Once a musician has enough ability to get into a top music school, the thing that distinguishes one performer from another is how hard he or she works. That's it. And what's more, the people at the very top don't work just harder or even much harder than everyone else. They work much, much harder.

The visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper, and re-imagines the world.

What is learned out of hard work and trial is inevitably more powerful than what is learned easily.

Success is a function of persistence and doggedness and the willingness to work hard.

Incompetence is certainty in the absence of expertise. Overconfidence is certainty in the presence of expertise.

An innate gift and a certain amount of intelligence are important, but what really pays is ordinary experience.

What happens when two people talk? That is really the basic question here, because, that's the basic context in which all persuasion takes place.