Life is too short to be little. Man is never so manly as when he feels deeply, acts boldly, and expresses himself with frankness and with fervor.
—Benjamin Disraeli (British Head of State)
No man ever got very high by pulling other people down. The intelligent merchant does not knock his competitors. The sensible worker does not knock those who work with him. Don’t knock your friends. Don’t knock your enemies. Don’t knock yourself.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (British Poet)
Happiness is a state of which you are unconscious, of which you are not aware. The moment you are aware that you are happy, you cease to be happy. You want to be consciously happy: the moment you are consciously happy, happiness is gone.
—Jiddu Krishnamurti (Indian Philosopher)
I have seen what a laugh can do. It can transform almost unbearable tears into something bearable, even hopeful.
—Bob Hope (British-born American Comedian, Film Actor)
If we get everything that we want, we will soon want nothing that we get.
—Vernon Luchies (American Clergyman)
There is great comfort and inspiration in the feeling of close human relationships and its bearing on our mutual fortunes – a powerful force, to overcome the “tough breaks” which are certain to come to most of us from time to time.
—Walt Disney (American Entrepreneur)
Not only is there a right to be happy, there is a duty to be happy. So much sadness exists in the world that we are all under obligation to contribute as much joy as lies within our powers.
—John Sutherland Bonnell (American Preacher)
Man is not only a contributory creature, but a total creature; he does not only make one, but he is all; he is not a piece of the world, but the world itself; and next to the glory of God, the reason why there is a world.
—John Donne (English Poet, Cleric)
There’s a difference between tough-mindedness and meanness.
—Jeffrey Immelt (American Businessperson)
Devotion must not be like the flood of the rainy season in which all get washed away. Devotion should be like the river that retains water even in the hottest season.
—Kabir (Indian Mystic)
Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.
—Francis Bacon (English Philosopher)
Enduring setbacks while maintaining the ability to show others the way to go forward is a true test of leadership.
—Nitin Nohria (Indian-American Academic)
Loving someone is setting them free, letting them go.
—Kate Winslet (English Actress)
Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.
—Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (Persian Muslim Mystic)