A quote by award-winning actor Tom Hanks

A quote from Robin Williams

"There’s no shame in failing. The only shame is not giving things your best shot."

A quote by Magic Johnson

"Celebrate the life you had, not the life you could've had."

'At every moment, we always have a choice, even if it feels as if we don’t. Sometimes that choice may simply be to think a more positive thought.'

- Singer Tina Turner (1993–2023)

A quote by Alex Haley

"Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you."

A Quote by Sandra Day O'Connor

"Do the best you can in every task, no matter how unimportant it may seem at the time."

A quote by Whitney Houston

"I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside."

A quote by Lucille Ball

"Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world."

'To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there.'

- Diplomat Kofi Annan (1938-2018)

A quote by Howard Hughes

"Do the impossible, because almost everyone has told me my ideas are merely fantasies."

A quote from Mark Cuban

"Talent without effort is wasted talent. And while effort is the one thing you can control in your life, applying that effort intelligently is next on the list."

A quote by Herman Melville

"Whoever is not in the possession of leisure can hardly be said to possess independence."

A quote by Roger Federer

"There is no way around hard work. Embrace it."

'You don't get to choose how you're going to die or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now.'

- Musician and activist Joan Baez (1941-present)

'How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.' - Anne Frank

'One man can make a difference and every man should try.'

- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994)

'Keep working on a plan. Make no little plans. Make the biggest one you can think of, and spend the rest of your life carrying it out.'

- President Harry Truman (1884-1972)

A quote by broadcast legend Walter Cronkite

"In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story."

'We are more fulfilled when we are involved in something bigger than ourselves.'

- Astronaut John Glenn (1921–2016)

'You shouldn't dream your film, you should make it!'

- Filmmaker Steven Spielberg (1946-present)

A quote by scientist Nikola Tesla

"The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result ... His duty is to lay the foundation for those who are to come, and point the way."

A quote by Ralph Bunche

"The well-being and the hopes of the peoples of the world can never be served until peace - as well as freedom, honor and self-respect - is secure."

'All your life, you will be faced with a choice. You can choose love or hate … I choose love.'

-Johnny Cash (1932-2003)

Stephen Hawking on the need to explore space

Should we be content with being cosmic couch potatoes? In this interview, the late Professor Stephen Hawking lays out the case for continued and increased human space exploration, despite its cost and challenges.

A quote by Lauren Bacall

"Imagination is the highest kite one can fly."

'Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.'

- Author James Baldwin (1924–1987)

The free will versus determinism debate: major thinkers weigh in

Do we have free will in our actions or are we totally determined? An all-star cast of contemporary thinkers share insights on the crucial debate.

'When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.''

- Mister Rogers (1928-2003)

'Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.'

- Senator Robert F. Kennedy (1925–1968)

A quote from Van Gogh

"Find things beautiful as much as you can, most people find too little beautiful."

'I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot ... The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.'

- Author Jack London (1876 - 1916)

Watch writer John Steinbeck's Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

A quote from sports journalist Stuart Scott

"In football, as in life, the hits you don’t see coming are the ones that do the most damage."

'The best way to make a dream come true is to wake up.'

- Fashion icon Anna Wintour (1949 – present)

A quote by athlete Walter Payton

"When you're good at something, you'll tell everyone. When you're great at something, they'll tell you."

'You will never be happier than you expect. To change your happiness, change your expectation.'

- Hollywood legend Bette Davis (1908 - 1989)

'No big challenge has ever been solved, and no lasting improvement has ever been achieved, unless people dare to try something different.'

- Apple CEO Tim Cook (1960 - present)

'Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.'

- Pablo Picasso

'The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.'

- Marine biologist and environmentalist Rachel Carson (1907-1964)

'I'm always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up every morning ... Every day I find something creative to do with my life.'

- Miles Davis (1926-1991)

The case for optimism

Author, editor, and thinker Kevin Kelly makes an argument for optimism. Not only as a personal philosophy, but as a moral obligation, focusing on the need for optimism in overcoming challenges. Drawing examples ranging back to the Wright brothers,...

Some of the 'Jeopardy!' host Alex Trebek's best quotes

"The secret to happiness, of course, is not getting what you want; it's wanting what you get."

'Everybody has talent and it's just a matter of moving around until you've discovered what it is. A talent is a combination of something you love a great deal and something you can lose yourself in.'

- George Lucas (1944-present)

'The true measure of all our actions is how long the good in them lasts.'

- Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022)

'If the time is not ripe, we have to ripen the time.'

- Activist Dorothy Height (1912-2010)

'Remember, no man is a failure who has friends.'

- 1946 film "It's a Wonderful Life"

'Follow your enthusiasm. It's something I've always believed in. Find those parts of your life you enjoy the most. Do what you enjoy doing.'

- "Muppets" creator Jim Henson (1936-1990)

'Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.'

- Judy Garland

'When you come to a fork in the road, take it.'

- Baseball great Yogi Berra (1925-2015)

'You will never feel proud of your work if you find no joy within it; your best work is always joyful work.'

- Stevie Wonder (1950-present)

'Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.'

- Inventor Thomas Edison (1847 - 1931)