We are all motivated by a keen desire for praise, and the better a man is, the more he is inspired by glory.

They deem me mad because I will not sell my days for gold; and I deem them mad because they think my days have a price.

The starting point of all achievement is desire.

The meaning of life is that it is to be lived, and it is not to be traded and conceptualized and squeezed into a patter of systems.

I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it.

Wanting to be someone else is a waste of who you are

If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.

Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.

The marble not yet carved can hold the form of every thought the greatest artist has.

Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.

Don't find fault, find a remedy; anybody can complain

Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.

People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.

The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.

Human dignity consists in the role we must play in our own perfection. Taking a role in our own self-completion is the highest expression of our creativity.

If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself.

Every intention is a trigger for transformation.

You say I started out with practically nothing, but that isn't correct. We all start with all there is, it's how we use it that makes things possible.

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

Focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear.

A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened.