Quotes About Aspiration

To go to USC without a scholarship is next to impossible.

Most of our pocket wisdom is conceived for the use of mediocre people, to discourage them from ambitious attempts, and generally console them in their mediocrity.

The American Dream is a term that is often used but also often misunderstood. It isn't really about becoming rich or famous. It is about things much simpler and more fundamental than that.

I think the American Dream used to be achieving one's goals in your field of choice - and from that, all other things would follow. Now, I think the dream has morphed into the pursuit of money: Accumulate enough of it, and the rest will follow.

My brother and I always had conversations about me being a rapper. I always used to tell him, 'I'm gonna be the hottest rapper.'

Mike Tyson was one of the fighters who motivated me. How? We both used to train at the Golden Gloves boxing gym. I used to see his Rolls-Royce, his diamond Rolex on, and I said, 'You know what? Those are the things that I want.'

I would like to fly in space. Absolutely. That would be cool. I used to just do personally risky things, but now I've got kids and responsibilities, so I can't be my own test pilot. That wouldn't be a good idea. But I definitely want to fly as soon as it's a sensible thing to do.

I come from an extremely modest background. So now I have way more than what I'm used to.

When I was in school with my friends and stuff, you always used to put yourself in the situation of footballers of the time and pretend to be them.

Why should we consider defining intelligence as something global and as something that hasn't actually yet appeared on Earth? It may be useful for envisioning the future of our own civilization and any others that may be out there among the stars. It might give us something to strive for.

In general, a writer would like to think that the best book that he has written is the book that he is writing, and the next book will be even better. Maybe if this is not true, it is very useful to keep the illusion alive.

America, a country that is no longer contained by physical borders, aspires only for more power and control. I want to maximize my usefulness and advocate for the preservation of biodiversity and the pursuit of human decency within my sphere of influence.

Fashion has always captivated me because, like I said, it has the potential to create narratives about what's beautiful, aspirational, chic, masculine, feminine, glamorous, etc. Generally, this power is dispatched in useless ways.

One day, I would like to have my own chat show. Oprah is my idol because she uses her platform so responsibly.

I'm using all my resources to help me with that and I feel the sky is the limit for me.

I take football as an avenue to different opportunities. Football is not using me; I'm using football.

Using the Africanist model, each generation should take the family name to a higher place. My father's folks were sharecroppers in South Carolina. He went to Harlem. They were still poor, but they moved up. If my parents didn't do this and offer me this background, I wouldn't be here.

I remember one day during my freshman year of high school, when as usual I was obsessively listening to a cast recording: it may have been 'Jesus Christ Superstar.' And I remember sitting there, totally absorbed, saying to myself, 'I can do this.'

I too had the usual insecurities. I wanted a good house and a healthy bank balance. But I never got cowed down.

There were so many times that, as waitresses, you look at your bank account and you literally have 100 bucks, and you're thinking, 'How am I going to pay my utility bill, my rent?' but at the same time thinking, 'How am I going to accomplish my dreams?'

Capitalism is always evaluated against dreams. Utopia is a dream. It doesn't exist.

To know oneself is to disbelieve utopia.

Utopia means elsewhere.

For other nations, utopia is a blessed past never to be recovered; for Americans it is just beyond the horizon.