A Collection of Quotes Assembled by Eldon Taylor INTRODUCTION: What follows is simply a collection, my collection, of favorite quotes. They have been chosen with one principle criteria in mind--they speak to the elegance, mystery and awesome potential of the human condition. They are all tutorial and empowering. I hope you find them as inspiring as I have. Where the author is known, at least by myself, I have given credit. Many of the greatest sayings are officially by "author unknown." Rather than continually repeat "unknown", if no name appears, please assume the author is "unknown," at least by me--but remember this: ONLY THEIR NAME IS UNKNOWN. This is a work in progress. Please feel free to contribute. If you have a special saying, please share it with me. If you have a story of hope, share it with all of us. If you can identify an author, please do so. When I scratch my head, wonder about life, who I am, experience doubt or fear, When uncertainty darkens the horizon with shadows of fault-- I turn to the thoughts that have inspired the fire of thought And settle on one whose direction is clear; For I've learned in my life that some things that seem near Are lost and forgotten when I remember why I'm here. ET -- The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. Albert Einstein The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, gift, or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes. Charles Swindoll What the mind of man can conceive and believe, It can achieve. All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Be ready when opportunity comes...Luck is the time when preparation and opportunity meet. Roy D. Chapin Jr. Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit. Every adversity, every failure, and every heartache, carries with it the Seed of an equivalent or greater benefit. Al Gore, Sr. Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I may not forget you. William Arthur History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats. Bertie C. Forbes I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time. Jack London I have no methods; all I do is accept people as they are. Paul Tournier I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble. Helen Keller It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get back up. Vince Lombardi Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great, make you feel that you too can become great. Mark Twain Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It's what sunflowers do. Helen Keller Let no man be sorry he has done good, because others have done evil! Live out of your imagination instead of out of your memory. Les Brown My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure. Abraham Lincoln Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died. Erma Bombeck People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering. St. Augustine Persistent people begin their success where others end in failure. Edward Eggleston Some men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; While others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before. Herodotus Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach. Tony Robbins Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?' Brian Tracy The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes. Benjamin Disraeli The nearest way to glory is to strive to be what you wish to be thought to be. Socrates The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity. Arthur James Balfour The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible. Arthur C. Clarke The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands. Robert M. Pirsig There is great treasure there behind our skull and this is true about all of us. This little treasure has great, great powers, and I would say we only have learned a very, very small part of what it can do. Isaac Bashevis Singer Things are more like they are now than they have ever been. Gerald Ford When you take charge of your life, there is no longer a need to ask permission of other people or society at large. When you ask permission, you give someone veto power over your life. Geoffrey F. Abert Whoever renders service to many puts himself in line for greatness -- great wealth, great return, great satisfaction, great reputation, and great joy. Jim Rohn You have powers you never dreamed of. You can do things you never thought you could do. There are no limitations in what you can do except the limitations of your own mind. Darwin P. Kingsley You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you. Brian Tracy You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love. Henry Drummond A certain amount of opposition is of great help to a man. Kites rise against, not with the wind. John Neal A person's character is the reality of themselves. Their reputation is the opinion others have formed of them. Character is within;--reputation is without--that is the substance, this is the shadow. Henry Ward Beecher A strategy that uses up its strength in the defensive gradually paralyzes initiative and activity. Joseph Paul Goebbels A man dies daily, only to be reborn in the morning, bigger, better and wiser. Emmett Fox A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle. A careless word may kindle strife. A cruel word may wreck a life. A timely word may level stress. A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline. Harvey Mackay A loving word may heal and bless. A bone to a dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog. Jack London A 'No' uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble. Mahatma Gandhi A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back again when it begins to rain. Robert Frost A ship in harbor is safe -- but that is not what ships are for. John A. Shedd A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. Sir Winston Churchill A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one. Mary Kay Ash A prudent question is one-half of wisdom. Francis Bacon A strategy that uses up its strength in the defensive gradually paralyzes initiative and activity. Joseph Paul Goebbels Ability hits the mark where presumption overshoots and diffidence falls short. Nicholas of Cusa Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into. Wayne Dyer Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune. William James Adventure is not outside a man--it is within. David Grayson Age is a matter of feeling...not of years. George William Curtis All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence. Martin Luther King, Jr. All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare. Spinoza All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen. Ralph Waldo Emerson All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small. Lao-Tzu Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? Abraham Lincoln An answer is invariably the parent of a great family of new questions. John Steinbeck An error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it. O. A. Battista An expert is one that knows more and more about less and less. N. M. Butler Any fact is better established by two or three good testimonies than by a thousand arguments. Nathaniel Emmons As we are now living in an eternity, the time to be happy is today. G. Kleiser As long a one imagines that they cannot do a certain thing, so long...is it impossible for them to do it. Spinoza As a man thinketh, so is he . - Proverbs 23:7 At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable. Christopher Reeve Attitude is a small thing that makes a big difference. Attitude determines how well you do it. Bad habits are like chains that are too light to feel until they are too heavy to carry. Warren Buffet Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are. John Wooden Before you build a better mousetrap, it helps to know if there are any mice out there. Mortimer B. Zuckerman Begin to be now what you will be hereafter. Jerome Behavior is a mirror in which every one displays his image. Goethe Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly. Robert Schuller Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting. Elizabeth Bibesco Both poverty and riches are the offspring of thought. Napolean Hill Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. Helen Keller Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well to think. Ralph Waldo Emerson Charity sees the need, not the cause. German Proverb Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blue prints of your ultimate accomplishments. Napoleon Hill Choose your associations wisely. Remember birds of a feather flock together. Class is an aura of confidence that is being sure without being cocky. Class has nothing to do with money. Class never runs scared. It is self-discipline and self-knowledge. It's the sure footedness that comes with having proved you can meet life. Ann Landers Common sense is, of all kinds, the most uncommon. It implies good judgement, sound discretion, and true and practical wisdom applied to common life. Tryon Edwards Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done. Harriet Beecher Stowe Consider how few things are worthy of anger, and thou wilt wonder that any fools should wroth. Robert Dodsley Consideration is the soul in which wisdom may be expected to grow. Ralph Waldo Emerson Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air. John Quincy Adams Courage is the mastery of fear, not the absence of fear. Mark Twain Definitions: a kiss is an anatomical juxtaposition of two orbicularis oris muscles in a state of contraction. Isn't it wonderful that things are not their definitions. (From Simple Things & Simple Thoughts). Democracy is the worst system ever invented - except for all the rest. Winston Churchill Destiny is not a matter of chance, but of choice. Not something to wish for, but to attain. William Jennings Bryan Discipline is the foundation upon which all success is built. Lack of discipline inevitably leads to failure. Jim Rohn Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. Ralph Waldo Emerson Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive. Elbert Hubbard Don't smother each other. No one can grow in the shade. Leo Buscaglia. Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff that life is made of. Benjamin Franklin. Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother. - Kahlil Gibran Doubt whom you will, but never yourself. Bovee Each of us is great insofar as we perceive and act on the infinite possibilities which lie undiscovered and unrecognized about us. James Harvey Robinson Emulation admires and strives to imitate great actions; envy is only moved to malice. H. De Balzac Envy's memory is nothing but a row of hooks to hang up grudges on. John Watson Foster Even a fool knows you can't touch the stars, but it doesn't stop a wise man from trying. Harry Anderson Even when the experts all agree, they may well be mistaken. Bertrand Russell Even on the most exalted throne in the world we are only sitting on our own bottom. Michel de Montaigne Every action of our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity. E. H. Chapin Every man dies. Not every man truly lives. Braveheart Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination. John Dewey Every single forward step in history has been taken over the bodies of empty-headed fools who giggled and snickered. Bruce Barton Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before. James Buckham Experience shows that success is due less to ability than to zeal. The winner is he who gives himself to his work, body and soul. Charles Buxton Experience is one thing that you can't get for nothing. Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof. Galbraith's Law Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing. Denis Waitley Failure is nature's plan to prepare you for great responsibilities. Failure is not the worst thing in the world; the very worst is not to try. Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead. Louisa May Alcott Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. Theodore Roosevelt Fear is the tax that consciousness pays to guilt. George Sewell Following the lines of least resistance makes rivers and men crooked. For all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, 'It might have been'. John Greenleaf Whittier For every disciplined effort there is a multiple reward. Jim Rohn Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune. Jim Rohn Friendship is the highest degree of perfection in society. Montaigne Genius is one- percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Thomas Edison Genius is the gold in the mine; talent is the miner who works and brings it out. Lady Blessington Genius is a superior aptitude to patience. C. G. L. Buffon Good timber does not grow with ease. The stronger the wind the stronger the trees. Williard Marriott Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principals which direct them. Napoleon Bonaparte Great minds have purposes, others have wishes. Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them. Washington Irving Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it everyday, and at last it is nearly unbreakable. Horace Mann Happiness is an attitude of mind, born of the simple determination to be happy under all outward circumstances. J. Donald Walters Happiness is not best achieved by those who seek it directly. Bertrand Russell He that cannot reason is a fool. He that will not is a bigot. He that dare not is a slave. Andrew Carnegie He who has learned to disagree without being disagreeable has discovered the most valuable secret of a diplomat. Robert Estabrook He who asks a question is a fool for a minute; he who does not remains a fool forever. Chinese Proverb He who reigns within himself and rules his passions, desires, and fears is more than a king. John Milton He that waits upon fortune, is never sure of a dinner. Benjamin Franklin Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade? Benjamin Franklin Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly. Langston Hughes Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist. Mary Kay Ash How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world. Shakespeare How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these. George Washington Carver I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all. Laura Ingalls Wilder I don't think much of a person that is not wiser today than they were yesterday. Abraham Lincoln I discovered a long time ago that if I helped people get what they wanted, I would always get what I wanted and I would never have to worry. Anthony Robbins I shall adopt new views as fast as they shall appear to be true views. Abraham Lincoln I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant. H. L. Mencken I have never been hurt by anything I didn't say. Calvin Coolidge I am always willing to learn, however I do not always like to be taught. Winston Churchill I am only an average man, but by George, I work harder at it than the average man. Theodore Roosevelt I want to know God's thoughts...all else are details. Albert Einstein I don't think anything is unrealistic if you believe you can do it. I think if you are determined enough and willing to pay the price, you can get it done. Mike Ditka I am always busy, which is perhaps the chief reason why I am always well. Elizabeth Cady Stanton I know a lot of people without brains who do an awful lot of talking. The Scarecrow, Wizard of Oz I think the one lesson I have learned is that there is no substitute for paying attention. Diane Sawyer I always remember an epitaph which is in the cemetery at Tombstone, Arizona. It says: 'Here lies Jack Williams. He done his damnedest.' I think that is the greatest epitaph a man can have. Harry S Truman Ideas are funny little things, they won't work unless you do. Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen. John Steinbeck If you can be well without health, you may be happy without virtue. Edmund Burke If a child annoys you, quiet him by brushing his hair. If this doesn't work, use the other side of the brush on the other end of the child. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them. Henry David Thoreau If you view all the things that happen to you, both good and bad, as opportunities, then you operate out of a higher level of consciousness. - Les Brown If a man has talent and cannot use it, he has failed. If he has a talent and uses only half of it, he has partly failed. If he has a talent and learns somehow to use the whole of it, he has gloriously succeeded and has a satisfaction and a triumph few men ever know. Thomas Wolfe If you deliberately plan on being less than you are capable of being, then I warn you that you'll be unhappy for the rest of your life. Abraham H. Maslow If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. Isaac Newton If a person harbors fear, it percolates through all their thinking, damages their personality, makes them landlord to a ghost. Lloyd Cassel Douglas If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else. Yogi Berri If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self. If you wish to reach the highest, begin at the lowest. Publilius Syrus If you can be well without health, you may be happy without virtue. Edmund Burke If you believe everything you read, don't read. Chinese Proverb If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, then we did it. If anything goes really good, then you did it. That's all it takes to get people to win football games. Paul "Bear" Bryant In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. Thomas Jefferson In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing. Theodore Roosevelt In the final analysis there is no solution to man's progress but the day's honest work, the day's honest decisions, the day's generous utterances and the day's good deed. Clare Booth Luce In every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong, honor that; try to imitate it, and your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes. John Ruskin In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher. Dalai Lama Instead of thinking about where you are, think about where you want to be. It takes twenty years of hard work to become an overnight success. Diana Rankin It is not the years in your life, but the life in your years that count. Adlai Stevenson It is easy to say what one intends; the difficult thing, sometimes, is to have an intention. John Rostand It is good to dream, but it is better to dream and work. Faith is mighty, but action with faith is mightier. Thomas Robert Gaines It is by acts and not by ideals that people live. Anatole France It may make a difference to all eternity whether we do right or wrong today. James freeman Clarke It is a fine thing to have ability, but the ability to discover ability in others is the true test. Elbert Hubbard It's better to trust too much than to trust too little. Roy Bey It takes less time to do things right than to explain why you did it wrong. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquility and occupation which give happiness. Thomas Jefferson It is more important to know where you are going than to get there quickly. Mabel Newcomber It is not your aptitude, but your attitude, that determines your altitude. Zig Ziglar It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts. Robert H. Schuller It is funny about life: if you refuse to accept anything but the very best you will very often get it. W. Somerset Maugham It is by acts and not by ideals that people live. Anatole France It is surprising what a man can do when he has to, and how little most men will do when they don't have to. Walter Linn It may make a difference to all eternity whether we do right or wrong today. James freeman Clarke It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. It is easy to say what one intends; the difficult thing, sometimes, is to have an intention. John Rostand It's kind of fun to do the impossible. Walt Disney It's the constant and determined effort that breaks down all resistance and sweeps away all obstacles. Claude M. Bristol It's not the load that breaks you down; it's the way you carry it. Lena Horne It's not what happens to you; it's what you do about it that makes the difference. W. Mitchell Joy is not in things, it is in us. Wagner Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. Lao-Tzu Kindred weaknesses induce friendships as often as kindred virtues. Christian Bovee Lack of forgiveness causes almost all of our self-sabotaging behavior. Mark Victor Hansen Language is the dress of thought. Johnson Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction. Anne Frank Leadership is not magnetic personality--that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not "making friends and influencing people"--that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations. Peter Drucker Learn to self-conquest, persevere thus for a time, and you will perceive very clearly the advantage which you gain from it. St. Teresa of Avila Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. Marcel Proust Let everyone sweep in front of his own door and the whole world will be clean. Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood. Ralph Waldo Emerson Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint you can on it. Danny Kaye Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals and charge after them in an unstoppable manner. Les Brown Life is but a thought. Coleridge Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations. George Bernard Shaw Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do, and you've done it. Margaret Thatcher Lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny. Frank Hubbard Love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction. Antoine de Saint-Exupery Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Manners--the final and perfect flower of noble character. William Winter Maturity is achieved when a person postpones immediate pleasures for long term values. Joshua L. Liebman Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened. Winston Churchill Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound. James Allen More important than talent, strength, or knowledge is the ability to laugh at yourself and enjoy the pursuit of your dreams. Amy Grant Most of the things worth doing in the world have been declared impossible before they were done. Louis Dembitz Brandeis Most games are lost, not won. Casey Stengel Most of the things worth doing in the world have been declared impossible before they were done. Louis Dembitz Brandeis Much may be known of a man's character by what excites his laughter. Goethe My goal is simple. It is complete understanding of the universe, why it as it is and why it exists at all. Stephen Hawking Neither great poverty, nor great riches will hear reason. Henry Fielding Never give a man up until he has failed at something he likes. Lewis E. Lawes Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. General George S. Patton Never give a man up until he has failed at something he likes. Lewis E. Lawes Next to knowing when to seize an opportunity, the most important thing in life may be knowing when to forego an advantage. Disraeli No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change. Barbara De Angelis No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings. William Blake No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come. Victor Hugo No one's head aches when he is comforting another. Indian Proverb None will improve your lot if you yourself do not. Bertolt Brecht Not education, but character, is man's greatest need and man's greatest safeguard. Herbert Spencer Nothing is easier than fault-finding; no talent, no self-denial, no brains, no character are required to set up a grumbling business. Robert West Nothing is so strong as gentleness; nothing so gentle as real strength. Francis of Sales Nothing happens unless first a dream. Carl Sandburg Of all earthly music that which reaches farthest into heaven is the beating of a truly loving heart. Henry Ward Beecher Oh, my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you do with what you have left. Hubert Humphrey One pound of learning requires ten pounds of common sense to apply it. Persian Proverb One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine with only interests. John Stuart Mill One of the rarest things that a person ever does is to do the best they can. Somerset Maugham One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man. Elbert Hubbard Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. Thomas Alva Edison Opportunity is often a moving target. Optimism is the one quality more associated with success and happiness than any other. Brian Tracy Originality is simply a pair of fresh eyes. T. W. Higginson Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. Martin Luther King, Jr. Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand. Thomas Carlyle Part of the happiness of life consists not in fighting battles but in avoiding them. A masterly retreat is in itself a victory. Norman Vincent Peale Patience can be bitter, but its fruit is sweet. Rousseau Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success. Napoleon Hill People say walking on water is a miracle, but to me walking peacefully on earth is the real miracle. Thich Nhat Hanh People are eternally divided into two classes, the believer, builder, and praiser, and the unbeliever, destroyer and critic. John Ruskin Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Problems are only opportunities in work clothes. Henry J. Kaiser Progress in every age results only from the fact that there are some men and women who refuse to believe that what they know to be right cannot be done. Russell W. Davenport Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance. Confucius Remember that the faith that removes mountains always carries a pick. Remember, happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have, it depends solely upon what you think. Dale Carnegie Restraint is the golden rule of enjoyment. Letitia Elizabeth Landon Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, "This is the real me," and when you have found that attitude, follow it. William James Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings. Samuel Johnson Self-pity gets you nowhere. One must have the adventurous daring to accept oneself as a bundle of possibilities and undertake the most interesting game in the world -- making the most of one's best. Harry Emerson Fosdick Sentiment is the poetry of imagination. Lamartine Silence is a true friend who never betrays. Confucius Snobbery is the pride of those who are not sure of their position. Berton Braley So great has been the endurance, so incredible the achievement, that, as long as the sun keeps a set course in heaven, it would be foolish to despair of the human race. Ernest L. Woodward Solitude is as needful to the imagination as society is wholesome for the character. James Russell Lowell Some people say they haven't yet found themselves. But the self is not something one finds; it is something one creates. Thomas Szasz Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing. Alfred Einstein Start by doing the necessary, then the possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible. St. Francis of Assisi Success or failure is caused more by mental attitude than by mental capacities. Walter Dill Scott Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become. Jim Rohn Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal. Earl Nightingale Success is the maximum utilization of the ability that you have. Zig Ziglar Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no one is to blame. Erica Jong Talent alone won't make you a success. Neither will being in the right place at the right time, unless you are ready. The most important question is: ''Are your ready?'' Johnny Carson That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet. Emily Dickinson That which we treasure most in life usually requires a deferred gratification pattern to gain. The ultimate test for us of what a truth means is the conduct it dictates or inspires. William James The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart - this you will build your life by, and this you will become. James Lane Allen The first and simplest emotion that we discover in the human mind is curiosity. Edmund Burke The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook. William James The privilege of absurdity; to which no living creature is subject but man alone. Thomas Hobbes The greater the obstacle the more glory in overcoming it. Moliere The only way to have a friend is to be one. Ralph Waldo Emerson The winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators. Edward Gibbon The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet. James Oppenheim The time is always right to do what is right. Martin Luther King, Jr. The doctrine of chance is the bible of the fool. William Gilmore Simms The noblest search is the search for excellence. Lyndon B. Johnson The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. Chinese proverb The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly. Buddha The harder one works the luckier they become. The power of applying attention, steady and undissipated, to a single object, is the sure mark of superior genius. Lord Chesterfield The only limits to the possibilities in your life tomorrow are the buts you use today. Les Brown The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain. - Dolly Parton The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled. Plutarch The cynic is one who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. Oscar Wilde The desire of knowledge, like the thirst for riches, increases ever with the acquisition of it. Laurence Sterne The experience of overcoming fear is extraordinarily delightful. Bertrand Russell The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every person the reflection of their own face. William Makepeace Thackeray The most damaging phrase in the language is: "It's always been done that way." Rear Admiral Grace Hopper The secret of happiness is not so much in doing what one likes, but in liking what one has to do. James M. Barrie The only way to know the future is to invent it yourself. Barbara Roberts The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. Ann Landers The real price of everything, what everything really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it. Adam Smith The end of all knowledge should be in virtuous action. Sir Philip Sidney The truest wisdom, in general, is a resolute determination. Napoleon The family is the miniature commonwealth upon whose integrity the safety of the larger commonwealth depends. Felix Adler The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become. Charles Du Bos The person who trusts people will make fewer mistakes than one who distrusts them. Cavour The mode by which the inevitable comes to pass is effort. Oliver Wendell Holmes The secret of success is making your vocation your vacation. Mark Twain The longest journey of any person is the journey inward. Dag Hammerskjvld The man who trims himself to suit everybody will soon whittle himself away. Charles Schwab The greatest thing in family life is to take hint when a hint is intended--and not to take a hint when a hint isn't intended. Robert Lee Frost The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. William A. Ward The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof. The end of all knowledge should be in virtuous action. Sir Philip Sidney The ultimate value of science is the test the consumer applies. Roy Bey The highest order of human achievement is probably served more by inhibition than excitation. Carl Lauprecht The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will. Vincent T. Lombardi The person who trusts people will make fewer mistakes than one who distrusts them. Cavour The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting goals and achieving them. Even the most tedious chore will become endurable as you parade through each day convinced that every task, no matter how menial or boring, brings you closer to fulfilling your dreams. Og Mandino The only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything. Theodore Roosevelt The self-responsible is the self-empowered. ET The ruin of most dates from some idle moment. George S. Hillard The people and circumstances around me do not MAKE me what I am, they REVEAL who I am. Dr. Laura Schlessinger The highest and most lofty tress have the most reason to dread the thunder. Charles Rollin The man who has no imagination has no wings. Muhammad Ali The most complicated achievements of thought are possible without the assistance of consciousness. Sigmund Freud The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible -- and achieve it, generation after generation. Pearl S. Buck The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good action by stealth, and to have it found out by accident. Charles Lamb The marble not yet carved can hold the form of every thought the greatest artist has. Michelangelo The shy man will not learn; the impatient man should not teach. Hillel There are two worlds: the world that we can measure with line and rule, and the world that we feel with our hearts and imagination. Leigh Hunt There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested people. Gilbert K. Chesterton There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. Albert Einstein. There is nobody so irritating as somebody with less intelligence and more common sense than we have. Don Herold There is no genius in life like the genius of energy and activity. Donald Grant Mitchell There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there. Indira Ghandi There are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live. John Adams There is no such thing as chance or accident, the words merely signify our ignorance of some real and immediate cause. Adam Clarke There is real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment. Norman Vincent Peale There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them. Dr. Denis Waitley There's no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love. There is only a scarcity of resolve to make it happen. Wayne Dyer They always talk who never think. Matthew Prior Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle. Abraham Lincoln Think ever that you are born to perform great duties. Benjamin Disraeli Those who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed. Lloyd Jones Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves. Sir James M. Barrie Those who jump to conclusions often land in ignorance. Thoughtfulness for others, generosity, modesty and self-respect are the qualities which make a real gentleman or lady. Thomas H. Huxley Time is the wisest counselor. Pericles Time spent laughing is time spent with the gods. Japanese Proverb To be capable of steady friendship or lasting love, are the two greatest proofs, not only of goodness of heart, but of strength of mind. William Hazlitt To endure is the first thing that a child ought to learn, and that which he will have most need to know. Rousseau To succeed... you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you. Tony Dorsett To cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business life. Samuel Johnson To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage. Lao-Tzu To live in the presence of great truths and eternal laws, to be led by permanent ideals - that is what keeps a man patient when the world ignores him, and calm and unspoiled when the world praises him. Honore De Balzac To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to. Kahlil Gibran Today is yesterday's pupil. Franklin Too much of a good thing is just right. Mae West. Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain Unconditional love is the absence of expectation. (From Simple Things & Simple Thoughts) Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best. Henry Van Dyke Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare. Japanese Proverb Vision is the art of seeing the invisible. Jonathan Swift We have committed the Golden Rule to memory; let us now commit it to life. Edwin Markham We enjoy thoroughly only the pleasure we give. Alexander Dumas We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about. Charles Kingsley We are more than what we do... We must overcome the notion that we must be regular . . . It robs you of the chance to be extraordinary and leads you to the mediocre. Uta Hagen We have forty million reasons for failure, but not a single good excuse. Rudyard Kipling We can chart our future clearly and wisely only when we know the path which has led to the present. Adlai E. Stevenson We cannot advance without new experiments in living, but no wise person tries every day what they have proven wrong the day before. James Adams We give advice by the bucket, but take it by the grain. William R. Alger Were there no hearers, there would be no backbiters. Horace What this power is, I cannot say. All I know is that it exists...and it becomes available only when you are in that state of mind in which you know EXACTLY what you want...and are fully determined not to quit until you get it. Alexander Graham Bell What we see depends mainly on what we look for. John Lubbock What you possess in the world will be found at the day of your death to belong to someone else. But what you are will be yours forever. What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight-it's the size of the fight in the dog. Dwight D. Eisenhower What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it. Hugh Mulligan When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this - you haven't. Thomas Edison When we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning, by dreams that need completion, by pure love that needs expressing, then we truly live life. Greg Anderson When I feel like finding fault I always begin with myself and then I never get any further. When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So, what the hell, leap. Cynthia Heimel When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, you think it's only a minute. But when you sit on a hot stove for a minute, you think it's two hours. That's relativity. Albert Einstein When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us. Alexander Graham Bell When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge. Albert Einstein When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself. Wayne Dyer When love and skill work together expect a masterpiece. John Ruskin When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal. Napoleon Hill When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. Franklin D. Roosevelt Where all think alike, no one thinks very much. Walter Lippmann Why is there never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over? Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it. David Starr Jordan Without humility there can be no humanity. Sir John Buchan Wonder is involuntary praise. Young Work as though you would live forever, and live as though you would die today. Og Mandino Would you like me to give you a formula for... success? It's quite simply, really. Double your rate of failure... You're thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn't at all... You can be discouraged by failure -- or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember that's where you'll find success. On the far side of failure. Thomas J. Watson Yearn to understand first and to be understood second. Beca Allen Yesterday's the past and tomorrow's the future. Today is a gift-- which is why they call it the present. Bill Keane You don't get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour. Jim Rohn You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. Dale Carnegie You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor. James Allen You can never have a greater or a less dominion than that over yourself. Leonardo da Vinci You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge one for yourself. James Froude You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself. Galileo You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge one for yourself. James Froude You must look into people, as well as at them. Lord Chesterfield You can have anything you want - if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose. Abraham Lincoln You are richer today if you have laughed, given or forgiven. You can learn new things at any time in your life if you're willing to be a beginner. If you actually learn to like being a beginner, the whole world opens up to you. Barbara Sher You might well remember that nothing can bring you success but yourself. Napoleon Hill You see things; and you say "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say "Why not?" George Bernard Shaw You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. Eleanor Roosevelt You must do the thing you think you cannot do. Eleanor Roosevelt You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it. Charles Buxton You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. Ralph Waldo Emerson Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. Carl Jung "Many of our cares," say Scott, "are but a morbid way of looking at our privileges." We let our blessings get moldy, and then call them curses. Henry Ward Beecher 'Tis the mind that makes the body rich. Shakespeare If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. Henry David Thoreau I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference Robert Frost When the waves are round me breaking, As I pace the deck alone, And my eye in vain is seeking Some green leaf to rest upon; What would not I give to wander Where my old companions dwell? Absence makes the heart grow fonder, Isle of Beauty, fare thee well! John Milton Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now, Thus much let me avow-- You are not wrong who deem That my days have been a dream; Yet if hope has flown away In a night, or in a day, In a vision, or in none, Is it therefore the less gone? All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream. Edgar Allan Poe All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. William Shakespeare I hold it true, what'er befall; I feel it, when I sorrow most; 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. Alfred Lord Tennyson The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! William Wordsworth