Behind all the years of practice and all the hours of glory waits that inexorable terror of living without the game.

Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better.

When you're not practicing, someone somewhere is. And when the two of you meet, assuming roughly equal ability, the other person will win.

Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.

Every time I have some moment on a seashore, or in the mountains, or sometimes in a quiet forest, I think this is why the environment has to be preserved.

A lot of people want to change the world, but only a few people want to change themselves. When it comes to the issue of race in America, we have to do both.

Becoming number one is easier than remaining number one.

I think the political process has degenerated into name-calling and extremism, and I think that that's unfortunate.

The taste of defeat has a richness of experience all its own.

I might lose because I wasn't tall enough; I might lose because I wasn't fast enough. But I wasn't going to lose because I wasn't ready.

Sports is a metaphor for overcoming obstacles and achieving against great odds. Athletes, in times of difficulty, can be important role models.

No story is worth telling without the twists and turns. Make them count instead.

Love is giving of yourself in a way that is free of fear.

I believe I was extremely greedy.

Many parents make the mistake of giving love and approval to their children only when their children do something that they want them to do.

I will come back as a little breeze. You will feel me on your face, and you will know that I am still listening. So you can still talk to me.

Man is made of ordinary things, and habit is his nurse.

I think I would go for a Michael Phelps kind of guy.

The waterfront without the Ferry Tower would be like a birthday cake without a candle.

First love is only once in a lifetime, and it remains only in memory.

When I'm there, it's pure silence. There are other writers there, too, and I get super competitive. I have this weird fear that some guy next to me is writing this amazing novel, so I got to compete.