“Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life’s cycle and it’s from failure that you gain life experience.”

Always focus on the front windshield and not the review mirror.

Respect for leaders by followers can’t be mandated; it must be earned. It has to be given to leaders by their followers.

Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

It takes more courage to send men into battle than to fight the battle yourself.

Pissing people off doesn’t mean you’re doing the right things, but doing the right things will almost inevitably piss people off.

Always be looking for that which you do well and that which you love doing, and when you find those two things together — man, you got it.

My responsibility, our responsibility as lucky Americans, is to try to give back to this country as much as it has given us, as we continue our American journey together.

If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.

None of us can change our yesterdays but all of us can change our tomorrows.

Always show more kindness than seems necessary, because the person receiving it needs it more than you will ever know.

Always do your best. Somebody is watching you.

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.

Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved.

Leadership is all about people. It is not about organizations. It is not about plans. It is not about strategies. It is all about people-motivating people to get the job done. You have to be people-centered.

You can be sure that the American spirit will prevail over this tragedy.

A mirror reflects a man’s face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses.

To pardon the oppressor is to deal harshly with the oppressed.

I used to write stories. Handwriting stories in school were a big deal for me. That’s kind of what I did.

I have done a great deal of work, as much as a man, but did not get so much pay. I used to work in the field and bind grain, keeping up with the cradler; but men doing no more, got twice as much pay. We do as much, we eat as much, we want as much.

In my personal life I’m not very tough at all, but in my professional life, having to deal with being a woman in a man’s world, I’m really tough. I never back down from a fight or an argument. I’m willing to stand there toe to toe with anyone.

I only deal in what is real. To be honest, I’ve never thought about what I could get out of football or where it would take me. I just wanted to play. I’m the same now.

If you laugh at it, you can deal with it.

A gospel that doesn’t deal with the issues of the day is not the gospel at all.

When you’re black, you have to deal with so much crap in your life from other black people. It’s a dirty, dark secret; I’m glad it’s coming out.