Michael Caine is a two-time Academy Award winner and has acted in fifty films, to date. Asked to comment on a film that bombed, he replied, “I have never seen the film, but by all accounts it was terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built and it is terrific.” In 2000, Caine was knighted by Queen Elizabeth.
“First of all, I choose the great [roles], and if none of these come, I choose the mediocre ones, and if they don't come, I choose the ones that pay the rent.”
- Michael Caine (1933-)
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Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian and Lutheran pastor. He participated in the German resistance against the Nazis. When money to help Jews escape to Switzerland was traced back to him, he was arrested and hung.
“It is the nature, and the advantage, of strong people that they can bring out the crucial questions and form a clear opinion about them. The weak always have to decide between alternatives that are not their own.”
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)
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Paul Giamatti, who is a featured actor in the movie ‘Shoot ’Em Up’, began acting in the mid-1990’s. While he often portrays Jewish characters he is actually of Italian-American heritage.
“I can’t imagine a greater honor than being acknowledged by my peers. Being an actor is a hell of a thing. It's a hell of a thing. It’s up and down. It's great, but I found the best thing about it is hanging around the craft-service table with other actors and crew people, eating doughnuts.”
- Paul Giamatti (1967-)
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Bette Davis, one of Hollywood’s most prolific actresses, was a two time Academy Award winner.
“It has been my experience that one cannot, in any shape or form, depend on human relations for lasting reward. It is only work that truly satisfies.”
- Bette Davis (1908-1989)
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Scott Adams is the creator of the very successful comic strip ‘Dilbert’. He also has a MBA from the University of California Berkeley. He did become prosperous through his pursuits as a writer and artist.
“Most success springs from an obstacle or failure. I became a cartoonist largely because I failed in my goal of becoming a successful executive.”
- Scott Adams (1959-)
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We know of no person more deserving of success and wealth than Oprah Winfrey, due to her engaging, forthright and motivational leadership, shown through presentation of important topics, elegantly presented to us with candor, heartfelt warmth and compassion.
“Books were my pass to personal freedom. I learned to read at age three, and soon discovered there was a whole world to conquer that went beyond our farm in Mississippi.”
- Oprah Gail Winfrey (1954- )
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Peter Drucker was a writer and a management coach and consultant. His most controversial work was on compensation schemes, in which he said that senior management should not be paid more than twenty times the lowest paid employee. Here are two short quotes from Drucker to help motivate us to successfully move forward in our lives.
“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.”
“My greatest strength as a consultant is to be ignorant and ask a few questions.”
- Peter Drucker (1909-2005)
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Dr. Joyce Brothers is a popular American psychologist. She continues to appear in television, radio, and film.
“Studies indicate that the one quality all successful people have is persistence. They're willing to spend more time accomplishing a task and to persevere in the face of many difficult odds. There's a very positive relationship between people's ability to accomplish any task and the time they're willing to spend on it.”
- Dr. Joyce Brothers (1928- )
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Anna Freud, known for being a mischievous child, carried on her father’s work in analysis of the human mind, its motivations and ability to persevere.
“Creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training.”
- Anna Freud (1895-1982)
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Albert Ellis was considered to be the ‘grandfather’ of cognitive-behavioral therapy. His realistic strategy was extroidinarily successful in coaching clients to overcome challenges and help them to set and acheive realistic goals.
“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.”
- Albert Ellis (1913-2007)
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Michel de Montaigne was one of the most influential and successful writers of the Renaissance and has been credited as the originator or the essay. Despite his rigorous education and training, Montaigne is also known for the famous saying, “What do I know?”
“We find our energies are actually cramped when we are overanxious to succeed.”
- Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)
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The teachings of the philosopher and sage Confucius were so pragmatic, wise, advanced and successful in their application to bringing harmony into the society; they were the foremost education precepts used in China for more than 2,000 years.
“The superior man makes the difficulty to be overcome his first interest; success only comes later.”
- Confucius, (551-479 B.C.)
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An American lawyer, statesman and politician, William Jennings Bryan was one of America’s most popular public speakers.
“The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you. Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”
- William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925)
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C. Northcote Parkinson was a naval historian and a scholar in the field of public administration.
"When any organizational entity expands beyond 21 members, the real power will be in some smaller body."
- C. Northcote Parkinson (1909-1993)
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The screenwriter Alan Ball won an Academy Award in 1999 for the movie American Beauty. He also wrote the fascinating HBO series ‘Six Feet Under’. Alan Ball studied theater at Florida State University but did not graduate.
“It’s a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself. Makes you wonder what else you can do that you’ve forgotten about.”
- Alan Ball (1956- )
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Often associated with existentialism, Albert Camus was a very successful French author and philosopher who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957.
“All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning. Great works are often born on a street corner or in a restaurant’s revolving door.”
- Albert Camus (1912-1960)
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David Brinkley (1920-2003) was a popular television newscaster who enjoyed a prestigious long-term career. President George W. Bush called him the “elder statesman of broadcast journalism” in 1992.
“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.”
- David Brinkley (1920-2003)
More Success Quotes Here