Don’t listen to those who say, “It’s not done that way.” Maybe it’s not, but maybe you’ll do it anyway. Don’t listen to those who say, You’re taking too big a chance.” Michaelangelo would have painted the Sistine floor, and it would surely be rubbed out today.

Most important, don’t listen when that little voice of fear inside you rears its ugly head and say, “They’re all smarter than you out there. They’re more talented, they’re taller, blonder, prettier, luckier, and they have connections. They have a cousin who took out Meryl Streep’s baby-sitter….”

I firmly believe that if you follow a path that interests you, not to the exclusion of love, sensitivity, and cooperation with others, but with the strength of conviction that you can move others by your own efforts, and do not make success or failure the criteria by which you live, the chances are you’ll be a person worth of your own respect.

~ Neil Simon
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