More and more research is suggesting that, far from being simply encoded in the genes, much of personality is a flexible and dynamic thing that changes over the life span and is shaped by experience.

The best thing parents can do is to teach their children to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning.

Picture your brain forming new connections as you meet the challenge and learn. Keep on going.

You have to work hardest for the things you love most.

Your failures and misfortunes don't threaten other people. . .It's your assets and your successes that are problems for people who derive their self-esteem from being superior.

Exceptional people convert life's setbacks into future successes.

The wrong kind of praise creates self-defeating behavior. The right kind motivates students to learn.