Better get a stiff neck from aiming too high than a hunch from aiming too low. People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I do not believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they cannot find them, make them.

One cannot govern with buts. Whoever I am and whatever I am doing, some kind excellence is within my reach. Your self-beliefs either support or undermine you. Success or failure depends more upon attitude than upon capacity. Successful people act as though they have accomplished or are enjoying something. Soon it becomes a reality. Act, look, feel successful, conduct yourself accordingly, and you will be amazed at the positive results. First we form habits, then they form us. Conquer your bad habits, or they will eventually conquer you. Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.

Remember, a dead fish can float downstream, but it takes a live one to swim upstream. There is a time for departure even when there is no certain place to go. If you have a lemon, make lemonade. All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing. The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. No, not at all. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be.