka

The Olympics are always a special competition. It is very difficult to predict what will happen.

Serena Williams

I'm a perfectionist. I'm pretty much insatiable. I feel there's so many things I can improve on.

Serena Williams

I decided I can't pay a person to rewind time, so I may as well get over it.

Serena Williams

Luck has nothing to do with it.

Serena Williams

Luck has nothing to do with it, because I have spent many, many hours, countless hours, on the court working for my one moment in time, not knowing when it would come.

Sean Burke

It's too easy when you're not winning to look for excuses and point at others for reasons. You ca say 'Oh well, it's this guys fault or they don't do this well', or you can say 'I've got to play better and contribute more'. You've got to find another gear and come up with big games.

Sean Covey

Being gentle means forgiving yourself when you mess up. We should learn from our mistakes, but we shouldn't beat the tar out of ourselves over them. The past is just that, past. Learn what went wrong and why. Make amends if you need to. Then drop it and move on.

Sean Covey

Instead of trying to blend in and be like everyone else, be proud of and celebrate your unique differences and qualities. A fruit salad is delicious precisely because each fruit maintains its own flavor.

Sean Covey

Don't wait until people are dead to give them flowers.

Sean Covey

Strong minds talk about ideas; weak minds talk about people.

Sean Covey

Don't let your pride or a lack of courage stand in the way of saying you're sorry to people you may have offended.

Sean Covey

We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.

Sean Covey

Life is a mission, not a career. A career is a profession, a mission is a cause. A career asks, What's in it for me? A mission asks, How can I make a difference?

Sean Covey

One of the few things that can't be recycled is wasted time.

Michelle Kwan

Winning is not about how many medals you get-it's about accomplishing goals and just being the best you can be!

Michael Phelps

I think sometimes I guess you see records, say you want to get there and use that as motivation. In a way, it's kind of cool if there is a possibility to rewrite history and be up there with the greats of Olympic history.

Michael Phelps

I always thought, it would be neat to make the Olympic team.

Michael Phelps

I won't predict anything historic. But nothing is impossible.

Michael Phelps

I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and you put the work and time into it. I think your mind really controls everything.

Sidney Sheldon

I try to give both my heroes and villains an emotional dimensionality which provides the motivation for their actions.

Shiv Khera

Ninety percent of selling is conviction and 10 percent is persuasion.

John Guare

Sometimes you have to protect the life of the play. It seems like spelling out mysterious, musical details can destroy a play by making the motivations too clear, too simplex.

John Galsworthy

A man is the sum of his actions, of what he has done, of what he can do, Nothing else.

John Donne

Be thine own palace, or the world's thy jail.

John Calvin

Let us not cease to do the utmost, that we may incessantly go forward in the way of the Lord; and let us not despair of the smallness of our accomplishments.