But to me the bottom line is the more education you can give yourself and the more preparation you can do the less chance of failing.

Growing up I was encouraged to get a good education get a real job doing something I enjoyed and should the opportunity present itself consider public service as just that: a chance to serve not an end in itself.

Scientific research and other studies have demonstrated that arts education can enhance American students' math and language skills and improve test scores which in turn increase chances of higher education and good jobs in the future.

Education whatever else it should or should not be must be an inoculation against the poisons of life and an adequate equipment in knowledge and skill for meeting the chances of life.

You can choose a future where more Americans have the chance to gain the skills they need to compete no matter how old they are or how much money they have. Education was the gateway to opportunity for me. It was the gateway for Michelle. And now more than ever it is the gateway to a middle-class life.

Learning is not attained by chance it must be sought for with ardor and diligence.

I grew up with not a lot of money and I definitely shopped at Goodwill. But even in my most unfortunate state I was really blessed compared to a lot of the rest of the world. I had a really great chance to follow my dreams and have them actually come true.

There has been enough suffering in our country there has been enough of children whose dreams die before they have a chance to grow and there has been enough of our elders who having served their nation are forced into indignity in their old age.

There's nothing as exciting as a comeback - seeing someone with dreams watching them fail and then getting a second chance.

I really had a lot of dreams when I was a kid and I think a great deal of that grew out of the fact that I had a chance to read a lot.

Music is where I have the most creative freedom but I love producing. To me that's kind of where all the action is. You get a chance to have your hands in every aspect of a film. From picking a director sometimes picking a writer to the actors the wardrobe set design editing music and marketing.

Though men are apt to flatter and exalt themselves with their great achievements yet these are in truth very often owing not so much to design as chance.

If you don't design your own life plan chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.

Should I perchance still feel after my death I would no longer have any doubt but I would most certainly give the lie to anyone asserting before me that I was dead.

If Shaw and Einstein couldn't beat death what chance have I got? Practically none.

Personally I would be delighted if there were a life after death especially if it permitted me to continue to learn about this world and others if it gave me a chance to discover how history turns out.

My dad told me that no one could ever make it as a writer that my chances were equivalent to winning the lottery - which was good for me because I like to have something to prove.