A quote by Magic Johnson

A quote from Robin Williams

"There’s no shame in failing. The only shame is not giving things your best shot."

A quote by athlete Walter Payton

"When you're good at something, you'll tell everyone. When you're great at something, they'll tell you."

A quote by award-winning actor Tom Hanks

"We are still in the position of waking up and having a choice. Do I make the world better today somehow, or do I not bother?"

A quote by Alex Haley

"Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you."

A quote by Whitney Houston

"I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside."

'A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.'

- Jackie Robinson, the first Black MLB player (1919-1972)

A quote by gymnast Nadia Comăneci

"Do not pray for an easy life, pray to be a strong person."

A quote by Howard Hughes

"Do the impossible, because almost everyone has told me my ideas are merely fantasies."

Some of the 'Jeopardy!' host Alex Trebek's best quotes

"The secret to happiness, of course, is not getting what you want; it's wanting what you get."

A quote by Lucille Ball

"Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world."

'Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.'

- Maya Angelou

'The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.'

- Boxing champion Muhammad Ali (1942-2016)

'You will never feel proud of your work if you find no joy within it; your best work is always joyful work.'

- Stevie Wonder (1950-present)

Magic Johnson's announcing he had HIV changed public perception of the disease

When Lakers superstar Magic Johnson announced he had HIV in 1991, the disease was highly misunderstood. Commissioner David Stern had behind-the-scenes conversations with Johnson about publicly handling his eventual announcement, leading to the start of the condition's destigmatization.

'Keep working on a plan. Make no little plans. Make the biggest one you can think of, and spend the rest of your life carrying it out.'

- President Harry Truman (1884-1972)

'Don't gain the world and lose your soul; wisdom is better than silver or gold.'

-Reggae pioneer Bob Marley (1945-1981)

'Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.'

- Pablo Picasso

'I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.'

- Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992)

'I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot ... The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.'

- Author Jack London (1876 - 1916)

'You only go around once, but if you play your cards right, once is enough.'

- Frank Sinatra (1915–1998)

'You don't get to choose how you're going to die or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now.'

- Musician and activist Joan Baez (1941-present)

Quotes by designer Gianni Versace

"You have to break a barrier every day. Fashion, to me, is born and dies every day."

'My model for business is The Beatles: They were four guys that kept each others' negative tendencies in check; they balanced each other. And the total was greater than the sum of the parts.'

-Apple co-founder Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

A history of "Memento Mori," from the ancients to today

The ancient Latin phrase 'memento mori' means 'remember you will die.' The counterintuitive utterance has long provided a moral and spiritual framework for individuals to evaluate their life's decisions and worldview. Though it appears morbid at first glance, the saying is meant to inspire a thirst for life. Review the various ways the idea has inspired different cultures in this article, from the Romans and Egyptians to contemporary tech leaders like Steve Jobs.

'I don't know what you can say about a day when you see four beautiful sunsets.'

- Astronaut John Glenn (1921–2016)

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

A small portion of The Winstons' 'Amen, Brother,' an obscure '60s gospel record, is the basis for thousands of hip-hop tracks, making it one of the most sampled records ever that's informally known as 'the Amen break.'

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

Learn more about the history of fireworks, which dates back to an accidental invention during an alchemist's quest for information about immortality.

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

Apeirophobia is an overwhelming fear of living forever, perhaps stemming from the brain's inability to conceptualize an infinite life.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.