Connection to the music and the history was very powerful to me. I think that's what I feel the most blessed about.

Failure is not meant to be final and fatal.... It is meant to refine you to be all that you are meant to be.

We [with my mother] listened to music when I was a kid. We listened to a little bit of Bob's [Gordon] music, but just a little, I think it was too painful for her.

Negative thoughts are the nails that build a prison of failure.

The goal is not to be better than anyone else but rather be better than you were yesterday.

What I feel the most confident about as a teacher, whatever my strengths and weaknesses are. The fact that I got to be around those people, I feel like that I have something to offer because of that blessing. Being around them a little bit... I'm not them. I'm certainly not trying to compare myself to them. But in lieu of them being able to impart something, the fact that I had so many people like that that were kind to me and talked to me was invaluable.

Anyone who attempts to build great things will face challenges.