Courage Quotes
920 quotes
Courage
Quotes about bravery, facing fears, and taking bold action
920 Quotes
One is not born a warrior, one is made a warrior
— Tales of Power (1974)
What is to give light must endure burning
— Man's Search for Meaning
To live without hope is to cease to live
— The Possessed (Demons), Part II, Chapter I
The great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude
— Essay: Self-Reliance
To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself
— The Concept of Dread (1844)
You must do what you cannot, not for victory over others, but for mastery over yourself
— Markings (1963)
He who jumps into the void owes no explanation to those who stand and watch
— Interview in Cahiers du Cinema, 1962
A wish for healing is half of health
— Letters to Lucilius
To venture causes anxiety, but not to venture is to lose one's self
— The Concept of Anxiety
A knight is sworn to valor, his heart knows only virtue, his blade defends the helpless
— Film: Dragonheart (1996)
When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon
— The Rights of Man (1791)
Ring the bells that still can ring; forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in
— Song: Anthem, 1992
There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart
— Emma (novel)
It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude
— Essay: Self-Reliance, 1841
Every action is a choice between faith and fear
— Speech at the Women’s Democratic Committee, 1936
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain
— The Prophet, 'On Joy and Sorrow' (1923)
To live alone one must be a beast or a god, says Aristotle. Leaving out the third case: one must be both—a philosopher
— Twilight of the Idols, Maxims and Arrows, 3
From the place where we are right flowers will never grow in the spring
— Poem: The Place Where We Are Right
A straight line is not the shortest distance between two points; it can be the most courageous
— The Stream of Life (Água Viva)
The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself
— Essais, Book I, Chapter XXXIX
Faced with what is right, to leave it undone shows a lack of resolution
— The Analects, Book II
Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body
— Letters to Lucilius, Letter 78
Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism
— Memories, Dreams, Reflections, 1961
Our greatest battles are that with our own minds; a fortress must first be taken from within
— Paradise Regained, Book IV
To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation
— Life of Pi
Mountains are experienced more by the mind than the feet
— The Living Mountain
He who has conquered his own coward spirit has conquered the whole outward world
— Tom Brown at Oxford (1861)
The mountain waits for no one’s permission to rise; it simply grows where it must
— Markings (book)
Night after night, my body’s lantern walks ahead of me into fear
— Poem: Echoes, Collected Poems of Audre Lorde
A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life
— Man’s Search for Meaning (1946)
Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor
— Book: 'Reflections on Life' (1952)
There is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for
— The Two Towers, spoken by Samwise Gamgee
The wound is the place where the Light enters you
— Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi
I never worry about action, but only about inaction
— Speech at the House of Commons, November 1940
I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it
— Long Walk to Freedom (1994)
If you’re always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be
— Quoted in various interviews and speeches
Let your hook always be cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be fish
— Ars Amatoria, Book II
If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it
— Song of Solomon (1977)
We become what we behold. We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us.
— Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (1964)
It is not down in any map; true places never are
— Moby-Dick, Chapter 12
The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others
— /
If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea
— Citadelle (posthumously published as The Wisdom of the Sands)
All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream
— A Dream Within a Dream
You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free
— Gospel of John 8:32
Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'
— Man’s Search for Meaning (1946)
There is no passion so contagious as that of fear
— Essays, Book III, Chapter XI
Even a blade of grass has its own weapons, its own resistance against the vast wind
— Stray Birds
And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise
— The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, 1956
The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places
— A Farewell to Arms, Chapter 34
The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing
— Statement, recorded in "Old Man's Advice to Youth: Never Lose a Holy Curiosity" (LIFE Magazine, 1955)
He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how
— Twilight of the Idols (1889)
Step out of the sunlight, go into the shade and find what has been waiting there all along
— Poem: To the New Year (from 'Migration: New & Selected Poems', 2005)
I am not an adventurer by choice but by fate
— Letter to Theo van Gogh, July 1888
He who climbs upon the highest mountains laughs at all tragedies, real or imaginary
— Thus Spoke Zarathustra
I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am
— The Bell Jar (1963)
Act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole world
— Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
In a room where people unanimously maintain a conspiracy of silence, one word of truth sounds like a pistol shot
— The Captive Mind (1953)
When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves
— Man's Search for Meaning
The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men
— Reported in Diogenes Laërtius, 'Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'
It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult
— Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, Letter 104
The one who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones
— Analects (Frequently attributed)
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet
— Letter to Anna Strunsky, 1903
You only grow by coming to the end of something and by beginning something else
— The World According to Garp
You must live in rebellion, not as a protest, but as an affirmation that the path is yours to claim at every step
— Near to the Wild Heart (1943)
Be harsh with yourself at times; be lenient with others always
— 'Philosophy as a Way of Life'
The finest steel has to go through the hottest fire
— Speech, 1969
The soul grows not because it is protected, but because it dares the unknown roads within
— Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words (2015)
The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose
— The Fire Next Time
The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are
— Collected Works, Vol. 17: The Development of Personality
Night is the other half of life, and the better half
— Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, Book VIII
Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence
— Notebooks
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better
— Worstward Ho (1983)
The greatest test of valor on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart
— Speech: What I Know About Farming, 1891
The only thing standing between you and your goal is the story you keep telling yourself as to why you can't achieve it
— Motivational seminars and speaking events
A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains
— / Traditional Dutch proverb, context unknown
The pine stays green in winter, wisdom in hardship
— South Wind, aphorisms section
A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything
— Speech in New York City, Nov. 1963
To write is to make oneself the center of the world; if only temporarily, and for as long as the story lasts
— Keeping a Rendezvous
To see what is right and not do it is want of courage
— Analects, Book II
The bird who dares to fall is the one who learns to fly
— /
A man who suffers before it is necessary, suffers more than is necessary
— Letters from a Stoic, Letter XIII
If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man
— Attributed; found in various lectures and letters
What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do
— The 4-Hour Workweek
There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune
— Julius Caesar, Act IV, Scene III
You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore
— Address at University of Mississippi, 1950 commencement
It is better to err on the side of daring than the side of caution
— The Practice and Theory of Individual Psychology (1927)
There is a wide world out there, full of dreams and adventures. You just need to take the first step
— Speech at St Andrews University, 1922
I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship
— Little Women, Part Two: Chapter 44
If I cannot bend the heavens, I will raise hell
— Aeneid, Book VII
Throw your heart into the unknown and you will find it in the light
— Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing (1993)
The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven
— Paradise Lost, Book I
Every noble work is at first impossible
— On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History, Lecture I
The longest journey is the journey inward
— Markings (1963)
Only those who have risked the fight with the abyss have found the treasures of life
— Letters to a Young Poet
A great part of courage is the courage of having done the thing before
— Essay: Intellect
To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken
— The Four Loves (1960)
Trust yourself: every heart vibrates to that iron string
— Essay: Self-Reliance
To walk through the night with a lantern is to know both darkness and the shape of your own flame.
— Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom (1997)
The journey is essential to the dream
— Attributed, early writings
The eagle never lost so much time as when he submitted to learn of the crow
— Proverbs of Hell, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
Become who you are by learning who you are
— Pythian Odes II, 72
We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to accept the life that is waiting for us
— A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living
He that would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying
— Work: Thus Spoke Zarathustra
The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long
— Tao Te Ching, Chapter 44 (approximate translation)
The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones
— Attributed proverb
From caring comes courage
— Tao Te Ching, Chapter 67
You must do the thing you think you cannot do
— Book: You Learn by Living (1960)
The best lightning rod for your protection is your own spine
— Essay: Self-Reliance
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person
— Speech on humanitarian leadership, 1985
Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you
— Attributed, various collections
There is no armor against fate; every man must accept his own fallibility as the price of walking upright
— Consider the Lobster and Other Essays (2005)
The obstacle is the path
— Common Zen teaching; often referenced in Zen Buddhist texts
He who is brave is free
— On Anger, Book III
A man may imagine things that are false, but he can only understand things that are true
— Letter to Reverend Dr. Richard Bentley (1692)
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything
— Letter to Theo van Gogh, July 1882
Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless when facing them
— Gitanjali (Poetry Collection), Poem 36
Between the desire and the spasm, between the potency and the existence, between the essence and the descent, falls the Shadow
— The Hollow Men
The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears
— Poem from Out of the Silence, 1886
Man is not made for defeat
— The Old Man and the Sea (Novel)
There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over the Edge of the Wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go
— The Hobbit, Chapter 7
When deeds speak, words are nothing
— General writings (aphorism)
One can acquire everything in solitude except character
— De l'amour (1822)
Strong reasons make strong actions
— King John, Act III, Scene IV
He who has overcome his fears will truly be free
— Philosophical writings, possibly Nicomachean Ethics
Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale
— Diary entry, October 1837
A man is ethical only when life, as such, is sacred to him, that of plants and animals as that of his fellow men, and when he devotes himself helpfully to all life that is in need of help
— The Philosophy of Civilization, 1923
A man who wills commands his will
— Beyond Good and Evil, Aphorism 19
A wild patience has taken me this far
— Poem: Integrity
Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark... Do not let the hero in your soul perish
— Atlas Shrugged (book)
Courage is found in unlikely places
— The Fellowship of the Ring
Fear is a question. What are you afraid of, and why? Just as the seed of health is in illness, because illness contains information, your fears are a treasure house of self-knowledge if you explore them
— The Aquarian Conspiracy (1980)
He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words
— Ascribed in The Note Book of Elbert Hubbard
You gain strength, bravery and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face
— You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life, 1960
The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must destroy a world
— Demian (1919)
He who fears he shall suffer, already suffers what he fears
— Essays, Book III, Chapter 13
You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore
— Quoted in Life magazine, January 1958
There lives more faith in honest doubt than in half the creeds
— In Memoriam A.H.H., Canto XCVI
The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any
— Interview with Alice Walker, Essence Magazine (1982)
The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook
— The Principles of Psychology (1890)
The wound is the place where the Light enters you
— The Essential Rumi (translation by Coleman Barks)
The path is made by walking
— Poem: Proverbios y Cantares XXIX, Campos de Castilla
No man ever became great except through many and great mistakes
— .
The only method of arriving at the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible
— Profiles of the Future (1962)
One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again
— Toward a Psychology of Being (1962)
If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid
— Enchiridion, Section 13
The privilege of absurdity; to which no living creature is subject, but man only
— Leviathan, Chapter 4
I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart
— A letter to his brother Theo, July 1882
I prefer liberty with danger to peace with slavery
— The Social Contract, Book V
He who has overcome his fears will truly be free
— Nicomachean Ethics
The soul that dares, even against its own trembling, discovers the breadth of its horizon
— Markings (1963)
The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be
A line is a dot that went for a walk
— Creative Credo (1920)
To believe in one’s path is to walk forward even as the mist hides the mountain’s peak
— Sand and Foam
You do not find the happy life. You make it
— .
Between the hammer and the anvil, the heart forges its reasons to go on
— Gravity and Grace
A fall from the third floor hurts as much as a fall from the hundredth; if I have to fall, may it be from a high place
— The Zahir (2005)
Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt
— Measure for Measure, Act I, Scene IV
You must learn to forgive yourself a great deal if you are going to dare much
— A Poetry Handbook (1994)
He who confronts the paradoxical exposes himself to reality
— Speech upon Receiving the Schiller Prize, 1959
To live is to be warlike and to be brave, to live is to be bold, to live is to be strong and to live is to take risks
— The Gay Science, Book Four
You grow with the wildness you dare to welcome, not the safety you guard
— Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
Heaven is not for the slothful nor is it for the impetuous; it is for those who bear existence in their arms as a creative task
— Creative Fidelity (1940)
No man ever became great except through many and great mistakes
— Quoted in The Gladstone Diaries
You must do life with the courage of a lion and the patience of a stone
— Women Who Run With the Wolves
It is the power of the mind to be unconquerable
— Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 78
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage
— The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 3, 1939-1944
It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves—in finding themselves
— The Counterfeiters (Les Faux-monnayeurs), 1925
If the lantern is to meet the dawn, it must carry its own small fire through the darkness
— Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words (book)
I beg you, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves
— Letters to a Young Poet (1903)
The limits of my language mean the limits of my world
— Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, 5.6
A man can be destroyed but not defeated
— The Old Man and the Sea (1952)
There are times when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls
— .
You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore
— Often attributed, appears in various Gide compendiums
We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another
— Thus Spake Bellavista
To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle
— Essay: In Front of Your Nose, 1946
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes
— In Search of Lost Time, Vol. 5: The Prisoner
Be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it
— Meditations, Book IV
The walls we build around us to keep out the sadness also keep out the joy
— Seminar speech, 1981
To live without hope is to cease to live
— Notes from Underground
To live is to be warlike and to be brave, to live is to be bold, to live is to be strong and to live is to take risks
— The Gay Science (Die fröhliche Wissenschaft), Book IV
To think is to act
— The American Scholar (1837 address)
To dare is to lose one’s foothold momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself
— The Concept of Dread (1844)
The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion
— The Rebel
The eye should learn to listen before it looks
— Notes on the Cinematographer
A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for
— Salt from My Attic (1928)
There are victories of the soul and spirit. Sometimes, even if you lose, you win
— Night
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence
— Desiderata
The bird dares the wind and finds its wings by flying
— Book: To Be Two, 1997
The moment a person forms a theory, his imagination sees in every object only the traits which favor that theory
— Letter to Charles Thomson, 1787
Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but about learning to dance in the rain
The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion
— The Rebel, 1951
Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking
— Often attributed, appears in Letters and Essays
There are times when the lion walks alone, not for lack of company, but because his spirit cannot abide the cage
— Collected Works
The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear
— Freedom from Fear (speech)
One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star
— Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Part One
Bravery is being the only one who knows you’re afraid
— .
Do not despise your own place and hour. Every place is under the stars, every place is the center of the world
— Studies in Nature and Literature
If you listen carefully, the silence is full of answers
— Letters to a Young Poet (Letter Six)
Nothing great has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance
— The Man Nobody Knows (1925)
Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid
— Book: Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC's of Faith (2004)
The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become
— Approximations (1922)
The universe is not hostile, nor yet is it friendly. It is simply indifferent
— The Sensible Man’s View of Religion (1941)
Fear is a hammer and every heart its anvil—the thing is to keep on ringing true
— Markings (journal, published posthumously, 1963)
I am a forest, and a night of dark trees: but he who is not afraid of my darkness, will find banks full of roses under my cypresses
— Thus Spoke Zarathustra
The strongest souls are those who win battles we know nothing about
— Excerpts from his sermons and writings
The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way
— Meditations, Book V
The sky is not less blue because the blind man does not see it
— Essays, aphorisms (specific work unknown)
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration
— Dune (1965)
No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings
— The Proverbs of Hell, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790–1793)
There is no man so cowardly whom love will not make brave and transform into a hero
— Symposium
Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go
— Address at Harvard, 1950
There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth
— War and Peace
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear
— Book: Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894), frequently attributed
The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read
— Attributed; various essays and speeches, 19th century
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer
— Return to Tipasa, Lyrical and Critical Essays
He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious
— The Art of War, Chapter IV – Tactical Dispositions
The best armor is to keep out of range
— Poor Richard's Almanack
To think is easy. To act is difficult. To act as one thinks is the most difficult
— Maxims and Reflections
The path is not straight, and mistakes are portals of discovery
— A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Novel)
My mother said to me, 'If you become a soldier, you'll be a general; if you become a monk you'll end up as the pope.' Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso
— Remark recounted in interviews and biographies
Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness
— Modern Man in Search of a Soul (1933)
And yet, after all, we are the architects of our own fortunes
— Quoted in Cicero's Pro Caelio
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself
— First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933
In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play
— Thus Spoke Zarathustra
The mountains are calling and I must go
— Letter to Sarah Muir Galloway, September 3, 1873
The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it
— The Abbot (Novel)
I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees
— Attributed slogan, speeches during Mexican Revolution (c. 1913)
The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled
— Moralia
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final
— Letters to a Young Poet, Letter Eight
The meaning of my existence is that life has addressed a question to me. Or, conversely, I myself am a question which is addressed to the world, and I must communicate my answer, for otherwise I am dependent upon the world's answer
— Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1963)
He who has overcome his fears will truly be free
— Nicomachean Ethics
The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within
— Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 28
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage
— The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 3 (1939–1944)
The highest courage is to dare to appear to be what one is
— Thoughts and Theories of Life and Education (1901)
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act
— attributed/essays
Do not be satisfied with the stories that come before you. Unfold your own myth
— The Essential Rumi (translated by Coleman Barks)
In the middle of the journey of our life I found myself within a dark woods where the straight way was lost
— Inferno, Canto I
You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it
— Interview, Parade Magazine, 1987
The line between good and evil runs not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart
— The Gulag Archipelago (1973)
Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt
— Play: Measure for Measure, Act 1, Scene 4
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go
— The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism (1933)
He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life
— Interview, 1977 (various attributions)
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer
— Return to Tipasa (1952 essay)
The songbird does not rehearse the wind, it simply opens its throat at dawn
— Poem: Windsong
The most exhausting thing in life is being insincere
— Gift from the Sea
And so our virtues lie in the interpretation of the time; nothing comes from doing nothing
— 'The Family Reunion', Act I, Scene II (1939)
The poet’s choice is to sail on, trusting the compass of the heart in unmapped waters
— Interview, The Paris Review No. 75
The great epochs in our life are at the points when we gain the courage to re-baptize our evil qualities as our best qualities
— Beyond Good and Evil, Aphorism 116
The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it
— The Prince (attribution disputed), Letter to Francesco Vettori, 1513
Live out your life in truth and justice, tolerant of those who are neither true nor just
— Meditations, Book VI
There is nothing in the world so much admired as a man who knows how to bear unhappiness with courage
— Letters to Lucilius, Letter LXXVIII
There is a solitude of space, a solitude of sea, a solitude of death; but these society shall be, compared with that profounder site, that polar privacy, a soul admitted to itself
— Poem: 'There is a solitude of space'
It is in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners
— Othello, Act I, Scene III
The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion
— The Myth of Sisyphus, 1942
Become who you are by learning who you are
— Pythian Odes
Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks
— Histories, Book I
Run to the edge of the cliff and stop. Breathe in the wild air. Listen. Then leap
— Collected Poems (posthumous)
A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom
— Interview, Rolling Stone Magazine, 1978
The universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine
— Possible Worlds and Other Essays (1927)
The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet go out to meet it
— The Peloponnesian War, Book II
The wound is where the world enters us
— Poem from 'Black Series'
There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth
— War and Peace
Out of the mountains of despair, a stone of hope is quarried
— I Have a Dream speech, 1963
Life begins on the other side of despair
— No Exit (Huis Clos)
If I am not good to myself, how can I expect anyone else to be good to me
— Book: 'Letter to My Daughter' (2008)
The only limits for tomorrow are the doubts we have today
— I Am Number Four
If you want to be bold, step back and listen to your fear as if it were a small bird in your hand
— Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words (2015)
He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious
— The Art of War, Chapter 3
He who is not a good servant will not be a good master
— Dialogues (notably in 'Alcibiades')
What we call our despair is often only the painful eagerness of unfed hope
— Book: 'Middlemarch' (1871)
The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness
— John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir
To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken
— The Four Loves, Chapter 6
There are seasons in every man's life when he must be a hero to himself
— Journal entry, 1839
To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle
— Essay: In Front of Your Nose (1946)
A soldier's greatest weapon is not his rifle but his unshakable resolve
— Letters to his friends, compiled posthumously
The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials
— Analects (exact passage debated, attributed through tradition)
The edge of every abyss is clothed in possibility, and only those who approach discover that the abyss stares back as a mirror
— The Concept of Anxiety, 1844
Who never walks save where he sees men's tracks makes no discoveries
— From 'Lessons in Life' (1858)
The shadow is not erased by the lamp; it is made more visible, so that in seeing it, we may stop fearing what we do not understand
— Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1962)
Fortune favors the bold
— Aeneid, Book X
The heart, like the sea, is a restless wanderer; storms may test it, but it gathers the salt of its integrity from every wave endured
— Book: Sand and Foam
Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad
— Hyperion: A Romance
Do not go gentle into that good night, but rage, rage against the dying of the light
— Poem: Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night
You must do life with a braver hand – so that your blood can endure the heights
— Letters to a Young Poet
Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive
— The Varieties of Religious Experience, Lecture XX
Live as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts
— De Officiis (On Duties), Book I
I want to be improbable and beautiful and afraid of nothing as though I had wings
— Owls and Other Fantasies: Poems and Essays (2003)
All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible
— Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Book I
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall
— Analects
Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page
— /The Life of Beecher/
No man can be wise on an empty stomach
— Felix Holt, the Radical (1866)
The ship does not ask for the absence of storms, but only for the strength to sail onward.
— Stray Birds (1916)
The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It’s the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun
— The Law of Success (1928)
A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions
— Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, 1858
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter
— Speech, March 8, 1965, Selma, Alabama
The strongest man is he who stands most alone
— An Enemy of the People (Act V, 1882)
He stood at the edge of the abyss and let the wind rearrange his certainties
— Source uncertain, attributed in interviews and essays (not found in Night)
One resolute heart is a majority
— Preface to The Oregon Trail
The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure very much
— On the Love of Life (1821)
True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice
— Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story (1958)
Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance
— The Man Nobody Knows (1925)
The fox condemns the trap, not himself
— The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Proverbs of Hell
The wind does not break a tree that bends
— African Proverb
A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer
— Emerson's Essays: First Series (1841)
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s willingness to risk
— The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 3: 1939-1944 (1969)
No evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death
— Plato's Apology
The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek
— Reflections on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion
The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury
— Meditations, Book VI
We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope
— Speech, 1962
The strongest souls have emerged from the toughest battles
— Sand and Foam (1926)
Let each man obey the voice of his own soul; this and only this is the path to freedom
— Self-Reliance (1841)
Sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think, I’m not going to make it, but you laugh inside — remembering all the times you’ve felt that way
— The Last Night of the Earth Poems
Genius is the recovery of childhood at will
— Letter to Georges Izambard, 13 May 1871
In the presence of eternity, the mountains are as transient as the clouds
— 'Gods' essay, 1876
He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life
— From the essay 'Success' (published 1890)
Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall
— Interview with Ray Bradbury, Paris Review, 2010
He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat
— Attributed / Collected Sayings
The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom is bravery
— History of the Peloponnesian War, Book 2
The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity
— On Providence
To dare is to lose one's balance momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself
— The Concept of Dread (1844)
There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers; we must have the courage to do what we know is morally right
— Address to the Nation on National Security, March 23, 1983
If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it—then I can achieve it
— Speech at a press conference, 1974
Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage
— How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
A wild, untamed spirit finds its way through thorn and bramble, leaping suns and scaling nights the world has yet to name
— Near to the Wild Heart (book)
The best way out is always through
— Collected Poems, 1939, A Servant to Servants
A tiger does not proclaim his tigritude; he pounces
— Quoted in various lectures and essays, 1960s-70s
Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men
— Speech at Holy Cross, 1956
If your nerve deny you, go above your nerve
— Letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, June 1869
The privilege of absurdity; to which no living creature is subject, but man only
— Leviathan (1651), Part I, Chapter V
The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs
— As a Man Thinketh, Chapter 2
If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced
— Letter to Theo van Gogh, c. 1884
It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit
— The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King
Live in the world as if only God and your soul were in it; then your heart will never be pawnbroker to fear
— Fors Clavigera, Letter X (1871)
A true warrior is not invincible, and for that reason he is truly brave
— Manual of the Warrior of Light
The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them
— Letter to Dorothy Connable, 1945
Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage
— Letters to a Young Poet, Letter Eight
A mind that questions everything, unless strong enough to bear the weight of its ignorance, risks being crushed by its doubts
— Propos sur le bonheur (1928)
Begin anywhere
— Lecture on Nothing (1949)
To create is to resist; to resist is to create
— Indignez-vous! (Time for Outrage!)
He who fears death will never do anything worthy of a living man
— Letters to Lucilius
Genius, that power which dazzles mortal eyes, is oft but perseverance in disguise
— Select Essays (collected works)
There is in every true woman’s heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity
— The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.
Throw your heart over the fence and the rest will follow
— Speech (attributed)
A ship’s hull is tested in storms, not in calm waters
— Sententiae (Collection of maxims), maxim 233
Better to fight and fall than to live without hope
— The Volsunga Saga, Chapter 12
Freedom is the power to choose our own chains
— The Social Contract
The bird is powered by its own life and by its motivation
— Wings of Fire
What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality
— Moral Essays, On Fortune
He who would be serene and pure needs but one thing, detachment
— Sermons and Treatises
Men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire
— The Da Vinci Code (novel)
The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken
— The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell
A mind that questions everything, unless strong enough to bear the weight of its ignorance, risks being crushed by its doubts
— Propos sur le Bonheur (1925)
Fire tests gold; adversity tests the strong man
— Essay: 'On Providence'
Whoever despises himself still respects himself as one who despises
— Beyond Good and Evil, Aphorism 78
He who has never hoped can never despair
— Caesar and Cleopatra, Act IV
The secret to happiness is freedom... And the secret to freedom is courage
— History of the Peloponnesian War, Book II
No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man
— . Fragment 41 (DK B91)
It is the power of the mind to be unconquerable
— Letters to Lucilius, Letter 37
A ship is no braver than its captain, and the sea no deeper than his resolve
— Letter to Charles Eliot Norton (1865)
Never was anything great achieved without danger
— Discourses on Livy
You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you
— A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (book)
Throw yourself into the unknown with nothing but a fierce heart keeping you afloat
— Women Who Run With the Wolves (1992)
You must do the thing you think you cannot do
— You Learn By Living (1960)
Any life, however long and complicated it may be, actually consists of a single moment—the moment when a man knows forever more who he is
— Biografía de Tadeo Isidoro Cruz, El Aleph (1949)
You must give birth to your images. They are the future waiting to be born
— Letters to a Young Poet (1903-1908)
You must do the things you think you cannot do
— You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life (1960)
You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore
— Itinéraire de Paris à Jérusalem (commonly misattributed, but appears in works by Gide)
The one thing necessary in life, as in art, is to dare
— A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
It is not our abilities that show what we truly are, it is our choices
— Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 18
You do not find the happy life. You make it
— General Conference address, April 1978
Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm
— Alleged remark; attributed speeches and letters
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life
— The Summer Day, New and Selected Poems (1992)
Every man has his own courage, and is betrayed because he seeks in himself the courage of other persons
— Essay: Heroism
We love life, not because we are used to living but because we are used to loving
— The Gay Science
It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question
— 'Découvertes', 1969
We are more often in awe of what we endure than of what we enjoy
— The Neurotic's Notebook (1963)
Step out of the sunlight, go into the shade and find what has been waiting there all along
— The Light That Lost Its Shadow (poem)
He stood at the edge of the abyss and let the wind rearrange his certainties
— Flight journal entry, collected writings
The fierce heat of adversity has a way of making the heart incandescent, as gold emerges purer from fire
— Novel, 'The Kentucky Cardinal'
There are times when the greatest change needed is a change of my viewpoint
— Pensées philosophiques (1746)
When you realize nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to you
— Tao Te Ching, Chapter 44
Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear rather than respect based on love
— Letter to Sigmund Freud, 1932
What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality
— On Tranquillity of Mind
He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat
— Attributed, military maxims
Throw yourself into the unknown with nothing but a fierce heart keeping you afloat
— Near to the Wild Heart (1943)
To create one’s world in any of the arts takes courage
— Letter to William Einstein, 1939
A man must consider what a rich realm he abdicates when he becomes a conformist
— Essay: Self-Reliance, 1841
The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones
— Analects (paraphrased, concept widely ascribed)
There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times
— Letter to Cardinal de Bernis (1762)
Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree
— Attributed to Luther, widely quoted (though source debated)
Nothing is ever achieved without enthusiasm
— Essays: First Series (1841)
If you are going through hell, keep going
— Speech at the London Guildhall, 1948
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes
— In Search of Lost Time, Volume V
The only real progress lies in learning to be wrong all alone
— Notebooks 1935-1942
He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying
— Thus Spoke Zarathustra
He who postpones the hour of living is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses
— Epistles, Book I, Epistle II
If not now, when?
— Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot), 1:14
A man who has no imagination has no wings
— .
To live without hope is to cease to live
— The Possessed (Demons), Part 2, Chapter 1
Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others
— Virginibus Puerisque, 1881
If you want to find out who you are, then act. Action will delineate and define you
— Letter to his daughter, 1787
The wolf on the hill is not as hungry as the wolf climbing the hill
— Speech at Arnold Classic, 2012
The wind does not break a tree that bends
— Japanese Proverb
Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet
— Peace Is Every Step
Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself
— Culture and Value, 1931
The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it
— Marmion (1808)
If I am not for myself, who will be for me? Yet if I am for myself only, what am I?
— Pirkei Avot 1:14
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself
— First Inaugural Address, 1933
To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself
— Fear and Trembling
There is nothing in the world more difficult than candor, and nothing easier than flattery
— The House of the Dead
The one way to get the best out of an argument is to avoid it
— How to Win Friends and Influence People, Chapter 1
And in the end, the treasure of life is missed by those who hold on and gained by those who let go
— Tao Te Ching (approximate rendering, theme)
We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world
— Quoted in John Albert Macy's "The Story of My Life"
Throw yourself like seed as you walk, and into your own field, do not turn your face for that would be to turn it to death, and do not let the past weigh down your motion
— The Tragic Sense of Life, Chapter 10
The moment a person forms a theory, his imagination sees in every object only the traits which favor that theory
— Letter to Charles Thomson, January 9, 1816
You must live in your own blaze. Part of the flame is burning your own life, part is throwing light into the lives of others.
— Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words (2015)
A man can do all things if he will
— De re aedificatoria
Nothing can harm a good man either in life or after death
— Plato, Apology
The wound is the place where the light enters you
— Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi
He conquers who endures
— Attributed by Roman poet Persius, Satires II, line 7
Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life, the evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray
— Poem: The Prisoner of Chillon, 1816
I am a forest, and a night of dark trees: but he who is not afraid of my darkness, will find banks full of roses under my cypresses
— Thus Spoke Zarathustra
We stumble and fall, yet rise again; it is not the falling that defines us, but the rising
— Speech at Fisk University, 1938
There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique
— Interview, circa 1952
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance
— Song: I Hope You Dance
You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore
— Attributed in interviews and speeches; published in various collections
To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering
— Quoted in various works; core Nietzschean theme
The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it
— Meditations, Book IV
A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears
— Essais, Book III, Chapter XIII
Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters
— Letter to Jost Winteler, 1900
At times the whole world seems to be in conspiracy to importune you with emphatic trifles. Courage is required to stand firm against her blandishments
— Self-Reliance
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final
— Letters to a Young Poet, Letter Eight
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment
— Essays: First Series, Self-Reliance (1841)
If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s
— A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living (1991)
I am not made like any of those I have seen. I venture to believe that I am not made like any of those who are in existence. If I am not better, at least I am different
— Confessions, Book One
What we call our destiny is truly our character, and that character can be altered
— The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931–1934
Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase
— Speech in 1962, cited in Strength to Love
The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today
— On the Shortness of Life, Chapter 7
To dare is to lose one's balance momentarily
— The Concept of Dread
The best revenge is massive success
I am prepared to go anywhere, provided it be forward
— Attributed, reported in 'The Life and Explorations of David Livingstone' by John S. Roberts
To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, to draw closer, to find each other and to feel. That is the purpose of life
— The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (short story, 1939)
If you're going through hell, keep going
— Attributed, origin disputed
He who puts out his hand to stop the wheel of history will have his fingers crushed
— Interview, 1980s
The future enters into us, in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens
— Letters to a Young Poet (Letter Eight)
Real nobility is based on scorn, courage, and profound indifference
— Notebooks 1942-1951
Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance
— Book: The Man Nobody Knows (1925)
Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward
— .
Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom
— Man's Search for Meaning (1946)
In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer
— Return to Tipasa
A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the time, and a courageous person afterward
— Titan, 1800
In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place
— Young India, 1920
You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one
— Short Studies on Great Subjects
There are seasons in every man's life when he must be a hero to himself
— Walden, Chapter: Economy
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man
— Poor Richard's Almanack, 1755
Beaten paths are for beaten men
— Reflections on the Human Condition (1973)
The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing
— Fragment (as recorded by later authors)
I would not creep along the coast but steer out in mid-sea, by guidance of the stars
— The Mill on the Floss (1860)
A weed is but an unloved flower
— Poems of Sentiment (1917)
One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time
— The Counterfeiters
I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have
— Letter to Samuel Galloway, February 24, 1859
Let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure
— Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 3
He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who never looks upon danger as a friend, who does not find in his own soul a stimulus to face the perils of life, he is a poor creature
— The Strenuous Life, Speech (1899)
To live without hope is to cease to live
— The Possessed (Demons), Part 1, Chapter 2
Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts
— Book: The Sense of Wonder, 1956
I am rooted, but I flow
— The Waves (book)
I have never tried that before, so I think I should definitely be able to do that
— Pippi Longstocking (original Swedish edition)
Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself
— Culture and Value, Notebooks (1949)
The bird dares the wind and finds its wings by flying
— Stray Birds (1916)
Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise
— Les Misérables
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next
— The Left Hand of Darkness
To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul
— The Need for Roots (1949)
The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it
— Unknown
You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?
— Masnavi i Ma'navi
To see the angel, you must see the demon too
— The Saviors of God: Spiritual Exercises
We are each a house with four rooms, but we rarely use all of them
— A House with Four Rooms
When you look long into the night, the night also gazes into the face of your dreams
— Poetic works (collected poems)
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light
— Allegory of the Cave (Republic, Book VII)
Wherever you stand, be the soul of that place
— Masnavi, Book VI
To light a candle is to cast a shadow
— A Wizard of Earthsea
We are healed of a suffering only by experiencing it to the full
— In Search of Lost Time, Volume II: Within a Budding Grove
In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you
— The Book of Secrets, 2004
The heart that beats in unison with the pain of another knows neither fear nor defeat
— Impressions of Theophrastus Such (1879)
You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore
— Speech at University of Virginia, 1957
The acorn does not know that it will become an oak—it only feels the urge to grow
— .eduGuru, 2015 blog entry
Live, so you do not have to look back and say: 'God, how I have wasted my life'
— Book: "On Death and Dying" (1969)
Existence precedes essence
— L'Existentialisme est un Humanisme (Existentialism is a Humanism), 1946
Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country
— The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1 (1931–1934)
If you are lonely when you’re alone, you are in bad company
— Book: "Jean-Paul Sartre: Interviews and Conversations" (1970)
Leap over the wall of circumstances, and the world is yours
— Book: Man’s Eternal Quest
No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings
— The Proverbs of Hell, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790–1793)
It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment
— Tusculan Disputations, Book 1
You never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice
— Interview attributed (exact source unverified)
Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made
— Unknown; widely attributed in literary circles
If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and assign them tasks, but teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea
— Wisdom of the Sands (Citadelle)
Life does not consist mainly, or even largely, of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thoughts that is forever blowing through one's head
— Autobiography of Mark Twain
I would rather be ashes than dust; I would rather my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
— Credo (1932)
He who confronts the paradoxical exposes himself to reality
— The Physicists
Stand up straight and do not tremble in the face of fate's demands; for the world yields nothing to the weak of heart
— Notes from Underground, Part II
I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will
— Jane Eyre, Chapter 23
Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless when facing them
— Stray Birds, verse 36
You must do life boldly, as if you have a song nobody else can hear
— A Poetry Handbook
I do not fix problems. I fix my thinking. Then problems fix themselves
— You Can Heal Your Life (1984)
If you wake up and the day feels too heavy, carry it as if it were nothing more than a feather—eventually, it might become one
— From poetry and statements shared on social media
There is scarcely any passion without struggle
— The Myth of Sisyphus
The water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing
— The Art of War, Chapter VI
I have not ceased being fearful, but I have ceased to let fear control me
— Fear of Flying (1973)
A closed mind is like a fortress, standing firm but never growing, never letting in the wild winds that shape real strength
— Paraphrased from 'Letters to a Young Poet' (imagery and ethos)
The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts
— 'Meditations', Book 5, Section 16
The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.
— Quoted in 'Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life' by Justine Picardie
The stars are always present, even when the storm closes the sky
— Notebooks (Carnets)
There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth
— A Confession, Ch. 17
There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.
— The Alchemist (1988)
A ship is safe in harbor, but that is not what ships are built for
— Salt from My Attic (1928)
Risk something or forever sit with your dreams
— speech to U.S. Olympic Team, 1980
Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes
— Memories, Dreams, Reflections
Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced
— Letter to George and Georgiana Keats, 1819
The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall
— Speech at Laureus World Sports Awards, 2000
The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are
— Modern Man in Search of a Soul
The mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals of my spiritual communion with the Creator
— Book: The Climb (1997)
Fortune and love favor the brave
— Metamorphoses
The bird who dares to fall is the one who learns to fly
You become mature when you become the authority of your own life
— Reflections on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion (1991)
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how
— Twilight of the Idols, Maxims and Arrows
The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness
— John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir
The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free
— Tractatus de Intellectus Emendatione
He who fears he shall suffer, already suffers what he fears
— Essays, Book III, Chapter XIII
There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true
— Works of Love
All the decisive blows are struck left-handed
— One-Way Street
To live without hope is to cease to live
— Notes from Underground
I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion
— As quoted in historical accounts of Alexander's campaigns; origin often attributed yet debated
Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again
— Interview (various citations)
When daylight is denied, the soul invents its own dawn
— Return to Tipasa
There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn
— The Myth of Sisyphus
The strength of a man's virtue should not be measured by his special exertions, but by his habitual acts
— Pensées
The mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb
— Book, 'Mind Platter'
The reed that bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm
— Masters of the Dew (novel)
To endure the cross is not tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ
— The Cost of Discipleship (1937)
The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom is bravery
— History of the Peloponnesian War, Book II
Whoever has learned to be anxious in the right way has learned the ultimate
— The Concept of Anxiety, 1844
You must do the thing you think you cannot do
— You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life
All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming
— Optimism: An Essay
It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live
— Meditations, Book XII
A warrior is not about perfection or victory or invulnerability. He is about absolute vulnerability
— The Wheel of Time: The Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe
The eagle never lost so much time as when he submitted to learn of the crow.
— Proverbs of Hell, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-1793)
If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you
— Beyond Good and Evil, Aphorism 146
A great part of human suffering is to be found not in the conditions of existence but in the determination to resist those conditions
— Book: Gravity and Grace, 1947 (posthumous)
Be as a tower firmly set; shakes not its top for all the gusts that blow
— The Divine Comedy, Paradiso, Canto XXXIII
We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.
— Letters to Lucilius, Letter XIII
There are years that ask questions and years that answer
— Their Eyes Were Watching God
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all
— The Open Door (1957), essay "Three Days to See"
I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self
— Work: Nicomachean Ethics (Book III)
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how
— Twilight of the Idols, Maxims and Arrows
The heart, like the sea, is a restless wanderer; storms may test it, but it gathers the salt of its integrity from every wave endured
— Sand and Foam
The only way you can serve God is by serving other people
— Speech at the All Saints' Cathedral, Nairobi, 1981
Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less
— Lecture at Vassar College, 1921
The best way out is always through
— A Servant to Servants
Every man should seek his own path, not follow the trail made by others
— Demian (1919)
If I advance, follow me; if I retreat, kill me; if I die, avenge me
— Battle of Cholet, 1793 (French Revolutionary Wars)
What is to give light must endure burning
— Man's Search for Meaning
The stars are not afraid to appear like fireflies
— Stray Birds, Verse 98
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer
— Return to Tipasa, 1952 essay
Great acts are made up of small deeds
— Tao Te Ching, Chapter 63
The only journey is the one within
— Letters to a Young Poet, Letter Eight
One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things
— Book: "Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch" (1957)
It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head
— Meditation for the Love of It (2011)
The stars incline us, they do not bind us
— All's Well That Ends Well, Act 1, Scene 1
Let the soul stand cool and composed before a million universes
— Leaves of Grass, 'Song of Myself'
In order to write about life first you must live it
— A Moveable Feast
The stars are not afraid to appear like fireflies
— Stray Birds (1916)
I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship
— Personal correspondence
A man’s worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions
— Meditations, Book 7
Bless the impulse that bids you run into the storm; even the wound it gives is an honest teacher
— From 'Markings' (1963)
Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made
— Column: 'Robert N. Rose – Aphorisms & Quotations' (syndicated)
The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists
— /
The stars are not afraid to appear like fireflies
— Stray Birds (1916), poem 29
There is no wilderness so dense as ignorance, or so fearsome as the thought of crossing one's own shadows
— Sand and Foam (1926)
The lotus grows in muddy water, but blooms with untainted beauty
— Attributed, The Sutra of 42 Sections
You must give birth to your images. They are the future waiting to be born
— Letters to a Young Poet, Letter Six
He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how
— Twilight of the Idols
A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer
— Society and Solitude (1870)
That which reminds us of the possibility of a better world can itself become dangerous, for it teaches us how to act as if it were already true
— Regarding the Pain of Others (book)
I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear
— Interview in 1991, Ebony Magazine
To live without hope is to cease to live
— The Possessed (Demons), 1872
How very little can be done under the spirit of fear
— Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not
He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how
— Twilight of the Idols, Maxims and Arrows
The mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb
— Sparks of Phoenix (2019)
A wild horse never knows the strength of its rider
The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury
— Meditations, Book VI
He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat
— Attributed (various writings and speeches)
He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life
— Essays: First Series (Self-Reliance)
I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference
— The Road Not Taken
The soul that hesitates not, lives in the very life of life
— Essays: Second Series, Experience (1844)
Nothing great has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance
— Book: The Man Nobody Knows
A great part of courage is the courage of having done the thing before
— Experience, Essays: Second Series, 1844
There is no remedy for love but to love more
— A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849)
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face
— You Learn by Living, 1960
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us
— Collected Essays: First Series, Self-Reliance
The wound is where the world enters us
— Captivity (2007)
A mind that questions everything, unless strong enough to bear the weight of its ignorance, risks being crushed by its doubts
— The Closing of the American Mind (1987)
The wound is the place where the Light enters you
— The Essential Rumi
Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure
— Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 3
What we call our destiny is truly our character, and that character can be altered
— The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 5
The bird who dares to fall is the one who learns to fly
— Traditional proverb; first appeared in motivational writings of the late 20th century
The soul appears in its own fullness only when it is bruised
— Gravity and Grace (1947, posthumous)
To live without hope is to cease to live
— The Possessed (Demons), Part 1, Chapter 3
A tree that wants to touch the sky must extend its roots into the earth
— Thus Spoke Zarathustra (paraphrased from the original text)
The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed
— / Commonly attributed to Chinese folklore; exact origin unknown
The best armor is to keep out of range
— The Light That Failed (1890)
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how
— Twilight of the Idols
The wise man bridges the gap by laying out the path by means of which he can get from where he is to where he wants to go
— . Unknown (attributed)
The wave does not need to die to become water. She is already water
— No Death, No Fear
We are lutes, no more, no less; if the wind passes over us, it turns us to song
— Letters to a Young Poet, Letter 8
The butterfly does not count the days, it transforms and emerges in its own time
— Gravity and Grace
A mind that questions everything, unless strong enough to bear the weight of its ignorance, risks being crushed by its doubts
— The Closing of the American Mind (1987)
Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself
— The Alchemist (1988)
I seek not to know the answers, but to understand the questions
— Speech at the University of Ghana, 1963
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it
— Often attributed to Goethe; translation of Faust, possibly from John Anster paraphrase
In matters of principle, stand like a rock; in matters of taste, swim with the current
— Letter to his nephew, Peter Carr, 1787
A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants
— On the Freedom of the Will (Essay)
Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations
— Speech to students, The Earth We Share science camp (1993)
The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way
— Meditations, Book 5
It takes two to speak the truth—one to speak and another to hear
— A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849)
The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper
— A Shadow Passes (1919)
To create is to resist; to resist is to create
— Time for Outrage! (Indignez-vous!)
The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing
— Fragment 201 (as cited by later authors)
For happiness, how little suffices for happiness! The least thing precisely, the gentlest thing, the lightest thing, a lizard’s rustling, a breath, a wink, an eye glance—little makes up the best happiness. Be still
— Thus Spoke Zarathustra
He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men
— 'Lectures on Ethics'
I have woven a parachute out of everything broken
— You Must Revise Your Life (1986)
There are defeats more triumphant than victories
— Essays, Book I, Chapter IX
The tongue can paint what the eye can’t see
— Traditional Proverb
A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself
— The Power of Myth (1988), with Bill Moyers
Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once
— Julius Caesar, Act 2, Scene 2
The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen
— In the Cause of Architecture, Architectural Record, 1928
We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal and then leap in the dark to our success
— Life Without Principle (essay)
Do not go gentle into that good night, but rage, rage against the dying of the light
— Poem: Do not go gentle into that good night
The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone
— Play: An Enemy of the People
Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be
— Quoted in The Ladies’ Home Journal, 1951
Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does
— Being and Nothingness
Someone, at this moment, is relying on you to do what only you can do
— .
One cannot consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar
— 'The Story of My Life'
Show me a man who claims he is fearless, and I will show you a liar; true bravery is seeing the fear and saddling up anyway
— Interview, 'The Daily Telegraph', 1971
Life obliges me to do something, so I paint
— As quoted in Monet by Himself, edited by Richard Kendall, 1989
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity
— attributed; sometimes cited from a 1940 essay, but precise origin is unclear
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever
— Widely attributed, various writings
You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment
— Book: Walden
The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom is courage.
— History of the Peloponnesian War, Book 2, Speech of Pericles
Of all the hazards, fear is the worst, for it grows by feeding on itself
— The Spirit of St. Louis (book)
There is no such thing as an inevitable war. If war comes it will be from failure of human wisdom
— The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism (2008)
Sometimes even to live is an act of bravery
— Letters to Lucilius, Letter 78
There are black hours in life, when the best light a man can find is in his own heart
— Book: Les Misérables
You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment
— Walden, Where I Lived, and What I Lived For
It is necessary to dare what is seemingly impossible, for greatness is only found beyond the boundary of fear
— Gravity and Grace
He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life
— Essays: First Series, Self-Reliance (1841)
He finishes a work, and then knows how to perfect it; he makes demands on himself that enemies would not dare to make
— The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)
We are made to persist. That’s how we find out who we are
— This Boy's Life (1989)
Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of creative alternatives for responding to conflict
— Lecture on the Berlin Crisis, 1948
If you do not express your own original ideas, if you do not listen to your own being, you will have betrayed yourself
— Man's Search for Himself (1953)
Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken
— Notebooks 1935–1942
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars
— Sand and Foam (1926)
There is no easy way from the earth to the stars
— Hercules Furens, Act II, line 437 (Latin: Non est ad astra mollis e terris via)
We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are
— The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1
The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must destroy a world
— Demian, Chapter 1
You do not find the happy life. You make it
— Various speeches and writings, commonly attributed
He who is outside his door has the hardest part of his journey behind him
— General proverb
The highest courage is to dare to appear to be what one is
— Thoughts and Theories of Life and Education, 1900
Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds
— Novel: Adam Bede
Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree
— Anecdotal; widely attributed but of uncertain primary source
We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success
— Life Without Principle (essay)
There is no easy way from the earth to the stars
— Hercules Furens, Line 437
Throw your heart over the fence and the rest will follow
— The Power of Positive Thinking (Book)
Every act of rebellion expresses a nostalgia for innocence and an appeal to the essence of being
— The Rebel (1951)
Gray is every theory, but green is the tree of life
— Faust, Part I (1808)
Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric
— Conquering Happiness (1930)
Even the weakest, when armed with the truth, is stronger than the mightiest without it
— The Brothers Karamazov
One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star
— Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Part I
To venture causes anxiety, but not to venture is to lose one's self
— The Concept of Anxiety (1844)
The highest point a man can attain is not knowledge, or virtue, or goodness, or victory, but something even greater, more heroic, and more despairing: sacred awe
— The Meaning of the Creative Act
If you want to improve, you must be content to be thought foolish and stupid
— Discourses, Book 1
The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion
— The Myth of Sisyphus
The man who has no imagination has no wings
— Remark during an interview, widely cited in biographical materials
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail
— Essay: Self-Reliance, 1841
The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled
— Moralia
It is not down on any map; true places never are
— Moby-Dick, Chapter 12
The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself
— Essais, Book I, Chapter 39
Stand firm as a boulder that the furious waves keep striking; it stands unmoved and the foam of the waves soon settles down
— Dhammapada, Chapter 6
Live, and befriend your memories as if they were wild horses that carry you forward
— The Book of Awakening (2000)
Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve life than destroy it
— Walden
What is to become of us if everything in our natures is permitted to do nothing but run wild or be tamed—if we never try anything new, never risk breaking ourselves open
— Pale Horse, Pale Rider (1939)
It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.
— Speech, The Alpine Club, London, 1953
You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor
— Nicomachean Ethics, Book III
The greatest test of valor on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart
— 'What Must We Do To Be Saved?', public lecture, c. late 1800s
The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart
— Lecture: Individuality, 1873
All is riddle, and the key to a riddle is another riddle
— Journals, June 1833
There is a power in the soul that can survive all storms, and all obstacles shall vanish before it, only to the soul that believes in its power
— Lectures and Discourses
Every act of creation is first an act of destruction
— Quoted in 'Picasso: Creator and Destroyer' by Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington, 1988
Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt
— Measure for Measure, Act I, Scene IV (Play)
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes
— In Search of Lost Time, Vol. 5: The Prisoner
There are black hours in life, when the best light a man can find is in his own heart
— Barnaby Rudge, Chapter 34
Man is fully responsible for his nature and his choices
— Book, 'Existentialism Is a Humanism'
We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are
— The Seduction of the Minotaur
A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants
— On the Freedom of the Will (1839)
It is not the lion's roar that makes him king, but the silent night he endures alone on the plain
— Wind, Sand and Stars (1939)
The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived
— The Fires of Heaven (1993)
The sky is not less blue because the blind man does not see it
— / Unknown /
Whoever is happy will make others happy too
— The Diary of a Young Girl
There are defeats more triumphant than victories
— Essays, Book I, Chapter 30
The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself
— Tao Te Ching (Chapter 8)
The stars are only visible in darkness, and so it is with the strongest qualities within us, which wait for the shadow to be seen
— Sand and Foam (1926)
If you wake up and the day feels too heavy, carry it as if it were nothing more than a feather—eventually, it might become one
— Personal interview, The Guardian (2019)
He steps into the cold water not because he is unafraid, but because he has learned what the water cannot take from him
— Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words (essay on 'Courage')
Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking
— The Celtic Twilight (1893)
It is only necessary to have courage, for strength without self-confidence is useless.
— History of My Life (Histoire de ma vie)
The truth is rarely pure and never simple
— The Importance of Being Earnest, Act I
The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance
— The Wisdom of Insecurity (Book)
The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious
— The World As I See It (1931)
Between cowardice and courage, what is required is not merely choosing, but the sustained will to act in the trembling instant of uncertainty
— The Notebooks of Simone Weil (c. 1942)
The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have
— .
We must cultivate our garden
— Candide (1759), final chapter
Freedom lies in being bold
— Letter to John Bartlett (1914)
What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality
— Moral Essays: On Tranquility of Mind
I arise full of eagerness and energy, knowing well what achievement lies ahead, and I go out with the sun to battle for the day
— Shirley
What is to give light must endure burning
— Man's Search for Meaning
Live dangerously and you live right
— Letter to Eckermann, October 1829
Show me the man you honor and I will know what kind of man you are
— On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History (1841)
Nothing endures but change
— Fragment 41, as quoted by Plato
The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet
— Attributed
The soul, like the body, lives by what it feeds on
— Gold-Foil: Hammered from Popular Proverbs
What we fear comes to pass more surely when we shrink from it
— Sentences (Moral Sayings)
The wound makes the door for the new, and your house larger with every hurt you withstand
— Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words
To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul
— The Need for Roots (1949)
You must do the thing you think you cannot do
— Book: "You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life" (1960)
You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore
— Speech at University of Virginia, 1957
A wild, untamed spirit finds its way through thorn and bramble, leaping suns and scaling nights the world has yet to name
— The Monogram (Το Μονόγραμμα)
There are times when silence is not golden but yellow
— House of Commons speech, 1783
The bird dares to break the shell, then the shell breaks open and the bird can fly openly. This is the simplest principle of success.
— Stray Birds (collection of poems)
The greatest test of character is not in enduring adversity, but in standing, alone if necessary, against the easy drift of custom
— From a collection of syndicated newspaper columns
There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen
— Selected Poems
There is a silent eloquence in every wild creature’s eyes that speaks of struggles unknown to the tranquil world
— Wilderness Essays
He who flatters me is my enemy, he who blames me is my teacher
— Attributed in Analects (perhaps Book XV), though wording varies
The only thing standing between you and your goal is the story you keep telling yourself as to why you can't achieve it
— Motivational seminars and memoirs
From the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made
— Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose
Someone, at this moment, is relying on you to do what only you can do
— Twitter post, 2015; repeated in various essays and interviews
One must confront vague dread with definite devotion
— Gravity and Grace
It is easy to be brave from a safe distance
— Aesop's Fables, 'The Lion and the Hare'
Better to live a day as a lion than a hundred years as a sheep
— From the essay collection "Gog" (1931)
There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in
— Lyrics: Anthem (1992)
The mind, once expanded by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions
— Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, 1858
A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows
— Attributed, The Little Flowers of St. Francis
You never find yourself until you face the truth
— Book: The Raw Pearl
The stars are not concerned with whether we see them; they shine, indifferent and immortal, through every night
— Implicit from her essayistic imagery (collected essays)
Leap over the wall of circumstances, and the world is yours
— The Divine Romance (1986)
The only thing that matters is this: Can you live a brave life in the midst of all your doubts?
— Letters to a Young Poet
He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life
— Essays: First Series (1841), Self-Reliance
Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself
— Culture and Value, 1949
We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out
— Zen in the Art of Writing (essay collection)
You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete
— Critical Path (Book)
Courage is grace under pressure
— Attributed in The New Yorker, 1926
The dream is the small hidden door in the deepest and most intimate sanctum of the soul
— Man and His Symbols (1964)
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better
— Worstward Ho
Whoever has learned to be anxious in the right way has learned the ultimate
— The Concept of Anxiety (1844)
I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship
— Little Women (1868)
Man is fully responsible for his nature and his choices
— Existentialism Is a Humanism, 1946 lecture
No man is free who cannot command himself
— .
Be like the cliff against which the waves continually break; but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it
— Meditations, Book IV, Section 49
Every act of creation is first an act of destruction
— Interview, 'Conversations with Picasso' by Brassaï (1944)
A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing
— Mrs. Warren's Profession (1893)
The strongest souls are those who win battles we know nothing about
— Letter to Countee Cullen, 1943
The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be
— Reported by Socrates' students; referenced in Xenophon’s 'Memorabilia'
The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing
— Attributed
The acorn does not know that it will become an oak—it only feels the urge to grow
— The Book of Mirdad, 1948
If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough
— 2011 Harvard Commencement Address
You must do the thing you think cannot be done
— You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life
The measure of a man is what he does with power
— Republic
Let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure
— Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 3
People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use
— Either/Or, 1843
Do not go gentle into that good night, but rage, rage against the dying of the light
— Poem: Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night (1951)
The secret of freedom, courage demands that a man should be ready to die rather than betray what he knows to be true
— Collected Essays
The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free
— Ethics
He who has a strong enough why can bear almost any how
— Twilight of the Idols
He who limps is still walking
— Unkempt Thoughts (Myśli nieuczesane)
Victory belongs to the most persevering
— As quoted by André Castelot, Napoleon (1969)
Storms make oaks take deeper root
— Jacula Prudentum (collection of proverbs)
To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken
— The Four Loves (1960)
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all
— Novel: The Soul of Man under Socialism, 1891
The greatest happiness you can have is knowing that you do not necessarily require happiness
— My Name is Aram (1940)
If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales
— Attributed remark on education and imagination
The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually fear you will make one
— The Note Book of Elbert Hubbard, 1927
Throw yourself like seed as you walk, and into your own field, do not turn your face for that would be to turn it to death, and do not let the past weigh down your motion
— Selected Poems, 'Throw Yourself Like Seed'
We know what we are, but know not what we may be
— Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5
The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant
— Speech to the National Convention, 1792
You yourself are your own obstacle, rise above yourself
— The Imitation of Christ, Book III, Chapter 27
There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide
— Self-Reliance, 1841
To live without hope is to cease to live
— The Idiot
It is not the place that makes the man, but the man that makes the place illustrious
— Attic Nights, Book 7
You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor
— compiled sayings, traditionally attributed
There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires
— Speech at the ANC Conference, 1953
Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore
— Les Faux-monnayeurs (The Counterfeiters), 1925 (often attributed to Gide, origin debated)
If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and assign them tasks, but teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea
— Citadelle (posthumously published), Section CVI
The bow cannot always stand bent, nor can human frailty subsist without some lawful recreation
— Don Quixote (Part I, Chapter XXXVIII)
Mountains are not fair or unfair, they are just dangerous
— The Crystal Horizon: Everest – The First Solo Ascent (1989)
Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth
— When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times (1996)
Every man has his own courage, and is betrayed because he seeks in himself the courage of other persons
— Essay: Self-Reliance
If I should lose all, I will at least have left a trace, a word, on the face of this indifferent world
— Poem: Epilogue (from Requiem)
Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes
— Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)
The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart
— Speech: Life
There is nothing impossible to him who will try
— Reported dictum, as recorded by Plutarch
A diamond is merely a lump of coal that did well under pressure
— Speech at State Department Press Club, 1978
He who is brave is free
— Letters to Lucilius, Letter 37
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better
— From the novella 'Worstward Ho' (1983)
Do not look for approval except for the consciousness of doing your best
— Address at the Carnegie Institute, 1903
What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality
— Moralia, On the Control of Anger
There is no easy way from the earth to the stars
— Hercules Furens, line 437
The world is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper
— Attributed, 1921
In hell, be a devil
— Thus Spoke Zarathustra
He who desires but acts not breeds pestilence
— The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, c. 1790-93
Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so let us all be thankful
— Excerpted in Buddhist Scriptural Anthologies (various sources)
Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country
— The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931–1934
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person
— Remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast, 1994
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment
— Essay: Self-Reliance (1841)
I wish to act on my own strength, not rely on the strength of others
— The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1 (1931–1934)
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how
— Twilight of the Idols, Maxims and Arrows, 12
He who is not a good servant will not be a good master
— The Laws, Book IV
If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s
— Unknown (often attributed in lectures and writings)
Begin, be bold, and venture to be wise
— First Book of Epistles, 1.40
The greatest test of character is not in enduring adversity, but in standing, alone if necessary, against the easy drift of custom
— A Preface to Morals (1929)
Beware lest in your anxiety to avoid war you obtain a master
— Speech: Olynthiac III, 349 BC
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all
— from the novel The Soul of Man under Socialism
You must do life boldly, as if you have a song nobody else can hear.
— Feminist Manifesto (1914)
The only journey is the one within
— Letters to a Young Poet (Letter 8, August 1904)
The only thing that is truly ours is our own heart – so let us not trade it away for fear or favor
— De Profundis
The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance
— The Wisdom of Insecurity (1951)
Leap, and the net will appear
— Attributed, found in various essay collections
You must do the thing you think cannot be done, until it is simply a thing you have done
— Women Who Run With the Wolves (1992)
Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point
— The Screwtape Letters (1942), Letter 29
When you come to a fork in the road, take it
— Variously attributed in interviews and Berra's autobiography
In order to attain the impossible, one must attempt the absurd
— Don Quixote, Part II
Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better
— Essay: 'Experience' in Essays: Second Series (1844)
The mind can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven
— Paradise Lost, Book I
Show me a man who claims he is fearless, and I will show you a liar; true bravery is seeing the fear and saddling up anyway
— Interviews and attributed sayings (popularized in late 20th century)
We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear
— Speech at Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 1962
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us
— Essay: Essays: First Series (Self-Reliance), 1841
Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact
— The Will to Believe
Throw yourself like seed as you walk, and into your own field, do not turn your face for that would be to turn it to death, and do not let the past weigh down your motion
— The Tragic Sense of Life (1912)
Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out
— Letter to Samuel Mather, 1784
Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less
— Lecture at Vassar College, 1921
The path to success is to take massive, determined action
— Awaken the Giant Within (1991)
To remind a man of the good he has is to enrich him on the spot
— Maxims and Reflections
Out of difficulties grow miracles
— Les Caractères (1688)
The universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine
— Possible Worlds and Other Essays (1927)
Fortune sides with him who dares
— The Aeneid, Book X
The stars are not afraid to appear like fireflies
— Stray Birds
The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings
— Book: The Book of Runes (1982)
Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them
— Meditations, Book VII
You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore
— Speech at University of Virginia, 1951
Risk is the condition of all gain and glory
— Physics and Politics, Chapter V
He who fears he shall suffer, already suffers what he fears
— Essays, Book III, Chapter XIII
We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master
— Letter to Arnold Samuelson (1934)
Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind
— Self-Reliance
The merit of all things lies in their difficulty
— The Three Musketeers, Chapter XIV
You do not find the happy life. You make it
— . Personal reflections, as quoted in various compilations on happiness and action
The fierce heat of adversity has a way of making the heart incandescent, as gold emerges purer from fire
— Letters to Lucilius
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing
— Attributed—context debated, commonly ascribed to Burke's writings and speeches in late 18th century
Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told
— The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are (book)
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self
— Attributed, various interviews
To see clearly is poetry, prophecy, and religion all in one
— Modern Painters, Volume III
The freedom of the mind is the beginning of all freedom
— Speech at the National Woman’s Rights Convention, 1851
The rivers flow not because they have no obstacles, but because they persist in spite of them
— Collected Poems
To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken
— The Four Loves, 1960
A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another mistake
— Analects
The greatest explorer on this earth never takes voyages as long as those of the man who descends to the depth of his heart
— Journal, 1933-1939
Go to the edge of the cliff and jump off. Build your wings on the way down
— On Writing (various essays)
Blessed is he who in the face of obstacles does not lose heart but presses on to his goal
— Sartor Resartus
The wise man draws more advantage from his enemies than a fool from his friends
— The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)
Virtue, perhaps, is nothing more than politeness of soul
— The Girl with the Golden Eyes (La Fille aux yeux d'or)
To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness
— You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train (1994)
You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore
— As quoted in Writers at Work: First Series (1958), interview
To be is to be vulnerable
— Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
You are lost the instant you know what the result will be
— Letter to Josette, 1917
You cannot find peace by avoiding life
— Mrs. Dalloway (1925)
A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears
— Essais (1580), Book I, Chapter XIV
The mind of man is capable of anything because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future
— Heart of Darkness
There are years that ask questions and years that answer
— Their Eyes Were Watching God, Chapter 3
Throw yourself like seed as you walk, and into your own field, do not turn your face for that would be to turn it to death, and do not let the past weigh down your motion
— The Tragic Sense of Life
The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be
— As cited in Diogenes Laertius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers
To stand up straight with your shoulders back is to accept the terrible responsibility of life, with eyes wide open
— 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (2018)
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science
— The World As I See It
He who is outside his door has the hardest part of his journey behind him
— Dutch traditional proverb
There is a certain right by which we many deprive a man of life, but none by which we may deprive him of death; this is mere cruelty
— On Grace and Dignity (1793)
The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived
— The Fires of Heaven, Chapter 10
There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness
— Thus Spoke Zarathustra
If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough
— Speech at Harvard University, 2011
The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts
— Meditations, Book 5
The pine stays green in winter, wisdom in hardship
— A River Runs Through It and Other Stories (1976)
I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become
— Memories, Dreams, Reflections
Go back? I think not. My road forward must be trod, however long and weary
— Personal writings, letter (1837)
The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum
— A Wheel Within a Wheel: How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle
He steps into the cold water not because he is unafraid, but because he has learned what the water cannot take from him
— From essays and talks on vulnerability and risk
The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are
— Letters, Vol. 2: 1951–1961
Risk is the condition of all gain and glory
— Attributed, ancient Greek writings
The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing
— Meditations, Book VII
To be human is to be thrown upon impossible shores, and whether we build or break depends on the stubbornness of our stars
— Notebooks, 1942–1951
He who is untrue to his own cause cannot command the respect of his own soul
— Maxims and Reflections, Section II
If I am not for myself, who is for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I?
— Pirkei Avot 1:14 (Ethics of the Fathers)
Dwell as near as possible to the channel in which your life flows
— Walden, Chapter: Where I Lived, and What I Lived For
He who limps is still walking
— Unkempt Thoughts (1957)
There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power
— The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.
Man is not made for defeat
— The Old Man and the Sea, 1952
Truth sits upon the lips of dying men
— Sohrab and Rustum, 1853
The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must destroy a world
— Demian (Novel)
There are black hours in life, when the best light a man can find is in his own heart
— Les Misérables (1862)
The mountains are calling and I must go
— Letter to Sarah Muir Galloway, 1873
He who has overcome his internal enemy is more powerful than he who has conquered a thousand opponents in battle
— Dhammapada, Verse 103
Light is meaningful only in relation to darkness, and truth presupposes error
— The Development of Personality
Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance
— The Rambler, No. 58 (1750)
Leap, and the net will appear
— “Waiting,” in Bird and Bough, 1906
Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better
— Essays: 'Conduct of Life', 1860
He who sows virtue reaps honor
— Codex Atlanticus
Attend to the soul that is not at peace. Therein lies the beginning of all acts that matter
— Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom (1997)
There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it
— Various Interviews