Go for the moon. If you don't get it, you'll still be heading for a star. Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of the creative effort.
Interpretation
Aim high even if you might not achieve your goal; fulfillment comes from the pursuit of your passions.
This quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt emphasizes the importance of setting ambitious goals and pursuing them with passion. Even if you don't reach your ultimate aim, the journey and the joy that come from striving towards your aspirations, such as the joy of achievement and creative efforts, provide deeper happiness than material wealth alone.
In practice
In a graduation speech to inspire students to pursue their dreams.
There has been one persistent theme through all Axis propaganda. This theme has been that Americans are admittedly rich, that Americans have considerable industrial power - but that Americans are soft and decadent, that they cannot and will not unite and work and fight. ... Let them tell that to the Marines!
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.
A war of ideas can no more be won without books than a naval war can be won without ships. Books, like ships, have the toughest armor, the longest cruising range, and mount the most powerful guns.
Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
A world turned into a stereotype, a society converted into a regiment, a life translated into a routine, make it difficult for either art or artists to survive. Crush individuality in society and you crush art as well. Nourish the conditions of a free life and you nourish the arts, too.
I made a commitment to completely cut out drinking and anything that might hamper me from getting my mind and body together. And the floodgates of goodness have opened upon me - spiritually and financially.
Every day I would wake up and think, 'Today is another missed opportunity to do something important.' After enough days like this, you start feeling like you are getting old, even when you are relatively young. We are all natural entrepreneurs, and being manacled to a desk job is not for us.
Natural talent only determines the limits of your athletic potential. It's dedication and a willingness to discipline your life that makes you great.
Set your mind on a definite goal and observe how quickly the world stands aside to let you pass.
I can look back at my own life and see where a few words of praise have sharply changed my entire future. Can't you say the same thing about your life?
I take rejection as someone blowing a bugle in my ear to wake me up and get going, rather than retreat.
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