"The greatest and most valuable resources we have for making crucial decision are knowledge and the amazing brainpower God gave human beings when he created us. That's certainly true for deciding our best response to any risk we ever face."

"My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain. Now all the archaeologists think that they were made for the pharaohs’ graves. But, you know, it would have to be something awfully big if you stop and think about it. And I don’t think it’d just disappear over the course of time to store that much grain. And when you look at the way that the pyramids are made, with many chambers that are hermetically sealed, they’d have to be that way for a reason. And various scientists have said, “Well, you know there were alien beings that came down and they have special knowledge and that’s how they were”—you know, it doesn’t require an alien being when God is with you."

"Thanks, God, for honoring our best by giving us a miracle."

"When I don't have an answer, I pray. God is the only alternative source of help."

"When we have done our best, we also have to learn that we still need to rely on God. Our best – no matter how good – is incomplete if we leave God out of the picture."

"We don't have to explain miracles; all we have to do is accept them."

"Only God knows the beginning and the end."

"Occasionally I talk with people who see doctors as people who do nothing but give of themselves and never receive from anyone else – especially not from their patients. That is totally false. The longer I remain in my profession, the more I realize how much I receive from those who come to me for help."

"Not everyone has to be a high-powered neurosurgeon to add significantly to the equation that brings about success here."

"Always give your best and try to figure out how to do an even better job."

"Give your best. Settle for nothing less than doing your best for yourself and for others."

"Be nice to people – all people – even when you don't have to be. Everybody is important."

"If we know human anatomy and we are reasonably intelligent, he assumes that we can figure out how to do almost anything."

"We have no time for excuses."

"The outstanding doctor constantly emphasized the humanitarian aspect of medical care."

"I thank God for all the people whom God sent into my life, the people who gave their best so that I could learn to give my best."

"Do not underestimate the importance of feeling special."

"Because they believed in my ability , I was able to believe in it as well."

"My mentors are those individuals who saw potential in me long before I perceived it in myself – or who challenged me to do more – the people who helped guide me toward excellence."

"God loves us all, and all of us are equal in God's sight."

"Nobody can hinder you from doing what you want, if that's what you set your mind to. You can always find a hook to hang excuses on, but they're only excuses. You don't have anyone to blame but yourself. Nobody else makes you fail."

"You pray for yourselves and just ask God to guide you and to give you strength."

""You do your best, we do the rest." That fit the way I felt about God. I was going to give God my best and then it was up to God to do the rest."

"Reading is the way out of ignorance, and the road to achievement."

"I need the Lord's guidance on what to do... I asked God for wisdom."

"One of the great truths of life: I did not do it alone. I had help along the way."

"This is a book about giving our best and especially about doing whatever we can to help others."

"To THINK BIG and to use our talents doesn't mean we won't have difficulties along the way. We will—we all do. How we view those problems determines how we end up. If we choose to see the obstacles in our path as barriers, we stop trying. “We can't win,” we moan. “They won't let us win.”However, if we choose to see the obstacles as hurdles, we can leap over them. Successful people don't have fewer problems. They have determined that nothing will stop them from going forward.Whatever direction we choose, if we can realize that every hurdle we jump strengthens and prepares us for the next one, we're already on the way to success."

"We are capable of doing even better things than we believe we are, if we challenge each other to do it."

"I always pray before any of the operations."

"It's all in God's hands."

"Carol James, who is my physician's assistant and my right-hand person, frequently teases me by saying, "It's because women need only half of their brain to think as well as men. That's why you can do this operation on so many women.""

"I can provide one living example of someone who made it and who came from what we now call a disadvantaged background: me."

"I don't believe in one-person productions. Everyone on the team is important and needs to know that he or she is vital."

"The kind of job doesn't matter. The length of time on the job doesn't matter... If you work hard and do your best, you'll be recognized and move onward."

"Someone told me that creativity is just learning to do something with a different perspective."

"We don't necessarily have to play by the strict rules if we can find a way that works better, as long as it's reasonable and doesn't hurt anybody."

"You have to try, you have to do everything you can."

"Stop thinking about failing."

"It wasn't that I had to be first in everything, but I should have been number one."

"We create our own destiny by the way we do things. We have to take advantage of opportunities and be responsible for our choices."

"You have yourself to blame."

"I have sunshine in my heart regardless of conditions around me."

"Jesus Is All the World to Me."

"Why should I give someone else such power over my life?"

"You've promised that if we come to You and ask something in faith, that You'll do it."

"She was not a person who would allow the system to dictate her life."

"Abraham Lincoln once said, "All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my mother." I'm not sure I want to say it quite like that, but my mother, Sonya Carson, was the earliest, strongest, and most impacting force in my life. It would be impossible to tell about my accomplishments without starting with my mother's influence."

"Maybe that's how I learned to handle my deep hurt—by forgetting."

"We've been conditioned to think that only politicians can solve our problems. But at some point, maybe we will wake up and recognize that it was the politicians who created our problems."