You can blame outside factors or make excuses about why things didn't work out, but that doesn't change anything.

Nine times out of 10, extenuating circumstances aside, I believe that people are where they are by some kind of choice on their part. You need to acknowledge that, 'Hey, I'm here because I steered my horse in this direction.'

Sometimes we are so busy helping others that we forget about ourselves. Remember, it's okay to say no and to ask others to carry their own weight.

I also often hear people say that the deck is stacked against them because of racism, sexism, or other oppressive 'isms.' But once you let go of the blame and excuses, you'll see that you can alter your position on your own.

What I love about AT&T is that they are just as passionate as I am about rebooting the American dream.

My stepfather was fond of letting me know, quote, 'I ain't your... damn daddy.' That was something that was painful, to put it mildly.

Veterans who are homeless may not have a home, but that doesn't mean they don't have diverse skills that could be put to use to meet the needs of an expanding job market.

Long before I achieved financial success and became the subject of a Hollywood film, I was a veteran, a single father, and a working person who was homeless.

Finding gainful employment to pay for housing is hard for any veteran experiencing homelessness. It's even more difficult for veterans who've also had encounters with police and stints in jail.

Passion is everything. In fact, you've got to be borderline fanatical about what you do.

Passion is not something you have to talk about. People feel it.

I say to people all the time, it is OK to fail. Some of the greatest successes in the history of America started out as failures.

I've created the life I wanted.

I've never been big on sports coats and pants. I'm a suit guy. It makes it clear who's in charge.

I'm a Levi's guy.

I do one thing - I don't do it on purpose - but I always make other guys look underdressed.

One time, I was going to be in L.A. for 10 days for a business conference, and I took eight different pairs of sandals.

I've been saying to people for a long time, 'If you're not doing something you're tremendously excited about, and you're not feeling passionate about it, you're compromising yourself every day.'

The people who care the most about the folks in your community are living in the community. They don't live in Washington, D.C.

Salespeople are the most important people in any organization. Until a salesperson gets an order, nobody in the company has a job.

I've never considered selling anything other than profession, but it's more than that. It's one of the highest callings that you can aspire to. Not everyone can do it.

Business school professors don't take selling seriously because they don't know how to sell. It's easy to talk about business theory and production time and just-in-time development. Selling is much more difficult.

I was blessed to have the guys at Bear Stearns as mentors. They taught me a lot, but most of all, they taught me that there's nothing wrong with selling if you're selling the right product to the right person.

I grew up without a father.

Everybody got a dream. What's the plan?

Don't ever be afraid to hire people that are smarter than you. Just because they are smarter than you doesn't mean they have to make more money.

A father is everything in the world.

Passion is the thing that won't let you sleep at night because you want to get up in the morning and go do your thing.

If you're passionate about something, you can develop the abilities.