Will Smith

""Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity.""

- Will Smith

"Money and success don’t change people; they merely amplify what is already there."

- Will Smith

"Throughout life people will make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad. Let God deal with the things they do, cause hate in your heart will consume you too."

- Will Smith

"The only time success comes before work is in the dictionary."

- Will Smith

""The first step is you have to say that you can.""

- Will Smith

"I do not have to build a perfect wall today. I just have to lay a perfect brick."

- Will Smith

"Begin each day as if it were on purpose."

- Will Smith

"Make a choice of what you want, who you want to be and how you’re going to do it. The universe will get out of your way."

- Will Smith

"Fear is not real. The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future, and that future is always in our imagination."

- Will Smith

"Can I say something? Um, I’m the type of person that if you ask me a question and I don’t know the answer, I’m gonna tell you that I don’t know. But I bet you what, I know how to find the answer and I will find the answer."

- Will Smith

"You are who you associate with. Look around at your five closest friends and that’s who you are. If you don’t want to be that person, you know what you gotta do."

- Will Smith

"Sometimes you have to forget what’s gone, appreciate what still remains, and look forward to what’s coming next."

- Will Smith

"I’m motivated by fear. Fear of fear. I hate being scared to do something. And I think what developed in my early days was the attitude that I started attacking things that I was scared of."

- Will Smith

"I love you and I’m here for you."

- Will Smith

"If you’re always ready, you don’t have to get ready."

- Will Smith

"I don’t want to be an icon. I want to be an idea. I want to represent possibilities."

- Will Smith

"I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill."

- Will Smith

"You’ll never achieve 100 percent if 99 percent is okay."

- Will Smith

"It’s better to be prepared than to get ready."

- Will Smith

"I’ve always considered myself to be just average talent and what I have is a ridiculous insane obsessiveness for practice and preparation."

- Will Smith

"Never lie, steal, cheat, or drink. But if you must lie, lie in the arms of the one you love. If you must steal, steal away from bad company. If you must cheat, cheat death. And if you must drink, drink in the moments that take your breath away."

- Will Smith

"Your life will become better by making other lives better."

- Will Smith

"Smiling is the best way to face every problem, to crush every fear, to hide every pain."

- Will Smith

"Life is lived on the edge."

- Will Smith

"I know how to learn anything I want to learn. I absolutely know that I could learn how to fly the space shuttle because someone else knows how to fly it, and they put it in a book. Give me the book, and I do not need somebody to stand up in front of the class."

- Will Smith

"Whatever your dream is, every extra penny you have needs to be going to that."

- Will Smith

"Fear is not real. It is a product of thoughts you create. Do not misunderstand me. Danger is very real. But fear is a choice."

- Will Smith

"The things that have been most valuable to me I did not learn in school."

- Will Smith

"And where I excel is ridiculous, sickening, work ethic. You know, while the other guy's sleeping? I'm working."

- Will Smith

"I've never really viewed myself as particularly talented. I've viewed myself as slightly above average in talent."

- Will Smith

"If you're not willing to work hard, let someone else do it. I'd rather be with someone who does a horrible job, but gives 110% than with someone who does a good job and gives 60%."

- Will Smith

"The first step is you have to say that you can."

- Will Smith

"Money and success don't change people; they merely amplify what is already there."

- Will Smith

"Don't chase people. Be yourself, do your own thing and work hard. The right people - the ones who really belong in your life - will come to your. And stay."

- Will Smith

"The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I'm not afraid to die on a treadmill. I will not be out-worked, period. You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, you might be sexier than me, you might be all of those things you got it on me in nine categories. But if we get on the treadmill together, there's two things: You're getting off first, or I'm going to die. It's really that simple, right? You're not going to out-work me. It's such a simple, basic concept. The guy who is willing to hustle the most is going to be the guy that just gets that loose ball. The majority of people who aren't getting the places they want or aren't achieving the things that they want in this business is strictly based on hustle. It's strictly based on being out-worked; it's strictly based on missing crucial opportunities. I say all the time if you stay ready, you ain't gotta get ready."

- Will Smith

"We spend money that we do not have, on things we do not need, to impress people who do not care."

- Will Smith

"If you're not making someone else's life better, then you're wasting your time. Your life will become better by making other lives better."

- Will Smith

"Never underestimate the pain of a person, because in all honesty, everyone is struggling. Some people are just better at hiding it than others."

- Will Smith

"Being realistic is the most common path to mediocrity."

- Will Smith

"There's no reason to have a plan B because it distracts from plan A."

- Will Smith

"The separation of talent and skill is one of the greatest misunderstood concepts for people who are trying to excel, who have dreams, who want to do things. Talent you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft."

- Will Smith

"Life isn't how many breaths you take, but it's the moments that take your breath away."

- Will Smith

"Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings & emotions."

- Will Smith

"I want the world to be better because I was here."

- Will Smith

"So if you stay ready, you ain't gotta get ready, and that is how I run my life."

- Will Smith

"Don’t ever let someone tell you that you can’t do something. You got a dream, you gotta protect it. When people can’t do something themselves, they are going to tell you that you can’t do it. You want something, go get it. Period."

- Will Smith

"The road to success is through commitment."

- Will Smith

"Don’t compare yourself to others. That’s when you start to lose confidence in yourself."

- Will Smith

"If you’re absent during my struggle don’t expect to be present during my success."

- Will Smith

"There are so many people who have lived and died before you. You will never have a new problem; you're not going to ever have a new problem. Somebody wrote the answer down in a book somewhere."

- Will Smith

"The person that works the hardest wins."

- Will Smith

"You want something? Go get it."

- Will Smith

"Those who say I can, and those who say I can’t – are both usually right."

- Will Smith

"The greatest dreams are always unrealistic."

- Will Smith

"I want the world to be better because I was here. I want my life, I want my work, my family, I want it to mean something and if you are not making someone else’s life better then you are wasting your time."

- Will Smith

"Don’t let failure go to your heart, and don’t let success go to your head."

- Will Smith

"Danger is very real but fear is a choice."

- Will Smith

"I know who I am, I know what I believe, that’s all I need to know. From there, you do what you need to do."

- Will Smith

"Never lie to people, because the people you are able to lie to, are the people who trust you."

- Will Smith

"Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity. Why would you be realistic? What’s the point of being realistic? I’m going to do it. It’s done. It’s already done. The second I decide it’s done, it’s already done."

- Will Smith

"Welcome to Earth!"

- Will Smith

"I am the greatest. I said that even before I knew I was."

- Will Smith

"What does it mean to be human?"

- Will Smith

"The key to a successful relationship is to keep it simple. Just be yourself."

- Will Smith

"Don’t ever let somebody tell you you can’t do something. Not even me."

- Will Smith

"This world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place."

- Will Smith

"You know what they say: ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’"

- Will Smith

"Remember, don’t try to build the greatest wall that’s ever been built. Focus on laying a single, expertly-placed brick. Then keep doing that, every day."

- Will Smith

"So if you stay ready, you ain’t gotta get ready, and that is how I run my life."

- Will Smith

"Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like."

- Will Smith

"Smiling is the best way to face every problem, to crush every fear and to hide every pain."

- Will Smith

"You cannot win the war against the world, if you can’t win the war against your own mind."

- Will Smith

"Life is like school, with one key difference—in school you get the lesson, and then you take the test. But in life, you get the test, and it’s your job to take the lesson."

- Will Smith

"Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity."

- Will Smith

"The central idea of love is not even a relationship commitment, the first thing is a personal commitment to be the best version of yourself with or without that person that you’re with. You have to every single day, mind, body, and spirit, wake up with a commitment to be better."

- Will Smith

"Greatness is not this wonderful, esoteric, elusive, God-like, feature that only the special among us will ever taste. It’s something that truly exists in all of us. It’s very simple. This is what I believe, and I’m willing to die for it."

- Will Smith

"There are so many people who have lived and died before you. You will never have a new problem; you're not going to ever have a new problem. Somebody wrote the answer down in a book somewhere."

- Will Smith

"Basic principles: no matter what, no matter when, no matter who... any man has a chance to sweep any woman off her feet. He just needs the right broom."

- Will Smith

"When your wondering what to say, or how you look... just remember... she is already out with you. That means, she said yes, when she could've said no. That means she made a plan... when she could've just blown you off. So that means it is no longer you job to make her like you... It's is your job NOT TO MESS IT UP."

- Will Smith

"Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like"

- Will Smith

"Because thats what people do... they leap and hope to God they can fly! Because otherwise, we just drop like a rock... wondering the whole way down..."why in the hell did I jump?" But here I am Sarah, falling. And there's only one person that makes me feel like I can fly... That's you."

- Will Smith

"Stop thinking about the damn wall!” he said. “There is no wall. There are only bricks. Your job is to lay this brick perfectly. Then move on to the next brick. Then lay that brick perfectly. Then the next one. Don’t be worrying about no wall. Your only concern is one brick."

- Will Smith

"Too many people are buying things they can't afford, with money that they don't have... to impress people that they don't like! Nothing to do w/ "books" -- Just like the quote!"

- Will Smith

"You can't be scared to die for the truth. The truth is the only thing that is ever going to be constant."

- Will Smith

"I want to be the person that is the first person there and the last person to leave. That's who I want to be, because I think the road to success is through commitment, and through the strength to drive through that commitment when it gets hard. And it is going to get hard and you're going to want to quit sometimes, but it'll be colored by who you are, and more who you want to be."

- Will Smith

"Jus’ remember, Lover Boy,” she said, “be nice to everybody you pass on your way up, coz you just might have to pass them again on your way down."

- Will Smith

"Does it ever occur to women that maybe a guy might like to have a plan, you know, because he's nervous? He's not sure that he could just walk up to you and you'd respond if he said "I like you." "I like you." "I like you!""

- Will Smith

"I'm a guy. Since when do we get anything right the first time?"

- Will Smith

"Being realistic is the quickest path to mediocrity."

- Will Smith

"You have to believe that something different than what has happened the past 50 million years can happen. Being realistic is the most commonly travelled road to mediocrity. What’s the point of being realistic?"

- Will Smith

"If you say in your mind, ‘It can’t happen,’ you’re DONE! You’re training yourself to not even be able to imagine what you want! In your mind has to be the wildest, freest place where you have everything you’ve ever dreamed."

- Will Smith

"If you want something, go get it! Period."

- Will Smith

"There’s no reason to have a plan B because it distracts from plan A."

- Will Smith

"So, if you stay ready, you ain’t gotta get ready, and that is how I run my life."

- Will Smith

"There’s the person you want to be viewed as. And then there’s who you REALLY are."

- Will Smith

"A rapper is about being completely true to yourself. Being an actor is about changing who you are."

- Will Smith

"Baring yourself is what makes you look strong on camera."

- Will Smith

"You have to clear your own personal blocks. You have to be able to be vulnerable in front of anybody?"

- Will Smith

"You have to be comfortable looking silly. You have to be comfortable making mistakes. And you have to break the thing inside of you that doesn’t want people to see."

- Will Smith

"Because as soon as you allow people to see, all of a sudden, you get access to [emotions] that you didn’t realize that you had access to."

- Will Smith

"So, you have to be able to get comfortable being anything! Anything that you have to be for the role, you have to be comfortable being it."

- Will Smith

"In acting, every take is a rejection. That’s what it is. You do a take and people don’t clap. It’s a rejection, and you can’t allow that to close you down."

- Will Smith

"Talent, you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft."

- Will Smith

"It’s amazing how skewed your vision can become when you see the present through the lens of your past. It was a very difficult psychological rehabilitation for us to learn how to put down the snow globe."

- Will Smith

"Si estás ausente durante mi lucha, no esperes estar presente durante mi éxito"

- Will Smith

"Never argue with a fool, because from a distance, people can’t tell who’s who."

- Will Smith

"I'm motivated by fear. Fear of fear. I hate being scared to do something. I started attacking things that I was scared of."

- Will Smith

"Fear is not real. The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist. That is near insanity. Do not misunderstand me danger is very real but fear is a choice."

- Will Smith

"The keys to life are running and reading. When you're running, there's a little person that talks to you and says, "Oh I'm tired. My lung's about to pop. I'm so hurt. There's no way I can possibly continue." You want to quit. If you learn how to defeat that person when you're running. You will how to not quit when things get hard in your life. For reading: there have been gazillions of people that have lived before all of us. There's no new problem you could have--with your parents, with school, with a bully. There's no new problem that someone hasn't already had and written about it in a book."

- Will Smith

"Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings & emotions"

- Will Smith

"When you know what you want, it clarifies what you don’t want. And even painful decisions, though not easy, become simple."

- Will Smith

"To all of my young male readers: no means no. Nothing good comes from spending your hard-earned money on a “family home” that your wife doesn’t want. You are putting a down payment on discord and for years you will be paying off a mortgage of misery."

- Will Smith

"Smiling is the best way to face every problem, to crush every fear, and to hide every pain"

- Will Smith

"Ignorance is bliss, maybe. Right up until it's not. We punish ourselves for not knowing. We always complain about what we could and should have done. And how much of a mistake it was that we did that thing... that unforgivable thing. We beat on ourselves for being so stupid, regretting our choices, and lamenting the horrible decisions we make. But here's the reality, that's what life is. Living is the journey from not knowing to knowing. From not understanding to understanding. From confusion to clarity. By universal design you are born into a perplexing situation, bewildered. And you have one job as a human... figure this %^&* out. Life is learning. Overcoming ignorance is the whole point of the journey. You're not supposed to know at the beginning."

- Will Smith

"The physics of love and happiness are counterintuitive. As long as we are stuck in the need to receive—in the cycle of grasping and clinging and demanding that people and the world around us meet our needs—we will be locked into disappointment, anger, and misery. The sweet paradox is being fulfilled by giving, that your output precipitates the input—giving and receiving become simultaneous."

- Will Smith

"Nobody cares what you think and what you feel. They care what they think and what they feel. That’s why they said it."

- Will Smith

"A noble aim engenders positive feelings. When we pursue what we believe to be a profound and valuable goal, it stirs the best parts of ourselves and others."

- Will Smith

"Everyone is struggling. Everyone is having a hard time. Life can be brutal, chaotic, confusing, and excruciating. Our hearts are starving. Loving, giving, helping, serving, protecting, nourishing, empowering, and forgiving are the secrets of “the Smile.”"

- Will Smith

"Life is learning. Period. Overcoming ignorance is the whole point of the journey. You’re not supposed to know at the beginning. The whole point of venturing into uncertainty is to bring light to the darkness of our ignorance. I heard a great saying once: ‘Life is like school, with one key difference- in school you get the lesson, then you take the test. But in life, you get the test, and it’s your job to take the lesson.”"

- Will Smith

"Sometimes we’d rather blindfold ourselves than take a cold, hard look at the world exactly as it is."

- Will Smith

"Will Smith > Quotes > Quotable Quote “The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I'm not afraid to die on a treadmill. I will not be out-worked, period. You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, you might be sexier than me, you might be all of those things you got it on me in nine categories. But if we get on the treadmill together, there's two things: You're getting off first, or I'm going to die. It's really that simple, right? You're not going to out-work me. It's such a simple, basic concept. The guy who is willing to hustle the most is going to be the guy that just gets that loose ball. The majority of people who aren't getting the places they want or aren't achieving the things that they want in this business is strictly based on hustle. It's strictly based on being out-worked; it's strictly based on missing crucial opportunities. I say all the time if you stay ready, you ain't gotta get ready.”"

- Will Smith

"There are so many people who have lived and died before you. You will never have a new problem. Somebody wrote the answer down in a book somewhere."

- Will Smith

"Don't chase people. Be yourself, do your own thing and work hard. The right people - the ones who really belong in your life - will come to you and stay."

- Will Smith

"All fantasies eventually fail. No matter how hard you fight, the truth is undefeated; reality remains the undisputed champ."

- Will Smith

"the same angry, aggressive persona you cultivated as a child to protect yourself from bullies and predators will now destroy every relationship you have if you’re unwilling to let it go. Things can be perfectly useful and absolutely necessary during certain periods of our lives. But a time will come when we must put them aside or die."

- Will Smith

"When you are unaware that you shouldn’t be able to do something, then you just do it."

- Will Smith

"Living is the journey from not knowing to knowing. From not understanding to understanding. From confusion to clarity. By universal design you are born into a perplexing situation, bewildered, and you have one job as a human: figure this shit out."

- Will Smith

"Comencé a entender que la diferencia entre una tarea que parece imposible de conseguir y otra que parece factible es solo una cuestión de perspectiva."

- Will Smith

"Words can affect how people view themselves, how they treat each other, how they navigate the world. Words can build people up, or they can tear them down."

- Will Smith

"Wake up at 4:00 a.m., train all morning, work all day, study all night"

- Will Smith

"Many people don’t realize this, but the Taj Mahal is a single mausoleum, designed, constructed, and maintained for one woman: Mumtaz Mahal, the favorite wife of Emperor Shah Jahan. The emperor was so distressed by the death of his beloved that he commissioned the construction of the Taj Mahal. He preserved her body for the more than twenty years it took to build (from 1632 to 1653); he spent thirty-two million rupees (nearly a billion dollars in today’s currency), and employed twenty thousand of the world’s greatest artisans, imported Italian marble (which was not an easy thing to do in seventeenth-century India—and not to mention that India had its own makrana marble he could have been using), all to create a private tomb worthy of his lost love."

- Will Smith

"The question is, can we love each other unconditionally, or is our love contingent upon the other person acting exactly as we need them to? It’s easy to “love” somebody when they do what you want them to do, exactly how you want them to do it."

- Will Smith

"We beat on ourselves for being so stupid, regretting our choices and lamenting the horrible decisions we make. But here’s the reality—that’s what life is. Living is the journey from not knowing to knowing."

- Will Smith

"The Alchemist, a novel by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, was my first literary love affair. The book spoke to my soul, and I just couldn’t put it down. It penetrated me and transformed my way of seeing and being."

- Will Smith

"and hours and hours of beating on your craft."

- Will Smith

"Greatness exists in all of us."

- Will Smith

"I never viewed myself as particularly talented. Where I excel is ridiculous, sickening, work ethic. You know, while the other guy’s sleeping, I’m working."

- Will Smith

"I don’t know what my calling is, but I want to be here for a bigger reason. I strive to be like the greatest people who have ever lived."

- Will Smith

"My grandmother once told me, 'Don't let failure go to your heart and don't let success go to your head.'"

- Will Smith

"If you’re not making someone else’s life better, then you’re wasting your time. Your life will become better by making other lives better."

- Will Smith

"Throughout life people will make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad. Let God deal with the things they do, because hate in your heart will consume you too."

- Will Smith

"Anything can go away. There's no such thing as safety and security. You can do things that give you the illusion of safety and security, but there's really no such thing."

- Will Smith