Never do anything for another with the expectation of gratitude. The expectation itself turns the gift into an exchange and suggests a debt is owed you.

The opposite of success is not failure. Unsuccessful efforts are not failures unless they so discourage you that you abandon further efforts to achieve your goal. Even then, the venture or effort may be a failure but you are not. Failure is an event not a character trait.

If we keep treating our most important values as meaningless relics, that's exactly what they'll become.

A person of character seeks true happiness in living a life of purpose and meaning, placing a higher value on significance than success.

Being a father is the most important role I will ever play and if I don't do this well, no other thing I do really matters.

There is no objective criteria for either success or failure. People who achieve their goals are successful, those who don't are not.

Ordinary people, even weak people, can do extraordinary things through temporary courage generated by a situation. But the person of character does not need the situation to generate his courage. It is a part of his being and a standard approach to all life's challenges.