Because a fellow has failed once or twice or a dozen times, you don't want to set him down as a failure till he's dead or loses his courage.
I believe how I act today will affect how I am tomorrow.
Surprises and reverses can serve as an incentive for great accomplishment. There are no rules here, we're just trying to accomplish something.
When I go in to compete, whether it's gymnastics or anything else, I do my own thing. I compete with myself.
Every one minute you spend in planning will save you at least three minutes in execution.
If I'm going to get in these races and run against the best guys, I'm going to be there with them. And if I die, then I die, but I'm not going to walk away from the track saying, 'I didn't give everything. ' Ever again.
We all have different desires and needs, but if we don't discover what we want from ourselves and what we stand for, we will live passively and unfulfilled. Sooner or later, we are all asked to compromise ourselves and the things we care about. We define ourselves by our actions. With each decision, we tell ourselves and the world who we are. Think about what you want out of this life, and recognize that there are many kinds of success.
Do not think that what is hard for you to master is humanly impossible; but if a thing is humanly possible, consider it to be within your reach.
When we stop to count our blessings rather than focusing on our predicament, our attitude will be able to help us cope with our situation more productively.
We will discover the nature of our particular genius when we stop trying to conform to our own or other people's models, learn to be ourselves, and allow our natural channel to open.
I steal from every single movie ever made. I love it - if my work has anything it's that I'm taking this from this and that from that and mixing them together. If people don't like that, then tough titty, don't go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal; they don't do homages.
People ask, 'What's the best role you've ever played?' The next one.
I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.
It's necessary to know that everybody won't see it. That everybody won't join you, that everybody won't have the vision. It's necessary to know that. That a lot of people like to complain but they don't want to do anything about their situation. That you are UNCOMMON breed.
Within each of us lies the power of our consent to health and sickness, to riches and poverty, to freedom and to slavery. It is we who control these, and not another.
No one rises to low expectations
I had my ups and downs and I fell a few times, but I did not give. Don't give up.
The idea of working all your life, saving, and putting money into a retirement account is a very slow plan.
I felt that I didn't want to be in show business anymore. I felt that I wanted to be a farmer. I was milking cows and shoveling terrible stuff and working all day. By the end of the day, all I wanted was my tap shoes - I thought, 'What am I doing? I better get back where I belong on the stage where we work at night and can sleep late!
Compassion doesn't weaken leadership, it makes it stronger.