Inspirational Quotations

Illusion is the dust the devil throws in the eyes of the foolish.
—Minna Antrim (American Writer, Epigrammist)

Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success.
—Christopher Lasch (American Historian)

Having more than you need can be a liability masquerading as an advantage, and no sense of “enough” can look like ambition but often leads you over the edge.
—Morgan Housel (American Financial Journalist, Investor)

It is easy to fool yourself. It is more difficult to fool the people you work for. It is still more difficult to fool the people you work with. And it is almost impossible to fool the people who work under your direction.
—Harry Bates Thayer (American Business Executive)

Crash programs fail because they are based on theory that, with nine women pregnant, you can get a baby in a month.
—Wernher von Braun (American Engineer)

I don’t pity any man who does hard work worth doing. I admire him. I pity the creature who does not work, at whichever end of the social scale he may regard himself as being.
—Theodore Roosevelt (American Head of State)

As universal a practice as lying is, and as easy a one as it seems, I do not remember to have heard three good lies in all my conversation.
—Jonathan Swift (Irish Satirist)

Pursue not a victory too far. He hath conquered well that hath made his enemy fly; thou mayest beat him to a desperate resistance, which may ruin thee.
—George Herbert (Welsh Anglican Poet)

True originality consists not in a new manner but in a new vision.
—Edith Wharton (American Novelist, Short-story Writer)

It isn’t the mountain ahead that wears you out; it’s the grain of sand in your shoe.
—Robert W. Service (Canadian Poet)

Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue.
—Scott Adams (American Cartoonist)

You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.
—Zig Ziglar (American Author)

The world is shrinking together; it is finding itself neighbor to itself in strange, almost magic degree.
—W. E. B. Du Bois (American Sociologist, Activist)

I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I shouldn’t wish people dogmatically to believe any philosophy, not even mine.
—Bertrand A. Russell (British Philosopher, Mathematician)

Empathy frequently informs our earliest days with our infants as we try to figure out what they need, how to comfort and satisfy them
—Katherine Ellison (American Journalist)

Man’s great misfortune is that he has no organ, no kind of eyelid or brake, to mask or block a thought, or all thought, when he wants to.
—Paul Valery (French Critic, Poet)

We can teach ourselves to see things the way they ARE. Only with vision can we begin to see things the way they CAN BE.
—Max De Pree (American Businessman)

The camera cannot lie, but it can be an accessory to untruth.
—Harold Evans (British-American Journalist)

You treat a disease, you win, you lose. You treat a person, and I guarantee you’ll win no matter the outcome.
—Robin Williams (American Actor, Comedian)

Fame is but the breath of people, and that often unwholesome.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (French Philosopher)

Neither man nor nation can exist without a sublime idea.
—Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Russian Novelist)

Gratitude is one of the least articulate of the emotions, especially when it is deep.
—Felix Frankfurter (Austrian-Born Jurist)

Over the years your bodies become walking autobiographies, telling friends and strangers alike of the minor and major stresses of your lives.
—Marilyn Ferguson (American Author)

Real education should educate us out of self into something far finer—into a selflessness which links us with all humanity.
—Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor (British Politician)

Country people tend to consider that they have a corner on righteousness and to distrust most manifestations of cleverness, while people in the city are leery of righteousness but ascribe to themselves all manner of cleverness.
—Edward Hoagland (American Essayist)

A man is usually more careful of his money than of his principles.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (American Jurist, Author)

There is something beautiful about all scars of whatever nature. A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed and healed, done with.
—Harry Crews (American Novelist, Critic)

There is no insanity so devastating in man’s life as utter sanity.
—William Allen White (American Journalist)

When a great man has some one object in view to be achieved in a given time, it may be absolutely necessary for him to walk out of all the common roads.
—Edmund Burke (British Philosopher, Statesman)

Lies are essential to humanity. They are perhaps as important as the pursuit of pleasure and moreover are dictated by that pursuit.
—Marcel Proust (French Novelist)

A friend you have to buy; enemies you get for nothing.
—Yiddish Proverb

The ideal society would enable every man and woman to develop along their individual lines, and not attempt to force all into one mould, however admirable.
—J. B. S. Haldane (British Scientist)

He teaches me to be good who does me good.
—Thomas Fuller (English Cleric, Historian)

No change in musical style will survive unless it is accompanied by a change in clothing style. Rock is to dress up to.
—Frank Zappa (American Rock Guitarist, Singer, Composer)

Power does not satisfy, on the contrary it is like a drug and always requires greater doses.
—Luciano De Crescenzo (Italian Film Actor, Director, Engineer)

It’s only a thought, and a thought can be changed.
—Louise Hay (American Self-Help Author)

Creation is a better means of self-expression than possession; it is through creating, not possessing, that life is revealed.
—Vida Dutton Scudder (American Social Activist)

We lay aside letters never to read them again, and at last we destroy them out of discretion, and so disappears the most beautiful, the most immediate breath of life, irrecoverable for ourselves and for others.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German Poet)

Society attacks early, when the individual is helpless.
—B. F. Skinner (American Psychologist)

What is the opposite of two? A lonely me, a lonely you.
—Richard Wilbur (American Poet, Translator)

It is the public scandal that offends; to sin in secret is no sin at all.
—Moliere (French Playwright)

Sloppy thinking gets worse over time.
—Jenny Holzer (American Conceptual Artist)

True, a little learning is a dangerous thing, but it still beats total ignorance.
—Pauline Phillips (Abigail van Buren) (American Advice Columnist)

I can’t remember the names of all the clubs we went to.
—Shaquille O’Neal (American Sportsperson)

Optimism and self-pity are the positive and negative poles of modern cowardice.
—Cyril Connolly (British Literary Critic)

Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he just picks himself up and stumbles on.
—Winston Churchill (British Head of State)

The body, that is but dust; the soul, it is a bud of eternity.
—Nathaniel Culverwell (English Theologian, Philosopher)

Mental health problems do not affect three or four out of every five persons, but one out of one.
—Karl Menninger (American Psychiatrist)

Without inspiration the best powers of the mind remain dormant. There is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks.
—Johann Gottfried Herder (German Critic, Poet)

Let us not believe that it is enough to read without unction, to speculate without devotion, to investigate without wonder, to observe without joy, to act without godly zeal, to know without love, to understand without humility, to strive without divine grace, or to reflect as a mirror without divinely inspired wisdom.
—Bonaventure (Italian Christian Scholar)

To give vent now and then to his feelings, whether of pleasure or discontent, is a great ease to a man’s heart.
—Francesco Guicciardini (Italian Historian)

Those who want the fewest things are nearest to the gods.
—Socrates (Ancient Greek Philosopher)

It is not the voice that commands the story: it is the ear.
—Italo Calvino (Italian Novelist, Writer)

The fortune which nobody sees makes a person happy and unenvied.
—Francis Bacon (English Philosopher)

Life is its own journey, presupposes its own change and movement, and one tries to arrest them at one’s eternal peril.
—Laurens van der Post (South African Explorer, Writer)

There’s good in everybody. Boost. Don’t knock.
—Warren G. Harding (American Politician, Publisher)

Exile, for no other motive than ease, would be the last defeat, with no seed of future victory in it.
—Lois McMaster Bujold (American Writer)

The saddest thing I can imagine is to get used to luxury.
—Charlie Chaplin (British Actor)

Above all things, reverence yourself.
—Pythagoras (Greek Philosopher)

Choose your neighbor before you buy your house.
—African Proverb

Respect commands itself and it can neither be given nor withheld when it is due.
—Eldridge Cleaver (American Activist)

One of the ill effects of cruelty is that it makes the by-standers cruel.
—Thomas Buxton, 1st Baronet (British Religious Figure)

If everything’s under control, you’re going too slow.
—Mario Andretti (Italian-American Racing Driver)

The study of science teaches young men to think, while study of the classics teaches them to express thought.
—John Stuart Mill (English Philosopher, Economist)

Do not attempt to do a thing unless you are sure of yourself, but do not relinquish it simply because someone else is not sure of you.
—Stewart Edward White (American Adventure Writer)

Beauty is rarely soft or consolatory. Quite the contrary. Genuine beauty is always quite alarming.
—Donna Tartt (American Novelist)

A myth is an image in terms of which we try to make sense of the world.
—Alan Watts (British-American Philosopher)

In order to have an enemy, one must be somebody.—One must be a force before he can be resisted by another force—a malicious enemy is better than a clumsy friend.
—Sophie Swetchine (Russian Mystic, Writer)

If winter comes, can spring be far behind?
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (English Poet)

Waiting is one of life’s hardships.
—Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler) (American Author)

Instinct is untaught ability.
—Alexander Bain (Scottish Philosopher)

Hope is the poor man’s bread.
—Common Proverb

Every well-written book is a light for me. When you write, you use other writers and their books as guides in the wilderness.
—Kate DiCamillo (American Children’s Author)

The tourist who moves about to see and hear and open himself to all the influences of the places which condense centuries of human greatness is only a man in search of excellence.
—Max Lerner (American Author)

When life doesn’t meet your expectations, it was important to take it with grace.
—Patricia Briggs (American Writer)

A scholar who loves comfort is not fit to be called a scholar.
—Confucius (Chinese Philosopher)

All who joy would win must share it,—happiness was born a twin.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (English Romantic Poet)

Being a famous writer is a little like being a tall dwarf. You’re on the edge of normality.
—John Updike (American Author)

Boredom is what you fight. Constant, ever-present boredom. So you learn to look forward to small things. Sunlight glimpsed through a cloud, an extra piece of pie or candy, good thread to sew your blouse, a ribbon to wear in your hair.
—Valerie Wilson Wesley (American Mystery Author)

Work is something you can count on, a trusted, lifelong friend who never deserts you.
—Margaret Bourke-White (American Photographer)

Maturity is achieved when a person postpones immediate pleasures for long-term values.
—Joshua L. Liebman (American Rabbi)

Why can’t peace be a single overriding common purpose: why do we wait for a crisis to pull us together? Let’s pull together for peace.
—Rita Mae Brown (American Writer, Feminist)

Mythology is the religious sentiment growing wild.
—Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (German Philosopher)

Art is art. Everything else is everything else.
—Ad Reinhardt (American Abstract Painter)

God lends a helping hand to the man who tries hard.
—Aeschylus (Greek Playwright)

What students lack in school is an intellectual relationship or conversation with the teacher.
—William Glasser (American Psychiatrist)

Fame is the sum of misapprehensions that accrue around a name.
—Rainer Maria Rilke (Austrian Poet)

If you could get up the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed.
—David Viscott (American Psychiatrist, Author)

The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it.—Skilful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.
—Epicurus (Greek Philosopher)

That observation which is called knowledge of the world will be found much more frequently to make men cunning than good.
—Samuel Johnson (British Essayist)

Religion is probably, after sex, the second oldest resource which human beings have available to them for blowing their minds.
—Susan Sontag (American Writer, Philosopher)

Every man is, no doubt, by nature, first and principally recommended to his own care; and as he is fitter to take care of himself than of any other person, it is fit and right that it should be so.
—George Goodman (American Economist)

Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come; you have to get up and make them.
—Madam C. J. Walker (American Entrepreneur)

The ignorant man marvels at the exceptional; the wise man marvels at the common; the greatest wonder of all is the regularity of nature.
—George Boardman the Younger (American Clergyman)

Who fears to offend takes the first step to please.
—Colley Cibber (English Playwright)

The truest expression of a people is in its dance and in its music. Bodies never lie.
—Agnes de Mille (American Dancer)

If you advertise an interest in buying collies, a lot of people will call hoping to sell you their cocker spaniels.
—Warren Buffett (American Investor)

It is pure illusion to think that an opinion that passes down from century to century, from generation to generation, may not be entirely false.
—Pierre Bayle (French Philosopher)

Love is an emotion experienced by the many and enjoyed by the few.
—George Jean Nathan (American Drama Critic)

There are few things as seemingly untouched by the real world as a child asleep.
—John Irving (American Novelist)

Women’s propensity to share confidences is universal. We confirm our reality by sharing.
—Barbara Grizzuti Harrison (American Journalist)

The interval between the decay of the old and the formation and establishment of the new constitutes a period of transition which must always necessarily be one of uncertainty, confusion, error, and wild and fierce fanaticism.
—John C. Calhoun (American Head of State)

If writers were good businessmen, they’d have too much sense to be writers.
—Irvin S. Cobb (American Humorist)

I always divide people into two groups. Those who live by what they know to be a lie, and those who live by what they believe, falsely, to be the truth.
—Christopher Hampton (British Playwright, Screenwriter)

Women cannot complain about men anymore until they start getting better taste in them.
—Bill Maher (American Comedian, TV Personality)

Every form of government tends to perish by excess of its basic principles.
—Will Durant (American Historian)

A man falls in love through his eyes, a woman through her ears.
—Woodrow Wyatt (British Journalist, Politician)

Beauty is God’s handwriting.
—Charles Kingsley (English Clergyman)

Sufficient to each day are the duties to be done and the trials to be endured. God never built a Christian strong enough to carry today’s duties and tomorrow’s anxieties piled on the top of them.
—Theodore L. Cuyler (American Presbyterian Clergyman)

Any kid who has two parents who are interested in him and a houseful of books isn’t poor.
—Sam Levenson (American Humorist)

It’s a funny thing, the more I practice the luckier I get.
—Arnold Palmer (American Sportsperson)

Intelligence appears to be the thing that enables a man to get along without education. Education enables a man to get along without the use of his intelligence.
—Albert Edward Wiggam (American Psychologist, Writer)

The greatest obstacle to discovering the shape of the earth, the continents and the ocean was not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge.
—Daniel J. Boorstin (American Historian)

I do not bemoan misfortune. To me there is no misfortune. I welcome whatever comes; I go out gladly to meet it.
—Muriel Strode (American Author, Businesswoman)

Conduct is more convincing than language.
—John Woolman (American Quaker Reformer)

There is always a time to make right what is wrong.
—Susan Griffin (American Feminist Author)

Tis’ better to live your own life imperfectly than to imitate someone else’s perfectly.
—Elizabeth Gilbert (American Novelist)

All we know of the truth is that the absolute truth, such as it is, is beyond our reach.
—Nicholas of Cusa (German Cardinal, Philosopher)

You need to play with supreme confidence, or else you’ll lose again, and then losing becomes a habit.
—Joe Paterno (American Sportsperson)

No author dislikes to be edited as much as he dislikes not to be published.
—Russell Lynes (American Art Historian)

When you stop having dreams and ideals—well, you might as well stop altogether.
—Marian Anderson (American Singer)

A liberal is man who will give away everything he doesn’t own.
—Frank Lane (American Sportsperson)