A Quote by Michael Palin

If I am seen as successful, it's all the more reason not to change - not to lose track of friends, not to be driven everywhere, not to go and get away from the world. That, to me, is real success: enjoying what you do, but being the same person.
I can't say that I am not driven by success or have a fear of being successful. But for me, the ultimate thing is just about being good at what I do. Because if I made an album that I didn't really like and it was super successful then I wouldn't happy within. That's the kind of person I am.
I am not bound by material things. It's being successful that drives me forward. I love success. I don't wake up in the morning thinking 'Great - I've got one million pounds in the bank'. I wake up happy because I am a successful part of a successful team. It's that success that brings all the media coverage, the first-night parties, the endorsements. I will never lose sight of that. It has come very quickly - sooner than even I expected. But it's great to know that if I continue in the same vein, then I can do exactly what I want with the rest of my life. I will be financially secure.
Everywhere I go, people ask me about Jennifer Aniston's wedding. Everywhere I go. I always say to her, I'm like, 'Being friends with you is a burden. You think it's hard to be friends with me?'
When I am writing best, I really am lost in my world. I lose track of the outside world. I have a difficult time balancing between my real world and the artificial world.
Change is not always a good thing. What I need is not change from one thing to another but transformation from who I am into who I was meant to become. Only when God's transforming power touches me can I begin to live the simpler, freer, fresher, more creative, more patient, more passionate, more sacrificial, riskier, rawer, more real, more love-driven life God intended for me all along. That transformation is what awaits all who dare to enter the story of God. As Paul wrote, 'Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think' (Romans 12:2)
When you're successful, there will be friends, people, VIPs rallying around you. When you're down and out, you're all alone. That's why it's important to be a good person. Because whether you're a successful cricketer or not can always change, but the respect you earn by being the person you are stays with you.
I have seen celebrities whose friends change as they become more successful, but my friends haven't changed over 30 years. I've still got some of the friends I had when I was 14 and I see them regularly with their families.
Ask yourself, 'what's more important - being real and being myself, or becoming successful? And ask the question knowing that you never actually have to choose between being real and being successful. You simply have to choose between being realand striving to be successful. Get the difference?
We're running into a lot of new problems today because of what we emphasize in this culture. The word 'success' to the average person means earning a lot of money and having a home, two cars, children in college. Success to me is entirely different to what success is to the average person. Success is being a successful human being in terms of pursuing what you believe in. If you believe in making paintings, writing poetry, writing music. If this is what you really want, you're successful to yourself. But to be successful to your culture means to sell yourself short of what you really want
I think the reason why more rapists go into the military is the same reason why predators go into the Catholic Church. It's a place they know they can get away with it.
Win or lose, I always like to get back to my friends and family. They keep me grounded. When I'm home with my friends, I'm always the same Gabriel. I'm no better or worse in their eyes because of my results. It's good to be with your true friends. It always reminds me of where I'm from and who I am.
I don't go for holidays or celebrate my success because I know nothing is permanent. I don't let it get to me - like I am India's top director with too many hits. If that happens, I might lose the connect with my audience. The day I go wrong, they will run away from me. I want to be like an assistant director all my life.
This is life. It is everywhere, and it is here for the taking. I am alive and I know this, now, in a more profound way than when I am doing anything else. These sights are ephemeral, fleeting treasures that have been offered to me and to me alone. No other person in the history of the world, anywhere in all of time and space, has been granted this gift to be here in my place. And I am privileged, through the camera, to take this moment away with me. That is why I photograph.
I think success has a downside. The more successful you get and the more out there you are in the world, the more vulnerable you are and the more you are open to hate, especially because of social media. But it also depends what you class as success, because someone could do something mean and class that as success for them. But for me, if you're doing something positive that's allowing someone to have a better wellbeing, or embrace their life more, you have to go for it, but know there's always going to be people who hate on you for doing what you're doing.
By being an elite athlete a lot of people think that you can go away or go places and get away with things. I'm more of the laid-back person. I don't have to go and skip the line. I don't have a problem waiting.
Growing up in the sport, I've been able to separate what happens on the track with what happens away from the track. That track is totally different. I'm not the same person when I put that helmet one.
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