There is no help for you outside of yourself; you are the creator of the universe. Like the silkworm you have built a cocoon around yourself… . Burst your own cocoon and come out as the beautiful butterfly, as the free soul. Then alone you will see Truth.
—Swami Vivekananda (Indian Hindu Mystic)
In studying the way, realizing it is hard; once you have realized it, preserving it is hard. When you can preserve it, putting it into practice is hard.
—Zen Proverb (Japanese School of Mahayana Buddhism)
People are more inclined to be drawn in if their leader has a compelling vision. Great leaders help people get in touch with their own aspirations and then will help them forge those aspirations into a personal vision.
—John Kotter (American Management Consultant)
How horrible, fantastic, incredible it is that we should be digging trenches and trying on gas masks here because of a quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom we know nothing. It seems still more impossible that a quarrel which has already been settled in principle should be the subject of war.
—Neville Chamberlain (British Head of State)
The people have a right to the truth as they have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
—Epictetus (Ancient Greek Philosopher)
There is not much sense in suffering, since drugs can be given for pain, itching, and other discomforts. The belief has long died that suffering here on earth will be rewarded in heaven. Suffering has lost its meaning.
—Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (American Psychiatrist)
Don’t be afraid of missing opportunities. Behind every failure is an opportunity somebody wishes they had missed.
—Lily Tomlin (American Comedy Actress)
Make revolution a parent of settlement, and not a nursery of future revolutions.
—Edmund Burke (British Philosopher, Statesman)
All of us have bad luck and good luck. The man who persists through the bad luck—who keeps right on going—is the man who is there when the good luck comes—and is ready to receive it.
—Robert Collier (American Self-Help Author)
There is nothing that says more about its creator than the work itself.
—Akira Kurosawa (Japanese Film Director)
The war is lost for too much advice.
—Sicilian Proverb
People with honorary awards are looked upon with disfavor. Would you let an honorary mechanic fix your brand-new Mercedes?
—Neil Simon (American Playwright)