Top 118 Quotes & Sayings by Chris Gardner - Page 2

Passion is the thing that won't let you sleep at night because you want to get up in the morning and go do your thing.

Passion is not something you have to talk about. People feel it.

If you're passionate about something, you can develop the abilities.

I'm a Levi's guy.

Passion is everything. In fact, you've got to be borderline fanatical about what you do.

I was blessed to have the guys at Bear Stearns as mentors. They taught me a lot, but most of all, they taught me that there's nothing wrong with selling if you're selling the right product to the right person.

Finding gainful employment to pay for housing is hard for any veteran experiencing homelessness. It's even more difficult for veterans who've also had encounters with police and stints in jail.

Unfortunately, some of the best fathers are mothers.

The people who care the most about the folks in your community are living in the community. They don't live in Washington, D.C.

I've never considered selling anything other than profession, but it's more than that. It's one of the highest callings that you can aspire to. Not everyone can do it.

Salespeople are the most important people in any organization. Until a salesperson gets an order, nobody in the company has a job.

I grew up without a father.

I do one thing - I don't do it on purpose - but I always make other guys look underdressed.

I've been saying to people for a long time, 'If you're not doing something you're tremendously excited about, and you're not feeling passionate about it, you're compromising yourself every day.'

Business school professors don't take selling seriously because they don't know how to sell. It's easy to talk about business theory and production time and just-in-time development. Selling is much more difficult.

A father is everything in the world.

I've created the life I wanted.

When you tell your kids they can be anything, you've got to be careful. I told my kids that, and I ended up with a music producer and an interior designer. But they're doing it.

Don't ever be afraid to hire people that are smarter than you. Just because they are smarter than you doesn't mean they have to make more money.

It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?

There is no plan B for passion

But if you don’t take the necessary steps to make them happen, dreams are just mirages that mess with your head!

You can only depend on yourself. The cavalry aint coming.

If you want something, go get it. Period.

One of the things young people always ask me about is what is the secret to success. The secret is there is no secret. It's the basics. Blocking and tackling.

There was a language specific to all things. The ability to learn another language in one arena, whether it was music, medicine, or finance, could be used to accelerate learning and other arenas, too.

Find something that you love. Something that gets you so excited you can't wait to get out of bed in the morning. Forget about money. Be happy.

I just wanted to make a million dollars. But I couldn't sing and I couldn't play ball, so I said to my mother, 'How am I going to make a million dollars?' And she said to me, 'Son, if you believe you can do it, you will.'

Ready or not, Tell yourself to jump

Do something that you love. Whatever you're going to do is going to be tough enough. Find something that gets you so excited that the sun can't come up early enough in the morning because you want to go do your thing.

No one ever laid out the sequence of events that led to my mother being prosecuted and imprisoned for alleged welfare fraud.

The world is your oyster. It's up to you to find the pearls.

Don't ever let someone tell you you can't do something.

It can be done, but you have to make it happen.

We all understand genetics. You get your eyes from your dad, your mom's nose, there's nothing you can do about that. But your spiritual genetics you can choose, pick, embrace and commit to. That's what I did.

Though my mom had too many of her own dreams denied, deferred and destroyed, she instilled in me that I could have dreams. And not just have dreams but had a responsibility to make them reality. My mom taught me from a very early age that I could do anything I wanted to do.

You have to be bold because there will be folks who will say, "You can't" or "You shouldn't" or "Why?" There is a certain boldness to saying, "Well, I really don't want to be a high-powered corporate lawyer. I'm really passionate about painting."

It's okay to fail; it's not okay to quit.

Others may question your credentials, your papers, your degrees. Others may look for all kinds of ways to diminish your worth. But what is inside you no one can take from you or tarnish. This is your worth, who you really are, your degree that can go with you wherever you go, that you bring with you the moment you come into a room, that can't be manipulated or shaken. Without that sense of self, no amount of paper, no pedigree, and no credentials can make you legit. No matter what, you have to feel legit inside first.

People can't do something themselves, they want to tell you you can't do it. You want something, go get it.

The future was uncertain, absolutely, and there were many hurdles, twists, and turns to come, but as long as I kept moving forward, one foot in front of the other, the voices of fear and shame, the messages from those who wanted me to believe that I wasn't good enough, would be stilled.

Still a dreamer, yet more of a realist than ever before, I knew this was my time to sail. On the horizon I saw the shining future, as before. The difference now was that I felt the wind at my back. I was ready.

Walk that walk and go forward all the time. Don't just talk that talk, walk it and go forward. Also, the walk didn't have to be long strides; baby steps counted too. Go forward.

The balance in your life is more important than the balance in your checking account.

Wealth can also be that attitude of gratitude with which we remind ourselves everyday to count our blessings.

Well, I really don't want to be a high-powered corporate lawyer. I'm really passionate about painting.

Claim ownership of your dreams

Strong people stand up for themselves. Stronger people stand up for others. The irony is that while sleep sometimes brings nightmares, it's the reality of my waking hours that can cause me the greater fear.

It's ok to FAIL it's not ok to Quit

(The movie) is the story of my life, but it's not about me. It's about anybody who ever dreamed big and had someone tell them, 'No, you can't do it.' You can.

Then again, what seems like nothing in the eyes of the world, when properly valued and put to use, can be among the greatest riches.

If you have a dream, you've got to protect it.

You know how mountains get moved? Everyone who can move a couple, move a couple. Those who can move rocks, move rocks. Those who can move boulders, move boulders. That's how mountains get moved. If every one of us did everything we could, I believe we would be in a different world.

The secret to success: find something you love to do so much, you can’t wait for the sun to rise to do it all over again.

Baby steps count, as long as you are going forward. You add them all up, and one day you look back and you'll be surprised at where you might get to.

This part of my life, this little part, is called happiness.

I was late once and it cost me $50,000. I figure it was cheaper to wear two watches.

Always, always pursue happiness.