Danny Trejo - Trejos Cantina: Cocktails, Snacks & Amazing Non-Alcoholic Drinks from the Heart of Hollywood

Just like each recipe in this book is a little list of instructions where you start with a pile of ingredients and end up with something delicious, inspiring quotes have been a key ingredient in my fifty-plus years of success at turning my life around and being of service to the people. Theyre short, sweet, and get me through tough times. Here are the quotes and sayings that you could say are my recipes for success.

Education is the key to anything you want to do.

Whenever I talk at grade schools and high schools I make this critical point to all the kids and teenagers. The more you learn, the more options you have, plain and simple. Back in my day, especially in the Latin community, people thought about high school as being the end. My dad graduated from high school and went straight to work in construction. As a result, I didnt even think about college or a trade, both of which open up a world of opportunities. Whether you want to be an electrician or a lawyer, youve got to get the right education and get educated so you can do your trade at the highest level.

Its better to shoot for the moon and miss than aim for the gutter and make it.

I still remember the day I thought of that one. It was when I was at San Quentin, and I was walking around the track with my buddy Tyrone, another inmate. He and I were shooting the shit and he asked me what my life goals were and I said Man, I want to be both the lightweight and welterweight boxing champion of San Quentin. And Tyrone said Man, youre aiming pretty low. But that was my world and it was hard for me to see beyond it. But the thing is, you can change your world, no matter how hard or stuck it feels. And listening to another inmate without getting defensive, which was huge for me, broke me out of that shortsighted view. I came up with that phrase in the penitentiary, but still remember it and repeat it when Im faced with a challenge and need to rise to the occasion. I shot for the moon, got out of prison, and stayed out. But Im proud to say before that happened I still became the lightweight and welterweight boxing champion of San Quentin.

Everything good thats ever happened to me has been a direct result of helping someone else.

Ive shared this quote with kids in schools, hardened inmates in prisons, guys trying to kick drugs and alcohol, to my family and friends when theyre having a hard time, and to myself every day. Help someone. Every day. And you will help yourself. And it doesnt have to be big. My first day out of prison I took the trash out for my elderly neighbor and it made me feel just good enough to not go out and get loaded. And I kept at that for fifty-plus years. It can be as little as saying good morning to a stranger. Youll feel better. Period. For some folks its the hardest thing in the world to do. It was for me when I got out of the pen, where Id been trained to be icy cold and intimidating just to survive. So you gotta train yourself to do the opposite. Its as basic as saying to yourself: Im going to say good morning to the first stranger I meet every day. If youve got kids, give them your time. Have lunch with your kids. Compliment them. Give them self-esteem. A little boost every day. Every morning I wake up and say a prayer that I sign every autograph and take every picture with every fan I see. People are happy. Im happy. And then it catches and you find yourself helping people all the time and youll be surprised by how much good stuff comes back to you.

I might as well be myself because everyone else is taken.

This one helps when youre down on yourself or you see somebody and you wish your life was like theirs and say to yourself: I want to be that person. Nope, you cant. That person is taken. Don't judge your inside by someone else's outside. Youre you and you have to work with what you have, play into your good side, face the stuff that you need to change. Only by working on being the better you are you going to have a good life. And its going to be yours and yours alone.

The light at the end of the tunnel isnt a train.

When someone is down and having a hard time I say this because: a) the future is never as bad as folks think it is and when you move ahead and face it you learn you can get through it and grow despite what you imagined it would be. And b) its just funny and laughter is the key. If you can laugh a little it relaxes you and helps you see your way out of a problem. And when you really think about it, there is no such thing as the future. The future is right now.