Quotes About Success

As long as I get to do the kind of work I want to do, I am okay with being a Z-lister.

Directing is really my favorite thing to do, but if I never directed again, I'd be okay if all the work I did was good.

To me, the box-office is basically the cost of film. If your film costs so much and your box-office is so much and a bit more, you are okay.

I never said I want to be the football guy. But when that opportunity started to become real, I said, 'Okay, let's see where this goes.'

I foolishly thought that if I just 'made it' then everything would be okay. And everything wasn't okay.

I've made movies that I thought were good. I've made movies that I thought were okay, but then I was very good. And sometimes you're in a movie and you think, I wish more people saw that - because you're good. And it just works out that the movie gets lost. But that's show business.

The reality is that we have all these awards and all these festivals that give out awards, so you sort of go, 'okay, well, people liked the film, and I think it's a good film, and it's up for an award - well, I guess it should win the award then.'

I've made movies that I thought were okay, but then I was very good. And sometimes you're in a movie and you think, 'I wish more people saw that' - because you're good. And it just works out that the movie gets lost. But that's show business.

Taking a risk is always frightening, but I gave myself a set period of time and had enough money to see me through. I operated from the belief that things would be okay, that if I wasn't successful I would find myself a job, but either way, I would be fine.

As long as I get a medal, I'm okay with sharing it.

When you have the right habits, okay, certain good things will come to you, and that's what life is about.

It's not about doing something that's as big as 'Hamilton.' That may never happen again, and that's okay.

There isn't a route to success. Make a film. If people like it, you'll be okay. There is no route that I know of.

I was a good student. I started college at 16 years old and did okay.

Before you have a hit song, all you're doing is banging on the door and screaming, 'I've got something I want to play...' Now with the hit songs, they're like, 'Okay man, we're listening. Whaddya got for us?'

I had lots of breaks. I guess the one that got my foot in the door was singing the National Anthem at the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City in '74.

Carrie Underwood was just a small-town Oklahoma girl with big dreams in 2005 when she competed on the fourth season of 'American Idol.' She is one of the few true 'American Idol' success stories and went on to have incredible career success.

Oklahoma has been so great to me.

You could have a hit in California that no one had heard of in Oklahoma.

When I first got to Oklahoma, it was really a blessing that coach Sutton was at Oklahoma State. He made me a better coach.

Look at the teams that have been successful in the NBA. Yes, you have big, glamorous cities like L.A. But Miami has won, and so has San Antonio. Oklahoma City is a very successful team. They're not the biggest markets.

Economically anxious, many parents see their children's accomplishments as a sort of insurance against the financial challenges of old age; high-achieving kids, this logic goes, will become high-earning adults and therefore be better able to help Mom and Dad pay for the assisted-living facility in a few decades.

I worked at Sir-Tech, and then when I got old enough to go to college, I went to college but continued to work at Sir-Tech to put myself through college.

'Hairspray' was my first Broadway show. In the meantime, after the show was over, I would go down and do gigs at these clubs that I wasn't even old enough to get into. That continued on, and I think what ended up happening was that I just got these incredible opportunities on Broadway.