Inspirational Quotations

In everyday life the exchange of opinion with others checks our partiality and widens our perspective; we are made to see things from the standpoint of others and the limits of our vision are brought home to us.
—John Rawls (American Philosopher)

It takes more courage to reveal insecurities than to hide them, more strength to relate to people than to dominate them, more “manhood” to abide by thought-out principles rather than blind reflex. Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles and an immature mind.
—Alex Karras (American Football Star, Actor)

Citizenship is a tough occupation which obliges the citizen to make his own informed opinion and stand by it.
—Martha Gellhorn (American Novelist, Journalist)

Simplicity is indeed often the sign of truth and a criterion of beauty.
—Mahlon Hoagland (American Biochemist)

It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep.
—Benito Mussolini (Italian Head of State)

Money alone isn’t enough to bring happiness . . . happiness is when you’re actually truly ok with losing everything you have.
—Tony Hsieh (American Entrepreneur)

He prays best who does not know that he is praying.
—Anthony of Padua (Portuguese Friar)

Myth is supposed to bring us together, but fantasy alienates us.
—Dustin Hoffman (American Actor)

There are three answers to prayer: yes, no, and wait awhile. It must be recognized that no is an answer.
—Ruth Stafford Peale (American Self-Help Author)

Any creator owes a debt to past creation.
—Lukas Foss (German-American Composer)

Let us consider the nature of true greatness in men. The people who can catch hold of men’s minds and feelings and inspire them to do things bigger than themselves are the people who are remembered in history… . those who stir feelings and imagination and make men struggle toward perfection.
—Henry Eyring (American Chemist)

I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine.
—Caskie Stinnett (American Travel Writer, Humorist)

I believe everybody is creative and everybody is talented, I just don’t think that everybody is disciplined. I think that’s a rare commodity.
—Al Hirschfeld (American Caricaturist)

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime.
—Laura Ingalls Wilder (American Author of Children’s Novels)

That is the best—to laugh with someone because you think the same things are funny.
—Gloria Vanderbilt (American Artist, Socialite)

We must never confuse elegance with snobbery.
—Yves Saint Laurent (French Designer)

Strictly speaking, there is but one real evil: I mean acute pain. All other complaints are so considerably diminished by time that it is plain the grief is owing to our passion, since the sensation of it vanishes when that is over.
—Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (English Aristocrat, Poet)

God made death so we’d know when to stop.
—Steve Stiles (American Cartoonist)

You can’t get rid of poverty by giving people money.
—P. J. O’Rourke (American Journalist)

The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scripture ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.
—Noah Webster (American Lexicographer)

If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.
—Edward Hopper (American Painter)

There is no greater calling than to serve your fellow men. There is no greater contribution than to help the weak. There is no greater satisfaction than to have done it well.
—Walter Reuther (American Labor Leader)

Acting is the least mysterious of all crafts. Whenever we want something from somebody or when we want to hide something or pretend, we’re acting. Most people do it all day long.
—Marlon Brando (American Actor)

Women do not find it difficult nowadays to behave like men, but they often find it extremely difficult to behave like gentlemen.
—Compton Mackenzie (English Writer)

Social problems can no longer be solved by class warfare any more than international problems can be solved by wars between nations. Warfare is negative and will sooner or later lead to destruction, while good will and cooperation are positive and supply the only safe basis for building a better future.
—Fridtjof Nansen (Norwegian Arctic Explorer)

The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life. To become aware of the possibility of the search is to be onto something. Not to be onto something is to be in despair.
—Walker Percy (American Novelist)

All great ones have undergone suffering. None can escape what is ordained.
—Yogaswami of Jaffna (Sri Lankan Hindu Religious Leader)

All great work is preparing yourself for the accident to happen.
—Sidney Lumet (American Filmmaker)

Keep the other person’s well-being in mind when you feel an attack of soul-purging truth coming on.
—Betty White (American Comedian)

People start parades—politicians just get out in front and act like they’re leading.
—Buck Rinehart (American Politician)

One had better die fighting against injustice than die like a dog or a rat in a trap.
—Ida B. Wells (American Journalist, Activist)

In spite of all the refinements of civilization that conspired to make art – the dizzying perfection of the string quartet or the sprawling grandeur of Fragonard
—Anne Rice (American Author)

All genuine progress results from finding new facts. No law can be passed to make an acre yield three hundred bushels. God has already established the laws. It is four us to discover them, and to learn the facts by which we can obey them.
—Wheeler McMillen (American Farmer, Journalist)

Oh, the secret life of man and woman—dreaming how much better we would be than we are if we were somebody else or even ourselves, and feeling that our estate has been unexploited to its fullest.
—Zelda Fitzgerald (American Writer, Artist)

All of us who served in one war or another know very well that all wars are the glory and the agony of the young.
—Gerald Ford (American Head of State)

Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language, and yet one that we are culturally cut off from understanding and enjoying. The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things.
—Elise M. Boulding (American Peace Scholar)

If you treat every situation as a life and death matter, you’ll die a lot of times.
—Dean Smith (American Basketball Coach)

The danger of censorship in cultural media increases in proportion to the degree to which one approaches the winning of a mass audience.
—James T. Farrell (American Novelist)

Fear is only an illusion. It is the illusion that creates the feeling of separateness—the false sense of isolation that exists only in your imagination.
—Jeraldine Saunders (American Writer, Television Personality)

God is a verb, not a noun.
—Buckminster Fuller (American Inventor, Philosopher)

Since each person, as an individual, is the not-being of the other, it is never possible to eliminate non-understanding completely.
—Friedrich Schleiermacher (German Theologian)

No longer can we be satisfied with a life where the heart has its reasons which reason cannot know. Our hearts must know the world of reason, and reason must be guided by an informed heart.
—Bruno Bettelheim (Austrian-born Psychoanalyst)

Sorrows cannot all be explained away in a life truly lived, grief and loss accumulate like possessions.
—Stefan Kanfer (American Journalist, Author)

What is, is; and what ain’t, ain’t
—Joseph Granville (American Investor)

Most true happiness comes from one’s inner life, from the disposition of the mind and soul. Admittedly, a good inner life is difficult to achieve, especially in these trying times. It takes reflection and contemplation and self-discipline.
—William L. Shirer (American Author)

If there is one thing which a comparative study of religions places in the clearest light, it is the inevitable decay to which every religion is exposed. It may seem almost like a truism, that no religion can continue to be what it was during the lifetime of its founder and its first apostles.
—Max Muller (German-British Orientalist)

I think there is a choice possible to us at any moment, as long as we live. But there is no sacrifice. There is a choice, and the rest falls away. Second choice does not exist. Beware of those who talk about sacrifice.
—Muriel Rukeyser (American Poet)

The essential ingredient in politics is timing.
—Pierre Trudeau (Canadian Statesman)

I think innocence is something that adults project upon children that’s not really there.
—Donna Tartt (American Novelist)

An orator without judgment is a horse without a bridle.
—Theophrastus (Greek Philosopher)

Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge, fitter to bruise than polish.
—Anne Bradstreet (American Poet)

I think isolation is one of the greatest problems, an ever-growing obstacle to political solidarity.
—Elfriede Jelinek (Austrian Author)

Seek not to follow in the footsteps of men of old; seek what they sought.
—Matsuo Basho (Japanese Poet)

If one benefits tangibly from the exploitation of others who are weak, is one morally implicated in their predicament? Or are basic rights of human existence confined to the civilized societies that are wealthy enough to afford them? Our values are defined by what we will tolerate when it is done to others.
—William Greider (American Journalist)

Good men prefer to be accountable.
—Michael Edwardes (British Business Executive)

It is at night that faith in light is admirable.
—Edmond Rostand (French Dramatist)

It is necessary to relax your muscles when you can. Relaxing your brain is fatal.
—Stirling Moss (English Motor-Racing Driver)

Freedom, morality, and the human dignity of the individual consists precisely in this; that he does good not because he is forced to do so, but because he freely conceives it, wants it, and loves it.
—Mikhail Bakunin (Russian Anarchist)

Pray to God, at the beginning of all thy works, that so thou mayest bring them all to a good ending.
—Xenophon (Ancient Greek Philosopher)

When you put your hand to the plow, you can’t put it down until you get to the end of the row.
—Alice Paul (American Suffragist)

You can either grow old gracefully or begrudgingly. I chose both.
—Roger Moore (English Actor)

Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas.
—Elizabeth Murray (American Artist)

Beginnings are apt to be shadowy and so it is the beginnings of the great mother life, the sea.
—Rachel Carson (American Biologist)

The richest man in the world is not the one who still has the first dollar he ever earned. It’s the man who still has his best friend.
—Martha Mason (American Memoirist)

The politician who never made a mistake never made a decision.
—John Major (British Head of State)

Nothing is impossible for those who act after wise counsel and careful thought.
—The Thirukkural (Indian Tamil Literary Classic)

Don’t worry about being effective. Just concentrate on being faithful to the truth.
—Dorothy Day (American Journalist Reformer)

It’s afterwards you realize that the feeling of happiness you had with a man didn’t necessarily prove that you loved him.
—Marguerite Duras (French Novelist, Playwright)

So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.
—Baha’u’llah (Persian Religious Leader)

Science is all those things which are confirmed to such a degree that it would be unreasonable to withhold one’s provisional consent.
—Stephen Jay Gould (American Paleontologist)

Constancy is the complement of all other human virtues.
—Giuseppe Mazzini (Italian Revolutionary)

I could prove God statistically.
—George Gallup (American Statistician)

Life flows on within you and without you.
—George Harrison (English Singer)

Intuition isn’t mystical.
—James D. Watson (American Biologist)

Our culture has become something that is completely and utterly in love with its parent. It’s become a notion of boredom that is bought and sold, where nothing will happen except that people will become more and more terrified of tomorrow, because the new continues to look old, and the old will always look cute.
—Malcolm Mclaren (British Impresario, Musician)

Thou shalt not get found out is not one of God’s commandments; and no man can be saved by trying to keep it.
—Leonard Bacon (American Preacher, Writer)

Half uttered praise is to the curious mind, as to the eye half veiled beauty is more precious than the whole.
—Joanna Baillie (Scottish Dramatist, Poet)

Life is a means of extracting fiction.
—Robert Stone (American Novelist)

Let no one think that real gardening is a bucolic and meditative occupation. It is an insatiable passion, like everything else to which a man gives his heart.
—Karel Capek (Czech Novelist)

Every man has his faults. It all depends on whether he has enough good qualities to counterbalance them.
—Ferenc Santa (Hungarian Novelist)

I have three phobias which, could I mute them, would make my life as slick as a sonnet, but as dull as ditch water: I hate to go to bed, I hate to get up, and I hate to be alone.
—Tallulah Bankhead (American Actress)

Nobody motivates today’s workers. If it doesn’t come from within, it doesn’t come. Fun helps remove the barriers that allow people to motivate themselves.
—Herman Cain (American Businessman)

Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. You can see that when you think how the friends that really listen to us are the ones we move toward, and we want to sit in their radius as though it did us good, like ultraviolet rays.
—Brenda Ueland (American Journalist Memoirist)

Redundancy is expensive but indispensable.
—Jane Jacobs (Canadian Urbanologist)

Cranks live by theory, not by pure desire. They want votes, peace, nuts, liberty, and spinning-looms not because they love these things, as a child loves jam, but because they think they ought to have them. That is one element which makes the crank.
—Rose Macaulay (British Author)

Let us have but one end in view, the welfare of humanity; and let us put aside all selfishness in consideration of language, nationality, or religion.
—John Amos Comenius (Czech Educator)

Human rights are not a luxury, or something to be observed if they don’t conflict with some other priority, like peace or economic development. They are instead the key to achieving those things and anything else of urgent importance to the world.
—Robert L. Bernstein (American Publisher, Activist)

I offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor food; I offer only hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles and death. Let him who loves his country with his heart, and not merely with his lips, follow me.
—Giuseppe Garibaldi (Italian Revolutionary)

Success isn’t magic or hocus-pocus—its simply learning how to focus.
—Jack Canfield (American Self-Help Author)

Like water which can clearly mirror the sky and the trees only so long as its surface is undisturbed, the mind can only reflect the true image of the Self when it is tranquil and wholly relaxed.
—Indra Devi (Russian-American Yoga Teacher)

The older we get the more we seem to think that everything was better in the past.
—Tanizaki Jun’ichiro (Japanese Novelist)

There are many problems in life where the solution is largely a brainless time investment.
—Steve Pavlina (American Motivational Speaker)

Love is a gift from God, and as we obey His laws and genuinely learn to serve others, we develop God’s love in our lives. Love of God is the means of unlocking divine powers which help us to live worthily and to overcome the world.
—David B. Haight (American Mormon Leader)

When man meets an obstacle he can’t destroy, he destroys himself.
—Ryszard Kapuscinski (Polish Journalist)

Natural species are the library from which genetic engineers can work.
—Thomas Lovejoy (American Biologist)

I am like a doctor. I have written a prescription to help the patient. If the patient doesn’t want all the pills I’ve recommended, that’s up to him. But I must warn that next time I will have to come as a surgeon with a knife.
—Javier Perez de Cuellar (Peruvian Diplomat, Politician)

Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations.
—Paul Rand (American Graphic Designer)

The best that companies can do is let a thousand flowers bloom, in the hope that one of them sprouts into a substantial growth business.
—Clayton M. Christensen (American Academic, Business Consultant)

The grace that makes every grace amiable is humility.
—Samuel Richardson (English Novelist)

What we do not understand, we cannot control.
—Charles A. Reich (American Jurist, Author)

People who are smart get into Mensa. People who are really smart look around and leave.
—James Randi (Canadian-American Escapologist)

If you think of life as like a big pie, you can try to hold the whole pie and kill yourself trying to keep it, or you can slice it up and give some to the people around you, and you still have plenty left for yourself.
—Jay Leno (American Comedian)

If a warrior is to succeed at anything, the success must come gently, with a great deal of effort but with no stress or obsession.
—Carlos Castaneda (Peruvian-born American Anthropologist)

The future is much like the present, only longer.
—Dan Quisenberry (American Baseball Player)

All the rarest hues of human life take radiance and are rainbowed out in tears.
—Gerald Massey (English Mystic, Poet)

Friendship is one mind in two bodies.
—Mencius (Chinese Philosopher, Sage)

There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. These are things we don’t know we don’t know.
—Donald Rumsfeld (American Government Official)

A life lived of choice is a life of conscious action. A life lived of chance is a life of unconscious creation.
—Neale Donald Walsch (American Spiritual Writer)

A library is a path to the future—find yours there.
—Mary Higgins Clark (American Novelist)

History does not belong to us; we belong to it.
—Hans-Georg Gadamer (German Philosopher)

I forget what I was taught. I only remember what I have learnt.
—Patrick White (Australian Novelist)

Solitude is good company and my architecture is not for those who fear or shun it.
—Luis Barragan (Mexican Architect)

Science is the one human activity that is totally progressive.
—Edwin Hubble (American Astronomer)

Opinionated writing is always the most difficult… simply because it involves retaining in the cold morning-after crystal of the printed word the burning flow of molten feeling.
—Gavin Lyall (English Spy Fiction Writer)

The emotional brain responds to an event more quickly than the thinking brain.
—Daniel Goleman (American Psychologist, Author)

All history is a lie.
—Robert Walpole (British Statesman)

The secret of a leader lies in the tests he has faced over the whole course of his life and the habit of action he develops in meeting those tests.
—Gail Sheehy (American Writer, Journalist)

If you don’t like the question that’s asked, answer some other question.
—Howard Baker (American Politician)

High office is like a pyramid; only two kinds of animals reach the summit, reptiles and eagles.
—Jean le Rond d’Alembert (French Mathematician)

When you are young, you should live out every weekend. Even if you look like a scarecrow, you just gotta go!
—Jonathan Brandis (American Child Actor)

A minor operation is one that is done on someone else.
—Richard Selzer (American Surgeon)

All outward forms of religion are almost useless, and are the causes of endless strife. Believe there is a great power silently working all things for good, behave yourself and never mind the rest.
—Beatrix Potter (British Children’s Author)

Perhaps you have noticed that even in the very lightest breeze you can hear the voice of the cottonwood tree; this we understand is its prayer to the Great Spirit, for not only men, but all things and all beings pray to Him continually in differing ways.
—Black Elk (Native American Spiritual Leader)

A wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away, and the trees stand. I think, I, too, have known autumn too long.
—e. e. cummings (American Poet, Writer, Painter)

Leadership to me means duty, honor, country. It means character, and it means listening from time to time.
—George H. W. Bush (American Head of State)

Each of us needs time for mental self-renewal.
—Whitt N. Schultz (American Self-help Author)

Be willing to make decisions. That’s the most important quality in a good leader. Don’t fall victim to what I call the ‘ready-aim-aim-aim-aim syndrome’. You must be willing to fire.
—T. Boone Pickens (American Businessman, Financier)

After all, what can we ever gain in forever looking back and blaming ourselves if our lives have not turned out quite as we might have wished?
—Kazuo Ishiguro (British Novelist)

The motto should not be: Forgive one another; rather understand one another.
—Emma Goldman (American Anarchist)

Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.
—B. K. S. Iyengar (Indian Hindu Yoga Teacher)

But if we learn to think of it as anticipation, as learning, as growing, if we think of the time we spend waiting for the big things of life as an opportunity instead of a passing of time, what wonderful horizons open out!
—Anna Neagle (English Actress)