James A. Michener Quotes

I don't believe in getting lucky, I never have - luck is actually being ready to take advantage of an opportunity when it arises because you have the skill set you need and the drive and determination to do it.

I believe that you tend to create your own blessings. You have to prepare yourself so that when opportunity comes, you're ready.

Talented people without discipline don't go anywhere.

Be sure of what you want, focus, work hard, be ready to pick yourself up, do not take rejection personally, be as prepared as you can, always be learning, and eliminate negative people from your life regardless of who they are.

People create their own success by learning what they need to learn and then by practicing it until they become proficient at it.

A lot of can't deal with life because they lack the patience to become who they want to be.... Everything happens by process. If you don't go through the process to get it, you don't have the power to keep it.

It is the eternal, inescapable law that growth comes only from work and preparation, whether the growth be material, mental, or spiritual. Work has no substitute.

Invest in yourself. It's like being a boxer, you've got to be in training so that when the bell rings, you get your direction you come out of the corner and you're *ready*. Do not let the audition be the first thing you've done in six months.

Anyone will succeed in whatever field of endeavor in life by acquiring the same virtues and character that boxing world champions do - dedication, perseverance, courage, extreme self-discipline and prayers

The discipline you learn and character you build from setting and achieving a goal can be more valuable than the achievement of the goal itself.

I've learned the truth in these sayings: 'Luck is when opportunity meets preparation' and 'The right project will find you'.

The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.

The secret of success is to be ready when your opportunity comes.

One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.

If you want to be truly successful invest in yourself to get the knowledge you need to find your unique factor. When you find it and focus on it and persevere your success will blossom.

That is not enough. Sport has been great for me, a great learning place that if you want to achieve you can, even if you are from the poorest part of Africa.

Everybody can see that my swing is homegrown. That means everybody has a chance to do it.

My improvements, my fights and the competition is going to get better. I'm going to be ready for it.

It is not often that a man can make opportunities for himself. But he can put himself in such shape that when or if the opportunities come he is ready.

Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability. Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are. Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.

Character + Chance = Success

No one is an overachiever. How can you rise above your level of competency? Everyone is an underachiever to different degrees. The harder you work, the more luck you will have.

Work hard at your job and you can make a living. Work hard on yourself and you can make a fortune.

I often feel like saying, when I hear the question 'People aren't ready,' that it's like telling a person who is trying to swim, 'Don't jump in that water until you learn how to swim.' When actually you will never learn how to swim until you get in the water. And I think people have to have an opportunity to develop themselves and govern themselves.

Goal setting is fine if you want to be the warrior archetype. These people are setting goals constantly and trying to get someplace else. They say, "If you don't know where you are going, then you won't know when you get there."