I'll take an earnest person over a hip person every day, because hip is short-term, earnest is long term.

A coach yells at the kid he thinks can improve but the coach will not yell at the kid who he/she knows won't.

People are more important than things.

Better to fail spectacularly than do something mediocre.

When we're connected to others, we become better people.

I understand the arguments about how the billions of dollars spent to put men on the moon could have been used to fight poverty and hunger on Earth. But, look, I'm a scientist who sees inspiration as the ultimate tool for doing good. When you use money to fight poverty, it can be of great value, but too often, you're working at the margins. When you're putting people on the moon, you're inspiring all of us to achieve the maximum of human potential, which is how our greatest problems will eventually be solved. Give yourself permission to dream.

And even though I did not reach the National Football League, I sometimes think I got more from pursuing that dream, and not accomplishing it, than I did from many of the ones I did accomplish.