Vince Patton

“My biggest discovery was that you can literally re-create your life. You can redefine it. You don’t have to live in the past. I found that not only did I have fight in me, I had love.” ~ Viola Davis

“Have a vision of excellence, a dream of success, and work like hell.” ~ Dr. Samuel DuBois Cook

"To soar toward what's possible, you must leave behind what's comfortable." ~ Cicely Tyson

"I've always believed that you can think positive just as well as you can think negative." ~ James Baldwin

"Wisdom is higher than a fool can reach." ~ Phillis Wheatley

"I don't like to lose – at anything – yet I've grown most not from victories, but setbacks." ~ Serena Williams

“If you prioritize yourself, you are going to save yourself.” ~ Gabrielle Union

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” ~ Booker T. Washington

"We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated." ~ Maya Angelou

“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.” ~ Langston Hughes

"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." ~ Colin Powell

“Just don’t give up what you’re trying to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” ~ Ella Fitzgerald

“Life has two rules: number 1, never quit! Number 2, always remember rule number one.” ~ Duke Ellington

"Life is not a spectator sport. If you’re going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion, you’re wasting your life." ~ Jackie Robinson

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” ~ Harriet Tubman

“There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.” ~ Booker T. Washington

"Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated." ~ Coretta Scott King

"One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter." ~ James Earl Jones

"When they go low, we go high." ~ Michelle Obama

"Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us." ~ Wilma Rudolph

"It's not about you or me, but it's about what we can give to this world." ~ Dr. Olivia Hooker

“Life is challenging, but I’m always up for a challenge.” ~ Venus Williams

"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward." ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

"I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear." ~ Rosa Parks

"Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have - life itself." ~ Walter Anderson

"Don't wait for other people to be loving, giving, compassionate, grateful, forgiving, generous, or friendly... lead the way!" ~ Steve Maraboli

"That's a central part of philosophy, of ethics. What do I owe to strangers? What do I owe to my family? What is it to live a good life? Those are questions which we face as individuals." ~ Peter Singer

"To give real service, you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity." ~ Douglas Adams

"Everyone has a purpose in life and a unique talent to give to others. And when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exultation of our own spirit, which is the ultimate goal of all goals." ~ Kallam Anji Reddy

"Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught." ~ J. C. Watts