Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

I want the world to be better because I was here.

No man or woman can be strong, gentle, pure, and good, without the world being better for it and without someone being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness.

Every heart that has beat strongly and cheerfully has left a hopeful impulse behind it in the world, and bettered the tradition of mankind.

Often times we feel like either we can't make a world of difference, or we feel that it's not going to change anything anyway. The truth is you can change someone's day, you can change someone's life, but you have to show up and do what you got to do to actually see any fruit coming from it.

Morse conquered his electrical difficulties although he was only a painter, and I don't intend to give in either till all is completed.

Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.

The biggest challenge of my career has always been to improve my timing, and it will always be so.

In politics and life, timing is everything.

I do genuinely believe that the political system is not linear. When it reaches a tipping point fashioned by a critical mass of opinion, the slow pace of change we're used to will no longer be the norm. I see a lot of signs every day that we're moving closer and closer to that tipping point.

I really enjoy working. It doesn't tire me.

When my hair was shorter, I used to get it done every couple of days... but I got tired of that.