"The most important factors of invention can be described in a few words.  They consist first of definite knowledge as to what one wishes to achieve...One must fix his mind on that purpose with persistence and begin searching for that which he seeks, making use of all other accumulated knowledge on the subject.  He must keep on searching no matter how many times he may meet with disappointment.  He must refuse to be influenced by the fact that someone else may have tried the same ideal without success.  he must keep himself sold on the idea that the solution of his problem exists somewhere, and that he will find it.

    When a man makes up his mind to solve any problem, he may first meet opposition; but if he holds on and keeps on searching, he will be sure to find some sort of solution.  The trouble with most people is that they quit before they start.  In all my experiences, I do not recall having ever found the solution to any problem connected with my work on my first attempt.  And one of the most surprising things is the fact that when I have discovered the thing for which I am searching, I generally find that it has been within my reach all the time; but nothing except persistence and a will to win would have revealed it.

"As long as I can remember I feel I have had this great creative and spiritual force within me that is greater than faith, greater than ambition, greater than confidence, greater than determination, greater than vision.  It is all these combined, my brain becomes magnetized with this dominating force which I hold in my hand."  Here, he is describing God. 

    "Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing [greatness].  You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time.  Winning is a habit.  Unfortunately, so is losing.

    There is no room for second place.  There is only one place in my game, and that's first place.  I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don't ever want to finish second again.  There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers.  It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.

    Every time a football player goes to ply his trade he's got to play from the ground up--from the soles of his feet right up to his head.  Every inch of him has to play.  Some guys play with their heads.  That's O.K. you've got to be smart to be number one in any business.  But more importantly, you've got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body.  If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.

    Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of organization--an army, a political party or a business.  The principles are the same.  The object is to win--to beat the other guy.  Maybe that sounds hard or cruel.  I don't think it is.

    It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men.  That's why they are there--to compete.  To know the rules and objectives when they get in the game.  The objective is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules--but to win.

    And in truth, I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline.  There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.

    "We all want to win.  We want to go to the top.  We've all got great aspirations, great goals.  I'd like to think with you about what I believe to be the ingredients of a winning philosophy, about some great champions I've known in the world of sports who have personified what I think it takes to win.  There are certain basic qualities and characteristics you've got to have.  Number one: you've got to have a will to win.

    I suppose you have all heard this cliché over and over again.  It's a phrase used more in sports than elsewhere, and probably used more there than any other statement.  The will to win.  The will to win!  As I've analyzed great champions I'm convinced that this is the something that makes the difference between mediocre athletes and great performers in the world of sport.  It depends upon whether or not you've got this something deep down inside--this will to win.

    It's a will to win, and not just a wish to win.  I know a lot of people who have what I would call a wish to win.  They'd like to go to the top.  They daydream about the position they'd like to hold in life.  I've seen it in sports.  I've seen fellows in locker-rooms sitting around dreaming on the benches; you talk to them about their performances, and they've got great dreams about what they'd like to be.  They tell you their potential, about the heights they could soar to, or the distances they could run, the times they could perform if they would only get out and train and work and do the thing necessary to bring it to pass.

    And you find them three or four years later still talking about what they could do if they would only pay the price.  Well, it isn't that kind of thinking that takes you to the top.  Wishful thinking, or daydreaming, is the kind of escapism that will destroy many a man's great aspiration.

    Now, I don't mean you dare not dream at all.  I think the greatest thing in life is to be able to dream, to have great aspirations, but I think it equally important that you have a will that can turn that dream into reality.  You've got to have something within you that is able to translate into concrete practice the idea in the back of your mind.

    You've got to dream, yes, but more important you've got to have a will that makes that thing come to pass.

    "The aphorism, 'As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,' not only embraces the whole of a man's being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition an circumstance of his life.  A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.

    As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them.  This applies equally to those acts called "spontaneous" and "unpremeditated" as to those which are deliberately executed.

    Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry. 'Thought in the mind hath made us.  What we are by thought was wrought and built.  If a man's mind hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes the wheel the ox behind....If one endure in purity of thoughts, joy follow him as his own shadow--sure.'  Man is a growth by law, and not a creation by artifice, and cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thoughts as in the world of visible and material things.  A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with Godlike thoughts.  An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is the result of the continued harboring of groveling thoughts.

    Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace.  By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the beast.  Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and man is their maker and master.

    Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this--that man is the master of thought, the molder of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny.

    As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills.

    Man is always the master, even in his weakest and most abandoned state; but in his weakness and degradation he is the foolish master who misgoverns his 'household.'  When he begins to reflect upon his condition, and search diligently for the Law upon which his being is established, he then becomes the wise master, directing his energies with intelligence, and fashioning his thoughts to fruitful issues.  Such is the conscious master, and man can only thus become by discovering within himself the laws of thought; which discovery is totally a matter of application, self-analysis, and experience.

    Only by much searching and mining are gold and diamonds obtained, and man can find every truth connected with his being if he will dig deep into the mind of his soul; and that he is the maker of his character, the molder of his life, and the builder of his destiny, he may unerringly prove, if he will watch, control, and alter his thoughts, tracing their effects upon himself, upon others, and upon his life and circumstances, linking cause and effect by patient practice and investigation, and utilizing his every experience, even to the most trivial, everyday occurrence, as a means of obtaining that knowledge of himself which is Understanding, Wisdom, Power.  In this direction, as in no other, is the law absolute that 'He that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened'; for only by patience, practice, and ceaseless importunity can a man enter the Door of the Temple of Knowledge.

    A man's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth.  If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.

    Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts.  By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master gardener of his soul, the director of his life.  He also reveals, within himself, the laws of thought, and understands, with ever-increasing accuracy, how the thought forces and mind elements operate in the shaping of his character, circumstances, and destiny.

    Thought and character are one, and as character can only manifest and discover itself through environment and circumstance, the outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to be harmoniously related to his inner state.  This does not mean that a man's circumstances at any given time are an indication of his entire character, but that those circumstances are so intimately connected with some vital thought element within himself that, for the time being, they are indispensable to his development.

    Every man is where he is by the law of his being; the thoughts which he has built into his character have brought him there, and in the arrangement of his life there is no element of chance, but all is the result of a law which cannot err.  This is just as true of those who feel 'out of harmony' with their surroundings as of those who are contented with them.

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure turns about

When he might have won had he stuck it out;

Don't give up, though the pace seems slow--

It seems to a faint and faltering man,

Often the struggler has given up

When he might have captured the victor's cup.

And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt--

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems afar;

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--

Winners take chances like everyone else, they fear failing, but they refuse to let fear control them.

Winners don't give up.  When life gets rough, they hang in until the going gets better.

Winners are flexible.  They realize there is more than one way and are willing to try others.

Winners know they are not perfect.  They respect their weaknesses while making the most of their strengths.

Winners fall but they don't stay down.  They stubbornly refuse to let a fall keep them from climbing.

Winners don't blame fate for their failures, nor luck for their successes.

Winners accept responsibility for their lives.

Winners are positive thinkers who see good in all things.  From the ordinary, they make the extraordinary.

Winners believe in the path they have chosen even when it is hard, even when others can't see where they are going.

Winners are patient.  They know a goal is only worthy as the effort that is required to achieve it.

Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it will achieve.  Dream great dreams and make them come true.  Do it now!

You are unique.  In all the history of the world, there was never anyone else exactly like you, and in all the infinity to come there will never be another you.  Never Affirm self-limitations.  What you believe yourself to be, you are.

To accomplish great things, you must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.  If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost--put foundations under them.  Yes, you can.  Believing is magic, you can always better your best.  You don't know what you can do until you try.

Nothing will come of nothing.  If you don't' go out on a limb, you're never going to get the fruit.  There is no failure except in no longer trying.  Hazy goals produce hazy results.  Clearly define your goals.  Write them down, make a plan for achieving them, set a deadline, visualize there results and go after them.  Just don't look back unless you want to go that way.

Defeat may test you; it need not stop you.  If at first you don't succeed, try another way.  For every obstacle there is a solution.  Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.  The greatest mistake is giving up.  Wishing will not bring success, but planning, persistence and burning desire will.

There is a gold mine within you from which you can extract all the necessary ingredients.  Success is an attitude.  Get yours right.  It is astonishing how short a time it takes for very wonderful things to happen.

If you think you are beaten, you are.

If you think that you dare not, you don't.

For out in the world you'll find success begins with a fellow's will.

You've got to think high to rise.

One day you will see that it all has finally come together.

What you have always wished for has finally come to be.

You will look back and laugh at what has passed and you will ask yourself, "How did I get through all of that?"

Fear not that you might make a mistake in believing your dream.  Fear rather that if you don't go for it you might stand before God and he'll tell you that you could have succeeded had you had a little more faith.

Fear not that you might fail.  Fear rather that you will never succeed if you never try and if you are unwilling to take risks.

Fear not that you might get hurt.  Fear rather that you will never grow if you wait for painless success.

If you want a thing bad enough

To go out and fight for it

Work day and night for it

Give up your time and your peace and your sleep for it

If only desire of it

Makes you quite mad enough

Never to tire of it

Makes you hold all other things tawdry and cheap for it

If life seems all empty and useless without it

And alll that you scheme and you dream is about it

If gladly you'll sweat for it

Fret for it

Plan for it

Lose all your terror of God or man for it

If you'll simply go after that thing that you want

With all your capacity

Strength and sagacity

Faith, hope, and confidence, stern pertinacity

If neither cold poverty, famished and gaunt

Nor sickness nor pain

Of body and brain

Can turn you way from the thing that you want

If dogged and grim you besiege and beset it