...If you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires. (151)

Performance ought to improve with experience, and pressure is an obstacle that the diligent can overcome.

A lot of what is most beautiful about the world arises from struggle.

It is those who are successful, in other words, who are most likely to be given the kinds of special opportunities that lead to further success. It’s the rich who get the biggest tax breaks. It’s the best students who get the best teaching and most attention. And it’s the biggest nine- and ten-year-olds who get the most coaching and practice. Success is the result of what sociologists like to call “accumulative advantage.

Success is deeply rooted in time and place. You may have the drive to read tons of books on biology. But if there are no books on biology in your library, and the library is never open, your drive is meaningless.

An incredibly high percentage of successful entrepreneurs are dyslexic. That's one of the little-known facts.

We need to be clear when we venerate entrepreneurs what we are venerating.They are not moral leaders. If they were moral leaders, they wouldn't be great businessmen.