Success Quotes
635 quotes
Success
Wisdom from achievers about reaching your goals and dreams
635 Quotes
The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work
— Le Roman expérimental (1880)
The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going
— Collected Essays (first published in Boston, 1841)
A man is but what he knows
— 'The Advancement of Learning', Book I (1605)
The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones
To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself
— Collected Works (exact essay: 'The Concept of Anxiety', 1844)
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how
— Twilight of the Idols, Maxims and Arrows 12
When nothing is sure, everything is possible
— The Middle Ground (1980)
i am not led; i lead. the path i tread is left behind, not followed. it is made as i press forward, not found ready-made
— My Little Book of Life (1912)
Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another
— The Spiritual Life (1940)
All men’s gains are the fruit of venturing
— Histories, Book 9, Section 16
The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried
— Doodle Alley, 'Brick by Brick'
He that would have the fruit must climb the tree
— Gnomologia, 1732
Fortune favors the prepared mind
— Lecture at the University of Lille, 1854
The mind that is not fixed on a purpose is lost; to be everywhere, is to be nowhere
— Essays, Book I, Chapter 8
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure
— My American Journey (1995)
You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment
— Essay "Walden", 1854
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all
— The Open Door (1957)
Act without expectation
— Tao Te Ching, Chapter 15 (sometimes attributed)
The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination
— On Becoming a Person (1961)
A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds
— Essays, 'Of Ceremonies and Respects'
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 (translated as 'The Wisdom of the Sands', 1948)
The greatest weariness comes from work not done
— Reflections on the Human Condition
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
Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them
— Meditations, Book VII, Section 47
The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear
— Freedom from Fear, essay collection (1991)
What you do today can improve all your tomorrows
— /
Opportunities multiply as they are seized
— The Art of War, Chapter 5
Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree
— /Alleged saying, commonly attributed but of uncertain origin/
Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts
— Letter to Eduard Einstein, 1934
The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure much
— Selected Essays of William Hazlitt (1817)
Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value
— Letter to his son Eduard, 1930
I learned that the moment I stopped being afraid I started being successful
— Interview with Oprah Winfrey, "O, The Oprah Magazine", October 2002
You must do the thing you think you cannot do
— You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life
To live is to be slowly born
— Wind, Sand and Stars
One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar
— The Story of My Life, 1903
No man ever wetted clay and then left it, as if there would be bricks by chance and fortune
— Moralia, 'On Fortune', c. 100 AD
you have powers you never dreamed of. you can do things you never thought you could do. there are no limitations in what you can do except the limitations of your own mind
— Personal letters and speeches (notably popularized in the early 20th century)
Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them
— Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene V
Victory belongs to the most persevering
— Attributed to Napoleon by many biographies (see 'Napoleon: A Life' by Andrew Roberts)
To achieve the impossible, it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought
— Still Life with Woodpecker (1980)
Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do
— They Call Me Coach (1972)
First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do
— Discourses, Book III, Chapter 23
Only in the darkness can you see the stars
— Speech, 1963, Birmingham Jail
Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm
— Often attributed, phrasing varies in biographies and speeches
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self
— As quoted by William B. Barrett in 'The Truants' (1967)
To command oneself is the ultimate victory
— Søren Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers
It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live
— Meditations, Book VII
I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it
— Long Walk to Freedom (autobiography, 1994)
Be steady and well-ordered in your life so that you can be fierce and original in your work
— Quoted in The Letters of Gustave Flaubert
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person
— Often attributed, spoken in interviews throughout her life
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage
— The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 3 (1939-1944)
If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough
— Inaugural address, 2006
Do not hurry, for the river does not flow faster than its source
— Emile, or On Education
The fox provides for himself, but God provides for the lion's young
— The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Proverbs of Hell
Courage is knowing what not to fear
— Republic, Book 3
Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen
— Profile interviews, general reference
The secret of getting things done is to act
— Letter to Can Grande della Scala, c. 1316–1320
If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading
— Tao Te Ching, Chapter 64 (interpretation)
The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper
— A Shadow Passes, 1919
If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid
— Enchiridion, Section 13
The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why
— .
What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step
— Wind, Sand and Stars
You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems
— Atomic Habits (2018)
The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled
— On Listening to Lectures
The main thing is to be moved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live
— Conversations with Paul Gsell (1911)
If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable
— Letter LXXI, Letters to Lucilius
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 in The Nashville Banner, 1991
Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work
— Letter to Gertrude Tennant, 1876
You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore
— As quoted in The Paris Review No. 12, 1956
It is never too late to be what you might have been
— Frequently attributed, sometimes to an 1869 letter; likely from her later essays
The greatest happiness you can have is knowing that you do not necessarily require happiness
— My Name is Aram (1940)
Between saying and doing, many a pair of shoes is worn out
— The Bell (1958)
It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves
— Interview on challenges of Everest, c. 1975
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been
— .
What one does is what counts, not what one had the intention of doing
— As quoted in Time magazine, October 4, 1971
I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance
— Stanford Commencement Address, 2005
The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are
— Modern Man in Search of a Soul
Storms make trees take deeper roots
— Interview, various attributions
Men do less than they ought, unless they do all they can
— Past and Present, Book III, Chapter XI
If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities
— Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now (1993)
Not in goodness nor in riches nor in power lies happiness, but in right action and sufficient effort
— Disputed fragment attributed to Zeno by Diogenes Laertius
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool
— Caltech commencement address, 1974
I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference
— Poem: The Road Not Taken
Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity
— Speech to Antioch College’s graduating class, 1859
He who limps is still walking
— Unkempt Thoughts (Myśli nieuczesane)
Genius...is the capacity to see ten things where the ordinary man sees one
— The Spirit of Romance, 1910
He who is brave is free
— On Benefits, Book III
The greatest happiness you can have is knowing that you do not necessarily require happiness
— The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze, 1934
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self
— As cited in The Sun Also Rises (1926) and elsewhere attributed
A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles
— Hold the Enlightenment
To dare is to do; to fear is to fail
— The Conquest of Granada (play, 1670)
The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones
— Attributed in Analects, traditional Chinese proverb
To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself
— Fear and Trembling, Problema III
I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it
— Attributed (widely cited in interviews and biographies)
I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions
— The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989)
Step by step, the thing is done
— Atlas's personal motto, used in advertising and correspondence
It is not growing like a tree in bulk, doth make man better be; or standing long an oak, three hundred year, to fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere. A lily of a day is fairer far in May
— poem 'The Noble Nature', c. 1616
The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity
— Atlas Shrugged (1957)
To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself
— The Sickness Unto Death
Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought
— Attributed, various translations
The road to wisdom? Well, it’s plain and simple to express: Err and err and err again, but less and less and less
— Grooks, 1966
He climbs highest who helps another up
— Book: See You at the Top (1975)
The task ahead of you is never greater than the strength within you
— Attributed in motivational literature
The will to do, the soul to dare
— Marmion, Canto VI
Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail
— Essay: Self-Reliance
Every strike brings me closer to the next home run
— As quoted in 'Babe Ruth’s Own Book of Baseball', 1928
Life leaps like a geyser for those who drill through the rock of inertia
— Man, the Unknown (1935)
The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it
— Le Tartuffe (1664)
The secret of getting ahead is getting started
— Attributed; commonly cited in literary collections
No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings
— The Proverbs of Hell, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-1793)
One cannot consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar
— Book: The Story of My Life
To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top
— Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974)
the only journeys worth taking are those on which you risk losing everything
— Written on the Body (1992)
There is nothing impossible to him who will try
— Reported by Plutarch in 'Lives', Alexander, section 18
Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit
— Think and Grow Rich, Chapter 2
A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new
— Attributed (often in letters and interviews)
Life is not a spectacle or a feast; it is a predicament
— Soliloquies in England and Later Soliloquies (1922)
What we do now echoes in eternity
— Meditations, Book VI
What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality
— Essay: On the Control of Anger
If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid
— Enchiridion, Section 13
In the middle of winter, I at last discovered that there was in me an invincible summer
— Return to Tipasa (essay in 'Lyrical and Critical Essays')
We are kept from our goal not by obstacles but by a clear path to a lesser goal
— .
Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems
— Discourses, Book II, Chapter 13
A diamond is merely a lump of coal that did well under pressure
— Attributed; quoted in various publications
If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it would not seem so wonderful at all
— Attributed; as quoted in The Life of Michelangelo by Ascanio Condivi (1553)
Dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions
— Attributed in his various readings (early 20th century)
The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing
— Fragment 201, as quoted by later authors
There is no harm in repeating a good thing
— Laws, Book I
On matters of style, swim with the current; on matters of principle, stand like a rock
— Letter to his nephew, 1825
To live without hope is to cease to live
— Demons (The Possessed), Part II, Chapter 8
Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does
— Talks to Teachers on Psychology
What you seek is seeking you
— Diwan-e Shams-e Tabrizi
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work
— Attributed statement during work on the electric light
He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how
— Twilight of the Idols, Maxims and Arrows, §12
I would unite with those who endure, who like the rocks keep their place and stand unmoved by tempests
— A Diary (published posthumously, c. 1867)
Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life
— Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, Letter CVII
To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe
— La Vie Littéraire (1892)
I never dreamed about success, I worked for it
— .
Do not be too ambitious; take life as it comes and make the best of it
— Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. II
Pursue what is meaningful, not what is expedient
— 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (2018)
The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time
— Interview, Harper's Monthly Magazine, 1932
The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity
— The Fun of It (1932)
Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration's shove or society's kiss on your forehead
— At the Same Time: Essays & Speeches (2007)
Everything you can imagine is real
— .
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds
— Letter to Morris Raphael Cohen, March 19, 1940
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it
— Metaphysics (attributed)
Men must live and create. Live to the point of tears
— Notebooks 1935–1942
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today
— Address to White House Correspondents' Association, 1945
The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it
— Walden, Chapter 1: Economy
Become who you are
— Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person
— Speech at National Prayer Breakfast, 1994
Leap, and the net will appear
— Attributed (Burroughs was known for aphorisms in his essays)
One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time
— The Counterfeiters (Les Faux-monnayeurs), 1925
The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places
— A Farewell to Arms (1929), Chapter 34
I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught
— Speech to the House of Commons (4 November 1952)
To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself
— Fear and Trembling (1843)
What is to give light must endure burning
— Man's Search for Meaning
Talent is formed in stillness, character in the world's torrent
— Torquato Tasso (1790)
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
To do is to be
— Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
Do not let yourself be guided by the authority of others or by hollow tradition. Think and decide for yourself
— Freedom from the Known (1969)
Art is never finished, only abandoned
— Attributed—recorded by his pupil Gian Paolo Lomazzo
There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period
— Daring Greatly
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail
— Essay: Self-Reliance
Nothing will come of nothing
— King Lear, Act 1, Scene 1
The secret of joy in work is contained in one word—excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it
— The Joy of Children
The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones
— The Analects, Book 9
One’s real life is often the life that one does not lead
— Letter to Lord Alfred Douglas (1897)
I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship
— Little Women, Part 2, Chapter 44
To find yourself, think for yourself
— Attributed by Plato in dialogues
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us
— Attributed in various essays and lectures
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work
— .
A man should seek what is, and not what he thinks should be
— Letter to his son Eduard, 1933
In the arena of human life the honors and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action
— Nicomachean Ethics, Book I
Be steady and well-ordered in your life so that you can be fierce and original in your work
— Letter to Gertrude Tennant, June 16, 1877
To accomplish anything worth doing, I must not only act but sometimes dream; not only plan, but also believe
— In "The Garden of Epicurus", 1894
There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune
— Julius Caesar, Act IV, Scene III
A mind that questions everything, unless strong enough to bear the weight of its ignorance, risks questioning itself to madness
— A Short History of Decay (Précis de décomposition)
The harder I work, the more luck I seem to have
— Letter to Dr. James Madison, 1787
To live for a time close to great minds is the best kind of education
— Memory Hold-the-Door (Pilgrim's Way)
All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them
— Attributed in various works; specific letter to Castelli, c. 1610
The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived
— 'The Fires of Heaven', 1993
One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself
— Codex Atlanticus
Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm
— Often attributed, similar sentiments in speeches during WWII
One repays a teacher badly if one always remains nothing but a pupil
— Thus Spoke Zarathustra
The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be
— / Ancient Greek sources, as attributed by later writers
Nothing happens unless first a dream
— Poem The People, Yes (1936)
Great things are done by a series of small things brought together
— Letter to his brother Theo, October 1882
Not all those who wander are lost
— The Fellowship of the Ring, Book I, Chapter 10: 'Strider'
Success is not in what you have, but who you are
— Book: Year to Success
If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes
— The Empire of Business (1902)
It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end
— The Left Hand of Darkness (1969)
If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way
— Think and Grow Rich (1937)
There are no shortcuts to any place worth going
— Interview, often cited in motivational contexts
The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn
— Essays: Second Series (1844), "The Poet"
To do great things is difficult; but to command great things is more difficult
— Beyond Good and Evil, Section 212
I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me
— Letter to Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, 1699; often cited by biographers
Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again
— Interview, 2008
If you want to be a writer, write
— Discourses, Book II, Chapter 19
To live without hope is to cease to live
— Notes from Underground
A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new
— Attributed (various sources)
Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness
— Past and Present
It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult
— Letters to Lucilius, Letter 104
Do not worry about being effective. Just concentrate on being faithful to the truth
— The Long Loneliness (1952)
What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while
— The Happiness Project (2009)
Pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you
— Interview, Spring 1994, The Paris Review
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all
— The Soul of Man under Socialism (1891)
A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for
— Salt from My Attic (1928)
Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear almost any 'how'
— Twilight of the Idols, Maxims and Arrows
As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live
— Faust, Part I
A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way
— Attributed in various lectures and writings
The tallest oak in the forest was once just a little nut that held its ground
— Attributed, not from a specific book
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man
— Maxims for Revolutionists, Man and Superman (1903)
The limits of my language mean the limits of my world
— Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Proposition 5.6
A journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one’s feet
— Tao Te Ching, Chapter 64
What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from
— Four Quartets: Little Gidding (1942)
I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear
— Autobiography, My Story (1992)
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall
— Analects, Book V
The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing
— Attributed, company memos and interviews
I dwell in possibility—A fairer house than prose
— Poem 657
It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles
— Discourses on Livy, Book III, Chapter 1
Champions keep playing until they get it right
— Various speeches and interviews
I will persist until I succeed; always will I take another step. If that is of no avail I will take another, and yet another
— The Greatest Salesman in the World, Scroll III
Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail
— Essay: Self-Reliance
The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators
— Gibbon’s Miscellaneous Works
If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not, speak then unto me
— Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 3
those who have dared to be different, to challenge the status quo, are the ones history remembers
— Nobel Lecture (2003)
What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think
— Essay: Self-Reliance
The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night
— The Ladder of St. Augustine, 1858
The privilege of absurdity; to which no living creature is subject, but man only
— Leviathan (1651), Part I, Chapter V
Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?
— Letter to George and Georgiana Keats, 1819
The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have
— Often attributed in motivational talks and biographies
He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life
— Speech at Howard University, 1974
Be steady and well-ordered in your life so that you can be fierce and original in your work
— Letter to Gertrude Tennant (1877)
I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship
— Little Women, Part II, Chapter 44
Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration
— Harper's Monthly, September 1932
Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking
— Ideas of Good and Evil, 1903
What we think, we become
— . Dhammapada, verse 1
To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself
— Either/Or (1843)
All progress depends on the unreasonable man
— Man and Superman (1903)
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life
— Speech, 1937 (attributed in multiple speeches)
The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven
— Paradise Lost, Book I
The only time success comes before work is in the dictionary
— Interview, many business talks and writings
There is no wealth like knowledge, and no poverty like ignorance
— Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 113
Each problem that I solved became a rule which served afterwards to solve other problems
— Discourse on the Method, Part 2
The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we are as in what direction we are moving
— The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table (1858)
The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long
— Tao Te Ching, Chapter 44
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes
— In Search of Lost Time (À la recherche du temps perdu), Volume 5
One does not climb to attain enlightenment, rather one climbs because enlightenment is attained
— Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974)
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; if you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; if you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same
— Poem: If—
Courage is grace under pressure
— An interview with Dorothy Parker, The New Yorker, 1929
Let him that would move the world first move himself
— Attributed by Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers
The journey is the reward
— Speech at Apple’s annual shareholder meeting (1983)
You must not confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be
— Stockdale Paradox, interview and leadership lectures, 1992
Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking
— Quoted in 'Handbook to the Works of William Butler Yeats' by E.A. Boyd (1918)
Wherever you are, be all there
— Journal entry, 1949
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?
— Letter to Theo van Gogh, July 1882
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader
— Attributed in speeches and writings
Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time
— The Use of Life, 1894
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity
— Misattributed; often credited to a letter, 1931
Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them
— Ann Landers' column, 1979
The mind is furnished with ideas by experience alone
— An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book II
Better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation
— Letter to Nathaniel Hawthorne, June 1851
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 (1903)
One can ascend to a higher development only by bringing tension and suffering upon oneself
— Psychological Types
To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders
— Tao Te Ching, Chapter 16
The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried
— Doodle Alley (webcomic)
In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer
— Return to Tipasa, 1952
What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value
— The American Crisis (1776)
To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time
— Interview, New York Times, 1972
One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time
— Book: Les nourritures terrestres (Fruits of the Earth)
If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes
— The Secret of Success, New York Tribune, 1903
The man who chases two rabbits catches neither
— Aphorism attributed to Confucius
The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination
— Interview in The Saturday Evening Post, 1929
Men are not disturbed by things, but by the views which they take of things
— Enchiridion, Section 5
The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it
— Peter Pan, Act I, 1904
To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing
— Ascribed aphorism; published in various essays
I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it
— Attributed in interviews and biographies
What you are will show in what you do
— Quoted in Edison: His Life and Inventions by Dyer & Martin
The greatest wealth is to live content with little
— Plato’s Dialogues (often attributed to 'The Republic')
Energy and persistence conquer all things
— Letter to Samuel Johnson, July 23, 1784
Every act of creation is first an act of destruction
— Quoted in Picasso on Art (1966)
Begin somewhere; you cannot build a reputation on what you intend to do
— As quoted in 'Quotable Women' (1997) by Running Press
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons
— The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them
— Interview in Sports Illustrated, 1991
The way to wealth is as plain as the way to market; it depends chiefly on two words, industry and frugality
— Poor Richard's Almanack, 1749
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?
— Letter to Theo van Gogh, July 1882
You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore
— Attributed, often cited in various works
He that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools
— The Analects, Book XV, 10
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer
— Return to Tipasa, 1952 (L'Eté)
The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra
— Motivational talks, widely attributed
I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart
— Letter to Theo van Gogh, July 1882
The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night
— The Ladder of St. Augustine
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together
— Traditional Wisdom; exact origin unknown
One’s duty is to try and endeavor, success or failure is not in our hands
— Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 27
The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master
— This is Water (commencement speech, 2005)
One cannot step twice in the same river
— Fragment 41, various ancient sources
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 (The Wisdom of the Sands)
Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it
— The Art of Happiness (1998)
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us
— We Bereaved, Atlantic Monthly (1936)
There are no traffic jams along the extra mile
— Speech, attributed in leadership talks
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, 1884
I never lose. I either win or learn
— Attributed in multiple speeches and interviews, especially post-1994 presidency
The best way to predict the future is to invent it
— 1971 speech at a meeting of PARC
One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well
— A Room of One's Own, 1929
Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others
— The Brothers Karamazov, Book II, Chapter 2
He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals
— Lectures on Ethics, 1779-1780
I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship
— Personal Journals
The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook
— The Principles of Psychology (1890)
No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen
— Discourses, Book I, Chapter 15
To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive
— El Dorado, essay in Virginibus Puerisque
All things must be examined, debated, investigated without exception and without regard for anyone’s feelings
— Pensées Philosophiques, 1746
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail
— Journals (c. 1839)
Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all
— Atlas Shrugged
Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore
— Les nourritures terrestres (Fruits of the Earth), 1897
The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money
— Letter to John Adams, 1816
What we do is never understood, but always only praised or blamed
— On the Genealogy of Morals (1887), Preface
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm
— The Conduct of Life, 1860
It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed
— Speech, Carnegie Hall, New York, March 30, 1912
Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion
— Letter to John Clellon Holmes, 1956
Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry
— Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar, 1897
A man’s worth is no greater than his ambitions
— Meditations, Book 6, Section 44
The best revenge is massive success
— Interview, Life magazine, 1963
You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too
— Commencement address at Dillard University (2015)
You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end each of us must work for our own improvement
— Nobel Prize acceptance speech, 1925
Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men
— Blood Memory (1991 memoir)
The joy in life is to be used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one
— Man and Superman (1903)
It is the power of the mind to be unconquerable
— Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 12
Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated
— The Old Man and the Sea, 1952
If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite
— The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
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, Lesson Eleven
To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day
— Speech to the House of Commons, September 21, 1943
Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion
— Letter to Ed White, 1950
You must do the work of two men for this reason: you never know when the work of one man will be needed.
— Speech to students, Howard University
What is to give light must endure burning
— Man’s Search for Meaning
The mind is everything; what you think you become
— Traditional Buddhist teachings
To achieve, you need thought. You have to know what you are doing and that's real power
— Atlas Shrugged
The unexamined life is not worth living
— Plato's 'Apology'
You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star
— Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Part I
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change
— Attributed, not directly from On the Origin of Species
If you wish to be a writer, write
— Discourses, Book II, Chapter 12
It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment
— On Duties (De Officiis), Book I
To live without hope is to cease to live
— Notes from Underground, Part II, Chapter V
Energy will do anything that can be done in this world
— Conversations with Eckermann (1836)
Ring the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering
— Song: Anthem, from the album 'The Future' (1992)
A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life
— Letter to his sister Susan, August 1836
Bamboo that bends is stronger than oak that resists
— .
I am a slow walker, but I never walk back
— Attributed in various speeches
All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them
— Speech at The Art of Animation, 1957
The caterpillar does all the work, but the butterfly gets all the publicity
— Quoted in multiple interviews and his book 'Brain Droppings' (1997)
we are not given wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us
— In Search of Lost Time, Volume 4: Sodom and Gomorrah (1921)
The greater danger for most lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark
— attributed, writings
We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit
— The Story of Philosophy (1926), summing up Aristotle
Vision without execution is hallucination
— Attributed (often cited in business contexts)
I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship
— Little Women (1868), Chapter 44
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)
To give without any reward, or any notice, has a special quality of its own
— Gift from the Sea (1955)
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances
— As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII
Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time like dew on the tip of a leaf
— Poem from 'Gitanjali', 1910
To find yourself, think for yourself
— Attributed in Plato's dialogues
Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are
— As a Man Thinketh, 1903
Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in
— Song: Anthem (album: The Future, 1992)
You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength
— Meditations, Book 12
He who is brave is free
— Letters to Lucilius, Letter 37
The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving
— Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship
Fortune favors the prepared mind
— Lecture, University of Lille, 1854
To wish to be well is part of becoming well
— Letter LXXVI, Letters to Lucilius
There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth
— War and Peace (Book 1, Part 1, Chapter 23)
He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would accomplish much must sacrifice much; he who would accomplish greatly must sacrifice greatly
— As a Man Thinketh (1903)
There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all
— The Effective Executive (1967)
The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision
— Atomic Habits (2018)
To enjoy the things we ought and to hate the things we ought has the greatest bearing on excellence of character
— Nicomachean Ethics, Book II, 1104b
There is no armor against fate; every day brings another lesson in humility
— Moralia
The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes
— Book: In Search of Lost Time (À la recherche du temps perdu)
The only way to do great work is to love what you do
— Stanford Commencement Address, 2005
Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in
— Song: Anthem, 1992
To reach a port, we must set sail – sail, not tie at anchor – sail, not drift
— Speech in Worcester, Massachusetts, October 21, 1936
I prefer even to fail with honor than win by cheating
— Philoctetes, line 1022
The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way
— Meditations, Book V, 20
I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it
— .
The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven
— Paradise Lost, Book I
Judge not each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant
— As quoted in The Leader's Digest by Jim Clemmer (2003)
There is no substitute for hard work
— Unknown—widely attributed to Edison, frequently cited in biographies and interviews
Restlessness is discontent—and discontent is the first necessity of progress
— as quoted in Edison: His Life and Inventions by Frank Lewis Dyer and Thomas Commerford Martin
In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on
— unknown (attributed in interviews and speeches)
Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced
— As quoted in The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings (2010)
It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question
— Notes and Counter Notes (1962)
What we fear of doing most is usually what we most need to do
— Essays and Lectures (assorted)
There is no royal road to anything. One thing at a time, all things in succession. That which grows fast, withers as rapidly; that which grows slow, endures
— Gold-Foil, Hammered from Popular Proverbs (1859)
Talent is nothing but a prolonged period of attention and a shortened period of mental assimilation
— An Actor Prepares
We must dare, and dare again, and go on daring
— Speech to the Legislative Assembly (March 1792)
The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be
— Quoted by Socratic pupils, likely in dialogues such as The Republic
The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall
— Speech at Laureus World Sports Awards, 2000
Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen
— Notes on the Cinematographer (1975)
It always seems impossible until it's done
— Speech during Laureus World Sports Awards, 2000
To be fearless no matter what happens—that is the root of true happiness. And to move forward in life constantly, that is the power of the human spirit
— Discussions on Youth (1998)
What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action
— . Sermons and Treatises
The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions
— Analects, Book 14
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it
— Faust (often paraphrased from Goethe’s writing; original: "Begin it, and the work will be completed")
Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail
— Analects (Lunyu), traditional attribution
The only way to become truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work
— Stanford Commencement Address, 2005
The tallest trees are most in the power of the winds, and ambitious men of the blasts of fortune
— Fruits of Solitude (1682)
There are years that ask questions and years that answer
— Their Eyes Were Watching God, Chapter 3
Each man’s life represents a road toward himself
— Demian
The best way out is always through
— A Servant to Servants (poem, 1914)
The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible
— Profiles of the Future (1962), Chapter 2
Be steady and well-ordered in your life so that you can be fierce and original in your work
— Letter to Gertrude Tennant, June 1877
Our life is frittered away by detail; simplify, simplify
— Walden (1854), Chapter 2: Where I Lived, and What I Lived For
If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours
— "Walden", Conclusion
Do not be afraid to give up the good to go for the great
— Attributed in various speeches and writings
It is hard to let the mind wander among all the bright possibilities, yet still return to tend the one little seed one has already planted
— Under My Skin: Volume One of My Autobiography, 1994
There are no standards of taste in wine, cigars, poetry, or success
— Notebook entry, 1906
To wish to be well is part of becoming well
— Letters to Lucilius, Letter LXXVIII
If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else
— Up from Slavery (1901)
If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there’s shouting after you, keep going. Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going
— attributed to Tubman by her followers; source: The Life of Harriet Tubman by Sarah H. Bradford
Success is counted sweetest by those who ne'er succeed
— Poem 112, circa 1859
What you are is what you have been. What you’ll be is what you do now
— Dhammapada, Verse 12 (attributed)
Man must shape himself with tools or be shaped by them
— The Misfits (1961)
Out of timber so crooked as that from which man is made, nothing entirely straight can be built
— Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose, 1784
The tallest candle casts the deepest shadow
— Stray Birds (collection of poems), poem 158
It is hard to beat a person who never gives up
— Remark frequently attributed in interviews and memoirs
A man may imagine things that are false, but he can only understand things that are true
— Opticks, Query 31
You cannot find peace by avoiding life
— Mrs Dalloway (1925)
Do not be satisfied with the stories that come before you. Unfold your own myth
— Mathnawi
The reward of a thing well done is to have done it
— Society and Solitude, Success
The way to gain is to give up all thought of gain
— Middlemarch
Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility
— Sermon 69, section 2
Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in
— Speech, various public remarks
The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials
— As quoted in 'The Life, Labours and Doctrines of Confucius' by Edward Harper Parker, 1897
Excellence is an art won by training and habituation
— Nicomachean Ethics
We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us
— Book: A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living
You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too
— Speech at Dillard University Commencement, 2015
The best way out is always through
— A Servant to Servants, 1914
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better
— Citizenship in a Republic, Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, 1910
There is nothing permanent except change
— Fragments (DK22B91)
Out of timber so crooked as that from which man is made, nothing entirely straight can be built
— Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose (1784)
A man may do an immense deal of good, if he does not care who gets the credit for it
— Disenchantment (Book, 1922)
There is no such thing as failure; there are only results
— Unlimited Power
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock
— Letter to his nephew Peter Carr, 1787
The wound is the place where the Light enters you
— Masnavi, Book III
Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again
— Interview with Richard St. John, 2003
Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better
— Essay: 'Experience', 1844
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet
— Émile, or On Education (1762)
What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say
— Essays: First Series, 1841
The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it; skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests
— Discourses, Book I, Chapter 24
The greatest weariness comes from work not done
— Reflections on the Human Condition (1973)
Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great
— Attributed in business communication, quoted in multiple works on entrepreneurship
Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced
— Letter to George and Georgiana Keats, 1819
The heights charm us, but the steps do not; with the mountain in our view we love to walk the plain
— Maxims and Reflections
The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read
— Commonly attributed in lectures and essays; first published in 'The North American Review', 1900
He who jumps into the void owes no explanation to those who stand and watch
— Interview with Cahiers du Cinéma, 1960s
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 their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible
— Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926), Book I, Chapter I
To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself
— Essay in 'The Concept of Dread' (1844)
I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life
— Speech: The Strenuous Life, Chicago, 1899
A human being’s highest duty is to awaken the sense of responsibility in himself and in others
— Markings (1963)
He who is outside the door has already a good part of his journey behind him
The world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it
— Optimism, an essay, 1903
There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle
— Attributed, context debated; often cited in interviews and works
Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it
— Collected in 'Life Without Principle', 1863
Vision without execution is hallucination
— Attributed, lectures and interviews
The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet
— Ancient Greek philosophical writings, exact text: 'Nicomachean Ethics'
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)
I have trusted to chance and marched on, my eyes fixed on the path ahead, not on the stones beneath my feet
— Letter to Tage Blixen, 1915
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood
— Citizenship in a Republic (1910 Speech, 'The Man in the Arena')
A prudent question is one half of wisdom
— Apophthegms, New and Old (1625)
What you seek is seeking you
— Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi
And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music
— Often attributed; paraphrased from 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra', 1883-1885
Enthusiasm moves the world
— Speech to the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, November 1897
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough
— Motorsport interviews and speeches
What matters most is how well you walk through the fire
— The Roominghouse Madrigals: Early Selected Poems 1946-1966
You become what you contemplate
— Meditations, Book V
Restlessness is discontent—and discontent is the first necessity of progress
— Interview, New York World, 1912
Knowledge is happiness, because to have knowledge—broad, deep knowledge—is to know true ends from false, and lofty things from low
— The Story of My Life, Chapter XXI
Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance
— The Rambler, No. 23 (June 30, 1750)
There are no traffic jams along the extra mile
— Interview, various attributions
You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star
— Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Do not be satisfied with the stories that come before you. Unfold your own myth
— Masnavi, Book I
Beyond this place of wrath and tears looms but the Horror of the shade, and yet the menace of the years finds, and shall find me, unafraid
— Invictus, poem (1875)
You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do
— Attributed in many business lectures and writings
All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous unpremeditated act without benefit of experience
— The Wisdom of the Heart, 1941
Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness
— Past and Present, Book 3, Chapter 11 (1843)
The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way
— Meditations, Book 5
The dreamers are the saviors of the world
— As a Man Thinketh
The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible
— 'Profiles of the Future' (Book, 1962)
I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self
— Nicomachean Ethics, Book III
The highest reward for a man's toil is not what he gets for it but what he becomes by it
— Sesame and Lilies (1865)
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent
— Speech to the Massachusetts State Senate, 1914
Restlessness is discontent—and discontent is the first necessity of progress
— Remark during interview, c. 1921
One who conquers himself is greater than another who conquers a thousand times a thousand on the battlefield
— Dhammapada, Verse 103
To achieve greatness, start where you are, use what you have, do what you can
— Speech attributed, motivational address
There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth
— War and Peace
Nothing will work unless you do
— Collected speeches and interviews
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, 1859
What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality
— On the Control of Anger (Moralia)
Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore
— Les faux-monnayeurs (The Counterfeiters), 1925, attributed
The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want most for what you want right now
— See You at the Top
A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions
— Spoken at a Phi Beta Kappa Meeting, Harvard, 1884
There are years that ask questions and years that answer
— Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), Chapter 3
There is no greatness where simplicity, goodness, and truth are absent
— A Calendar of Wisdom (1904)
Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you
— Book: Delivering Happiness
The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going
— Collected Essays: Self-Reliance
Better to trip with the feet than with the tongue
— Anecdotes of Zeno, as recounted in Diogenes Laertius' Lives of Eminent Philosophers
I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become
— Modern Man in Search of a Soul
He conquers who endures
— Satires, 5.152
The greatest part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances
— Letter to Fanny Bassett Washington, 23 September 1794
The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark
— as attributed in 'The Agony and the Ecstasy' by Irving Stone, reflecting Michelangelo's views
Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again
— Interview with The Good Entrepreneur (2008)
He who is outside the door has already a good part of his journey behind him
— /
I am always doing what I cannot do, so that I may learn how to do it
— Attributed
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, October 1884
I mistrust all systematizers and I avoid them. The will to a system is a lack of integrity
— Book: Twilight of the Idols, Maxims and Arrows, 26
It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation
— White-Jacket, Chapter 63
To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life
— Essay: Familiar Studies of Men and Books (1882)
It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others
— .
One cannot consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar
— Book: The Story of My Life (1903)
One lives in the hope of becoming a memory
— Voices (Voces)
Pursue what is meaningful, not what is expedient
— 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (2018)
The journey is the reward
— Chinese proverb, popularized in various texts; not from a single author
To love what you do and feel that it matters—how could anything be more fun?
— Personal History (Autobiography)
To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself
— Either/Or (1843)
I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think
— Discourses of Rumi (Fihi Ma Fihi)
Do not fear mistakes. There are none
— Interview, The Jazz Review, 1958
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
— The American Crisis, No. 1 (1776)
I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world
— Attributed by Plutarch in 'On Exile', original Socrates context debated
After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box
— Italian proverb
To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself
— 'The Concept of Dread'
Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric
— The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell
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. You dream, you dare and you fly
— Stray Birds (1916)
Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly
— Introduction to the Devout Life
The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it; skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests
— Discourses, Book I, Chapter 24
Genius might be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way
— Interview (1990s), various sources
If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it
— The Arrow and the Song, The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems, 1845
All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare
— Ethics, Part V, Proposition 42, Scholium
Let each become all that he was created capable of being
— Sartor Resartus, Book III, Chapter VIII
The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark
— attributed, various letters and biographies
One cannot step twice in the same river
— . Fragment 41, as quoted in Plato’s Cratylus
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person
— Address at the National Prayer Breakfast, 1994
If you surrender to the wind, you can ride it
— Song of Solomon (1977)
Climb if you will, but remember that courage and strength are nought without prudence, and that a momentary negligence may destroy the happiness of a lifetime
— Scrambles Amongst the Alps
I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self
— Nicomachean Ethics, Book III
Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes
— Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), Act III
If I am not for myself, who is for me? If I am for myself alone, what am I? If not now, when?
— Pirkei Avot 1:14, Mishnah
Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes
— Collected Works, Volume 8: The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche
Everything that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will be
— Meditations, Book IV
I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way, but I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb
— Long Walk to Freedom (autobiography)
I am obliged to be industrious. Whoever is equally industrious will succeed equally well
— Letter to a young admirer
There are years that ask questions and years that answer
— Their Eyes Were Watching God (novel), Chapter 3
Not in goodness nor in riches nor in power lies happiness, but in right action and sufficient effort
To love what you do and feel that it matters—how could anything be more fun
— Personal History (Memoir, 1997)
To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself
— The Sickness Unto Death
Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric
— The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell, Vol. 3
Become who you are
— Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Part III, The Three Evil Things)
When you cease to dream, you cease to live
Vision is not enough; it must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must also step up the stairs
— Disturbing the Peace (Book, 1986)
You will never plough a field by turning it over in your mind
— /
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known
— Cosmos (Book, 1980)
It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves
— Interview, various speeches
To do nothing is sometimes a good remedy
— Aphorisms, Section I, Aphorism 11
Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion
— Interview in Paris Review, 1968
Nothing will come of nothing
— King Lear, Act I, Scene I
Opportunities multiply as they are seized
— The Art of War, Chapter 5
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person
— Speech in Washington, D.C., 1986
To dare is to do; fear not for future but seize the present with both hands
— Sentences
You cannot push anyone up the ladder unless he is willing to climb himself
— Speech to the students of Curry Commercial College, Pittsburgh, 1885
The greater the artist, the greater the doubt. Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize
— The Shock of the New, 1980
Nothing happens unless first a dream
— Poem 'Nothing Happens Unless First a Dream', Complete Poems, 1950
Every strike brings me closer to the next home run
— As quoted in Baseball as I Have Known It by Fred Lieb (1977)
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all
— The Soul of Man Under Socialism (essay)
A man is but the product of his thoughts; what he thinks, he becomes
— .
There is no passion to be found playing small—in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living
— Speech at Laureus World Sports Awards, 2000
Talent is formed in stillness, character in the world’s torrent
— Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship
The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it
— Meditations, Book IV
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees
— Book: Our National Parks (1901)
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
He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind
— Codex Atlanticus
I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught
— Speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet, London, 9 November 1954
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds
— Address at University of Pennsylvania (1936)
What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make
— UN Messenger of Peace speech, 2002
Ambition is enthusiasm with a purpose
— As quoted in The Reader’s Digest, 1981
He who has overcome his fears will truly be free
— Nicomachean Ethics
When deeds speak, words are nothing
— "General Idea of the Revolution in the Nineteenth Century", 1851
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure
— Speech, 2001; various interviews
If you wish to be a writer, write
— Discourses, Book II, Chapter 19
The way to gain is to give up all thought of gain
— Tao Te Ching, Chapter 44
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter
— Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome
— Up From Slavery, Chapter II
I am always doing things I can’t do, that’s how I get to do them
— Quoted in 'Picasso on Art' by Dore Ashton (1972)
Do not whine... Do not complain. Work harder. Spend more time alone
— Slouching Towards Bethlehem, On Self-Respect
Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do
— Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court
The way to be nothing is to do nothing
— Sermon, 1804
He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how
— Twilight of the Idols, Maxims and Arrows, No. 12
There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor
— A Christmas Carol, Stave Three
The horizon tries but it is not as kind to us as we are to ourselves
— Poem: Dreamwood, from 'The Dream of a Common Language' (1978)
One can learn more in a walk in the woods than in hours of study
— Letters, Vol. 1: 1906-1950
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing
— Poor Richard's Almanack (1738)
You must do the thing you think you cannot do
— You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life (1960)
Woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep
— Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars
— Sand and Foam
Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see
— Parerga and Paralipomena (1851)
There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing
— As reported in 'Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers' by Diogenes Laërtius
Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one’s self-esteem
— The Second Sin (book, 1973)
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how
— Twilight of the Idols, Maxims and Arrows, 12
If you’re going through hell, keep going
— Attributed by various biographies and speeches
In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few
— Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, 1970
A work is never completed, but merely abandoned
— Variété: ‘Regards sur le monde actuel’
The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it
— Walden (1854)
Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers
— Attributed in various works and correspondence
The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible
— Profiles of the Future (1962), Chapter 2
There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth
— A Calendar of Wisdom, entry for October 21
The grass does not grow faster if you pull it
— Traditional Proverb (West African origin)
The mind that is anxious about future events is miserable
— Letters to Lucilius, Letter V
I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught
— Speech, House of Commons, November 4, 1952
I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure: try to please everybody
— Speech, various attributions
The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators
— Miscellaneous Works, Volume 2 (1783)
A wise man seeks out more teachers than applause
— Collection of Teachings (Japanese: Kyoten)
The years teach much which the days never know
— Collected Essays: Experience (1844)
You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore
— Address at University of Virginia (1957)
What you get by reaching your destination is not nearly as important as what you will become by reaching your destination
— . (attributed, source in talks and writing)
The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts
— Meditations (Book 5, Section 16)
The secret of man’s being is not only to live but to have something to live for
— The Brothers Karamazov, Book V, Chapter 3
The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists
— Traditional proverb
Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt
— Measure for Measure, Act 1, Scene 4
Be like a postage stamp—stick to one thing until you get there
— Essay collection (c. 19th century)
The road to wisdom? Well, it’s plain and simple to express: Err and err and err again, but less and less and less
— Grooks (collected poems), Grook No. 88, 1966
The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived
— The Fires of Heaven (Book 5 of The Wheel of Time)
The only dreams that matter are the ones you have when you're awake
— Speech at TEDxClaremontColleges, 2012
Everything that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will be
— Meditations, Book IV, 15
The mountain remains unmoved at seeming defeat by the mist
— Stray Birds, verse 241
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all
— Often attributed; originally from "The Soul of Man Under Socialism" (1891)
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons
— Poem: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes
— The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1897)
The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it
— . Epistle to Menoeceus
What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals
— Letter to H.G.O. Blake, 1849
There is no passion to be found playing small—in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living
— Speech at the Laureus World Sports Awards, 2000
Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better
— Essay: Conduct of Life, "Circles"