My personal style and public style are very different. When I go out, I play dress up.
Every day that you don't practice is a day you're getting worse.
The Chinese mom is not the helicopter mom. I would never do their homework for them. It's all about: Take responsibility, don't blame others. Be self-reliant. Never blame the teacher.
A Western upbringing tends to stress questioning authority, which is always asking why, why, why.
Never complain or make excuses. If something seems unfair, just prove yourself by working twice as hard and being twice as good.
Everything I've ever done that's valuable is something I was afraid to try.
Questioning authority is, I think, a great thing to instill in children. I just didn't have enough of that when I was little.
You will pardon some obscurities, for there are more secrets in my trade than in most men's, and yet not voluntarily kept, but inseparable from its very nature. I would gladly tell all that I know about it, and never paint "No Admittance" on my gate.
There is no problem in the family, ward, or stake that cannot be solved if we look for solutions in the Lord's way by counseling - really counseling - with one another.
If you're the greatest, it's okay to say you're the greatest. My suggestion to everybody is to be their own greatest fan. Weaker personas and personalities define that as egotistical or arrogant, but what it means is their self-esteem isn't that strong.
Then something unexpected happens. At least, I don't expect it because I don't think of District 12 as a place that cares about me. But a shift has occurred since I stepped up to take Prim's place, and now it seems I have become someone precious. At first one, then another, then almost every member of the crowd touches the three middle fingers of their left hand to their lips and holds it out to me. It is an old and rarely used gesture of our district, occasionally seen at funerals. It means thanks, it means admiration, it means good-bye to someone you love.