People just see the shine. They don't see the grind, the bags under my eyes. It was a lot of grinding, setbacks... I ain't finna let nothing stop me. Wherever I stop at, I already know who I am.

Waiting is a period of learning. The longer we wait, the more we hear about him for whom we are waiting.

We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive.

The New Testament says nothing of Apostles who retired and took it easy.

Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly.

It's true that Darwin didn't live the optimally utilitarian life. No one ever has. Still, as he prepared to die, he could rightly have reflected on a life decently and compassionately lived, a string of duties faithfully discharged, a painful, if only partial, struggle against the currents of selfishness whose source he was the first man to see. It wasn't a perfect life; but human beings are capable of worse.

An interesting question these psychologists tend not to ask is why the muscle metaphor is apt. In other words, why is it that early successes at self-discipline lead to more successes, whereas early lapses lead to more lapses? If self-discipline is really good for the organism, you wouldn't expect natural selection to make it so easy for a few early lapses to destroy self-discipline. Yet there's no denying that a few injections of heroin can be the end of a productive life. Why?

We all need reminders that there is a huge difference between coaching from the spiritual sidelines and putting skin in the game. Between advertising for the cause and actually joining it. Between talking about it from afar and getting close enough for it to affect our comfort.

Do right. Do your best. Treat others as you want to be treated.

I follow three rules: Do the right thing, do the best you can, and always show people you care. You've got to make a sincere attempt to have the right goals to begin with, then go after them with appropriate effort, and remember that you can't really achieve anything great without the help of others.

Some people wonder all their lives if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem.

there is no limit to the amount of good that you can do so long as you do not care who gets the credit.