Ray Bradbury Quotes

Get rid of those friends of yours who make fun of you and don't believe in you. And when you leave here tonight, go home, make a phone call and fire them. Anyone that doesn't believe in you and your future, to hell with them.

Struggling with confidence and self-doubt are things that everyone goes through, especially kids, but I set goals, worked hard and leant on the people around me.

The future was uncertain, absolutely, and there were many hurdles, twists, and turns to come, but as long as I kept moving forward, one foot in front of the other, the voices of fear and shame, the messages from those who wanted me to believe that I wasn't good enough, would be stilled.

Stop sharing your dreams with people who try to hold you back, even if they're your parents.

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambition.

The first book is the book you have to write to get back at your parents; the book you always had in you. Once you get that out of your way, you can start writing books.

When you're embarking on a piece of writing, the anxiety is just too much, especially when you're young and you're trying to figure out if this is your thing or not. You feel like, "if I don't write a good story, I gotta get going to law school!"

The GREATEST battle you wage against FAILURE occurs on the INSIDE, not the OUTSIDE.

For a long time, I let my mother say what she wanted about me, and what was worse, for a long time I believed her.

Be careful with whom you associate, especially when you feel emotionally vulnerable, because negative people can steal the dream right out of your heart.

I'm not gonna fall. I'm tired of falling. I'm tired of seeing our people fall. I don't believe in failure. It's what we put in our minds and our hearts to succeed. And success isn't about money. Success isn't about the biggest house in the world. Success is about loving your family, taking care of your child.

I can't write the book I want to write, but I can and will write the book I am capable of writing.

Know that nothing can hinder you but yourself. If you believe you can, you can.

Every relationship in your organization will affect you one way or another. Those who do not increase you will inevitably decrease you.

We all, we all good people just trying to escape the negative influence that come around us and that's the story of my life, you know? Trying my best to get around the ills and I bumped my head a few times but I think, you know, music is my savior for right now, for me and my whole group.

I was first published in the newspaper put out by School of The Art Institute of Chicago, where I was a student. I wince to read that story nowadays, but I published it with an odd photo I'd found in a junk shop, and at least I still like the picture. I had a few things in the school paper, and then I got published in a small literary magazine. I hoped I would one day get published in The New Yorker, but I never allowed myself to actually believe it. Getting published is one of those things that feels just as good as you'd hoped it would.

You can't lose confidence in yourself, or you've lost already. When you get knocked down, you've got to keep getting back up.

I never thought I'd write, because I'd never written anything in my whole life.

Nobody tells young writers it's okay if you're not very good, you'll get better. So I just thought I'm not very good, so I should try to do every other thing besides writing. That's how I ended up being a hitchhiker, a world traveler, and a mathematician.

I had people in my life who were insane and negative, but they taught me how not to be, how I didn't want to end up.

The air will always be to filled with something. Your body too sore or tired. Your father too drunk. Your wife too cold. You will always have some excuse not to live your life.

I don't think I write well - just better than anyone else.

If someone is trying to stop you from enjoying your life by impeding on yours, and telling you that your life is not the right way, then by all means, I'm the first one to say, "Fight for your rights, fight for who you are and for what you believe in." But you better be the stronger person. Just be aware and attentive to everything that's happening in life and know that there are gonna be people that are going to stop you and going to enjoy stopping you from getting to your goals. But just continue to be strong and outwit them.

It's one of the worst nightmare situations we could create for a young character, having the people who are supposed to believe in you keep telling you you're nothing.

That wall is your mind playing tricks on you. You just need to say, 'One more step, I can do this. I have more in me.' You'll be so proud of yourself once you push yourself past your threshold.