Ten Profound Quotes from Surprising Sources

You typically expect great quotes to come from politicians, statesmen and military commanders. While celebrities are often quoted, it’s rare for them to say something profound. Here are ten times they did.

1. “The way you create a better future is by studying the past.” – Steven Spielberg

The Oscar-winning director said these words to the graduating class at Harvard University in 2016. Spielberg dropped out of college in the 1960s, eventually earning his degree much later in life. He earned credits in a paleontology class from his experience in making Jurassic Park.

2. “I am pretty fearless, and you know why? Because I don’t handle fear very well; I’m not a good terrified person.” – Stevie Nicks

The Fleetwood Mac singer discussed her fears in a 2001 interview with fellow singer Sheryl Crow. Nicks also said she knew she would be famous when she was 16.

3. “Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life, because you become what you believe.” – Oprah Winfrey

The media mogul delivered this line to the graduating class of Wellesley College in 1997 to encourage them to set lofty goals. Winfrey runs a media empire now, but grew up in poverty and had many struggles earlier in life.

4. “To fulfill a dream, to be allowed to sweat over lovely labor, to be given the chance to create, is the meat and potatoes of life. The money is the gravy.” – Bette Davis

The award-winning actress wrote these words in her 1962 autobiography “The Lonely Life.” Davis had four marriages and an acting career that lasted for decades.

5. “Music itself is going to become like running water or electricity.” – David Bowie

This quote by the influential musician comes from a 2002 interview by Jon Pareles. Bowie discusses his expectations for the music industry that he was part of for many years.

6. “A teacher, a really good sensei, is never a giver of ‘truth’; he is a guide, a pointer to the truth that the student must discover for himself.” – Bruce Lee

The martial arts expert wrote this line in an article for Black Belt magazine in 1971. Lee was instrumental in bringing martial arts to the West before his sudden death in 1973.

7. “I believe any success in life is made by going into an area with a blind, furious optimism.” – Sylvester Stallone

Stallone was one of the biggest names in Hollywood when he said this about his autistic son in a 1985 interview with People magazine.

8. “Happiness was always important to me. Even at the young age of 11, it was my biggest ambition.” – Goldie Hawn

The award-winning actress talks more about achieving lasting happiness and her family than her career in her 2005 autobiography, “A Lotus Grows in the Mud.”

9. “The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.” – Muhammad Ali

The heavyweight boxing legend made this profound statement in a 1975 interview with Playboy magazine.

10. “My drive in life is from this horrible fear of being mediocre. And that’s always pushing me, pushing me.” – Madonna

The controversial singer had already enjoyed a long career that was anything but mediocre when she said this line in a 1991 Vanity Fair interview.