No, we don't control who our parents are. We don't control what color we are. We don't control what home we are born into. But we control our attitude. We control our work ethic. We control our drive and our commitment.
Interpretation
We can't choose our circumstances, but we can choose our responses and efforts.
This quote emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility and self-determination. While we may not have control over many aspects of our lives, such as our heritage or family background, we do have the power to shape our own attitudes, work ethic, and commitment, which are critical for achieving our goals and defining our path in life.
In practice
In a school graduation speech to inspire students to take charge of their futures.
I always tell people, good coaches are a dime a dozen. Good coaches that are good people, good husbands, good fathers, that love their players and are passionate about doing things in a way that I believe is important, that pool gets real small.
The key to coaching is love. It's not knowledge; it's not discipline. If you love 'em, you can discipline them. If you love 'em, you can yell at them and laugh about it later.
I was never lined up outside of my bosses office saying 'Give me an opportunity; there's not a woman in primetime'... I was just trying to be so good they couldn't ignore me.
Without dreams we would be cows in a field, and I don't want to live like that. I live my life or I end my life with this project.
There is far more opportunity than there is ability.
Sure I am this day we are masters of our fate, that the task which has been set before us is not above our strength; that its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win, victory will not be denied us.
We must constantly encourage ourselves and each other to attempt the heretical actions that our dreams imply and so many of our old ideas disparage.
The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.
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