"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
Learning
"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
Determination
"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
Focus
"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
Hard Work
"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
Hard Work
"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
Facing Fears
"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
Hard Work
"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
Perseverance
"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
Contribution
"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
Personal Growth
"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
Personal Growth
"There's no reason to have a plan B because it distracts from plan A."
- Will Smith
Focus
"The first step is you have to say that you can."
- Will Smith
Motivation
"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
Self-confidence
"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
Learning
"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
Facing Fears
"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
Personal Growth
"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
Hard Work
"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
Courage
"Money and success don't change people; they merely amplify what is already there."
- Will Smith
Success
"Life isn't how many breaths you take, but it's the moments that take your breath away."
- Will Smith
Happiness
"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
Simplicity
"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
Simplicity
"Being realistic is the quickest path to mediocrity."
- Will Smith
Ambition
"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
Belief
"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
Belief in Self
"If you want something, go get it! Period."
- Will Smith
Drive
"There’s no reason to have a plan B because it distracts from plan A."
- Will Smith
Focus
"So, if you stay ready, you ain’t gotta get ready, and that is how I run my life."
- Will Smith
Motivation
"Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings & emotions."
- Will Smith
Self-awareness
"There’s the person you want to be viewed as. And then there’s who you REALLY are."
- Will Smith
Self-awareness
"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
Bravery
"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
Resilience
"Talent, you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft."
- Will Smith
Hard Work
"Money and success don’t change people; they merely amplify what is already there."
- Will Smith
Success
"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
Facing Fears
"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
Motivation
"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
Self-confidence
"When you are unaware that you shouldn’t be able to do something, then you just do it."
- Will Smith
Belief in Self
"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
Morality
"Wake up at 4:00 a.m., train all morning, work all day, study all night"
- Will Smith
Hard Work
"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
Love
"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
Influence
"Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings & emotions"
- Will Smith
Self-awareness
"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
Empathy
"Being realistic is the most common path to mediocrity."
- Will Smith
Motivation
"When you know what you want, it clarifies what you don’t want. And even painful decisions, though not easy, become simple."
- Will Smith
Focus
"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
Love
"Greatness exists in all of us."
- Will Smith
Belief in Self
"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
Compassion
"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
Ambition
"We spend money that we do not have, on things we do not need, to impress people who do not care."
- Will Smith
Simplicity
"Smiling is the best way to face every problem, to crush every fear, and to hide every pain"
- Will Smith
Positivity
"Sometimes we’d rather blindfold ourselves than take a cold, hard look at the world exactly as it is."
- Will Smith
Awareness
"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
Inspiration
"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
Courage
"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
Adaptation
"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
Self-awareness
"Life is lived on the edge."
- Will Smith
Taking Risks
"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
Personal Growth
"All fantasies eventually fail. No matter how hard you fight, the truth is undefeated; reality remains the undisputed champ."
- Will Smith
Awareness
"You have to clear your own personal blocks. You have to be able to be vulnerable in front of anybody?"
- Will Smith
Bravery
"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
Wisdom
"Whatever your dream is, every extra penny you have needs to be going to that."
- Will Smith
Goals
"A rapper is about being completely true to yourself. Being an actor is about changing who you are."
- Will Smith
Adaptation
"Baring yourself is what makes you look strong on camera."
- Will Smith
Bravery
"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
Compassion
"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
Wisdom
"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
Wisdom
"and hours and hours of beating on your craft."
- Will Smith
Hard Work
"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
Awareness
"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
Love
"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
Love
"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
Relationships
"I'm a guy. Since when do we get anything right the first time?"
- Will Smith
Self-awareness
"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
Relationships
"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
Reflection
"Si estás ausente durante mi lucha, no esperes estar presente durante mi éxito"
- Will Smith
Motivation
"Never argue with a fool, because from a distance, people can’t tell who’s who."
- Will Smith
Wisdom
"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
Reflection