George Smoot Quotes

I went to a prep school in Chicago, and my dad and mom worked really hard - even though we lived in the ghetto - to get me to there. A lot of it had to do with 'Stand and Deliver' and 'Dead Poet's Society.' It does help you. It inspires you. It definitely did for me.

My teachers made me what I am today. I remember they used to instill confidence in me and stress on remaining focused.

You want to know what I make? I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional Medal of Honor, and I can make a...

My fellow students there were very smart, but the really novel thing was that they actually seemed to put a lot of effort into their school work. By the end of my first semester there, I began to get into that habit as well.

Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.

There is no magical reason why I am where I am. And there is absolutely no reason why you can't be where you want to be. If it can happen for me, it can happen for you, too. And it would be a privilege for me to help you get there.

At Princeton I gained a great deal of pleasure from success in my classes. knowing that I could accomplish those things, and I realized that my success was directly proportionate to the work I put in.

Great artists make the roads; good teachers and good companions can point them out. But there ain't no free rides, baby.

I hated high school and got to college and realized they didn't care if I showed up because I'd already paid. So I decided, 'I'm going to turn this around.' And I did: I got straight A's and was named 'outstanding senior.'

What got me motivated was my dad's idea that I go to Morehouse College in Atlanta. It's an all-black, all-male school. Martin Luther King went there. The most famous person in my class was Spike Lee. And I really caught fire. I was so inspired by the people around me that I went from C's and D's to straight A's by the time I left.

I had a great AP U.S. History teacher in Pittsburgh. We still exchange Christmas cards. She was the first teacher who said I was a good writer - and I'd never heard that before. And so I remember that, and I remember that level of loving the material and really loving writing about it.

I never worked hard until I got to the Howard Law School and met Charlie Houston... I saw this man's dedication, his vision, his willingness to sacrifice, and I told myself, 'You either shape up or ship out.' When you are being challenged by a great human being, you know that you can't ship out.

In Holy Cross, I came to like school, to like studying in a way I had never done before.

My mum and dad pushed me to work hard in my earlier years in education.

There are two kinds of students: those who study and work to survive, while others who want to be achievers.

I want my students to outshine me.

When you watch women who are a great mom, a great wife, and a great CEO, like, it's very inspiring. Like, being friends with Jessica Alba makes you work harder.

I think my parents - my mother in particular - always believed I should go as far as I could with my studies. There was no pressure, but at each step there were people who you admired, and you strived to those levels.

I had a great teacher who was really encouraging and said I should go to Central Saint Martins. So I worked my socks off, and I managed to get a place there. It was there that I developed a real love for design.

I'm gonna fight, and I'm gonna make something out of nothing. That's pretty much the American dream. So, for me, the realization that I could speak to people like that came first on a small scale. Then it just started happening. I started having this vibration.

For eager teachers seized my youth, pruned my faith and trimmed my fire. Showed me the high, white star of truth, there bade me gaze and there aspire.

Great players inspire you. The best player I played with was Gervi (Gervinho)

All my life I've been surrounded by people who are smarter than I am, but I found I could always keep up by working hard.

You look up to your heroes and you shouldn't be intimidated by them; you should be inspired by them.

Leadership is not something that is done to people, like fixing your teeth. Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better.