Inspirational Quotations

The biggest disease today is not leprosy or cancer or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for, deserted by everybody. The greatest evil is the lack of love and charity, the terrible indifference towards one’s neighbor.
—Mother Teresa (Albanian Catholic Humanitarian)

The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts. An immense difference.
—Henry Miller (American Novelist)

Whoever does not know how to find the way to his ideal lives more frivolously and impudently than the man without an ideal.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (German Philosopher, Scholar)

It is always in the midst, in the epicenter, of your troubles that you find serenity.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (French Novelist, Aviator)

The real tragedy of life is not being limited to one talent, but in failing to use that one talent.
—E. W. Howe (American Novelist)

Everything great in the world is done by neurotics; they alone founded our religions and created our masterpieces.
—Marcel Proust (French Novelist)

We learn our virtues from the bosom friends who love us; our faults from the enemy who hates us. We cannot easily discover our real character from a friend. He is a mirror, on which the warmth of our breath impedes the clearness of the reflection.
—Jean Paul (German Novelist)

A preoccupation with the future not only prevents us from seeing the present as it is, but often prompts us to rearrange the past.
—Eric Hoffer (American Philosopher)

There are events which are so great that if a writer has participated in them his obligation is to write truly rather than assume the presumption of altering them with invention.
—Ernest Hemingway (American Author)

Religion is what keeps the poor man from murdering the rich
—Napoleon I (French Monarch)

Freedom unexercised may become freedom forfeited.
—Margaret Chase Smith

A university should be a place of light, of liberty and of learning.
—Benjamin Disraeli (British Head of State)

Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will.
—Vernon Howard

Morality is always the product of terror; its chains and strait-waistcoats are fashioned by those who dare not trust others, because they dare not trust themselves, to walk in liberty.
—Aldous Huxley (English Humanist)

Applause is the spur of noble minds, the end and aim of weak ones.
—Charles Caleb Colton (English Angelic Priest)

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.
—Zig Ziglar (American Author)

Men’s hearts ought not to be set against one another, but set with one another, and all against evil only.
—Thomas Carlyle (Scottish Writer)

Man ought to know that in the theater of human life, it is only for Gods and angels to be spectators.
—Francis Bacon (English Philosopher)

Contempt for happiness is usually contempt for other people’s happiness, and is an elegant disguise for hatred of the human race.
—Bertrand A. Russell (British Philosopher)

Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires, but according to our powers.
—Henri Frederic Amiel (Swiss Philosopher)

Be like the bird, who, feeling the branch break beneath him sings, knowing that he has wings.
—Victor Hugo (French Novelist)

Politeness is an inexpensive way of making friends.
—William Feather (American Publisher)

Common-sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (English Poet)

The man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is justly entitled.
—Andrew Carnegie (Scottish-American Industrialist, Philanthropist)

We don’t need men with new ideas as much as we need men who will put energy behind the old ideas.
—William Feather (American Publisher)

Men of genius are rarely much annoyed by the company of vulgar people.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (English Poet)

Go as far as you can see, and when you get there you will see farther.
—Orison Swett Marden (American New Thought Writer)

Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself to do the thing you have to do when it ought to be done whether you like it or not. It is the first lesson that ought to be learned and however early a person’s training begins, it is probably the last lesson a person learn thoroughly.
—Thomas Henry Huxley (English Biologist)

The ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.
—Elbert Hubbard (American Writer)

Superiority to fate is difficult to gain; ’tis not conferred of any, but possible to earn.
—Emily Dickinson (American Poet)

Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.
—Laozi (Chinese Philosopher)

The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.
—Calvin Coolidge (American Head of State)

Shun idleness. It is a rust that attaches itself to the most brilliant metals.
—Voltaire (French Philosopher)

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (American First Lady)

The emotions aren’t always immediately subject to reason, but they are always immediately subject to action.
—William James (American Philosopher)

What are numbers knit|By force or custom? Man who man would be,|Must rule the empire of himself; in it|Must be supreme, establishing his throne|On vanquished will, quelling the anarchy|Of hopes and fears, being himself alone.
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (English Poet)

Our minds are often permeated by memories of the past|or worries about the future. What gets missed is the present and|right there in the moment is the doorway into timelessness.
—Ram Dass (American Hindu Teacher)

We have to create strength where it did not exist before; we have to change our natures, and become new men with new hearts, to be born again.
—Sri Aurobindo (Indian Yogi, Nationalist)

People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.
—Andrew Carnegie (Scottish-American Industrialist, Philanthropist)

No two things differ more than hurry and dispatch. Hurry is the mark of a weak mind, dispatch of a strong one. A weak man in office, like a squirrel in a cage, is laboring eternally, but to no purpose, and is in constant motion without getting on a job; like a turnstile, he is in everybody’s way, but stops nobody; he talks a great deal, but says very little; looks into everything but sees nothing; and has a hundred irons in the fire, but very few of them are hot, and with those few that are, he only burns his fingers.
—Charles Caleb Colton (English Angelic Priest)

It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.
—Tony Robbins (American Actor Author)

Keep your fears to yourself, but share your inspiration with others.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish Novelist)

A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well.
—Francis Bacon (English Philosopher)

It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.
—Napoleon Hill (American Author)

Obviously, there is little you can learn from doing nothing.
—Zig Ziglar (American Author)

We should know what our convictions are, and stand for them. Upon one’s own philosophy, conscious or unconscious, depends one’s ultimate interpretation of facts. Therefore it is wise to be as clear as possible about one’s subjective principles. As the man is, so will be his ultimate truth.
—Carl Jung (Swiss Psychologist)

No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.
—Voltaire (French Philosopher)

Arise, transcend thyself. Thou art man and the whole nature of man is to become more than himself.
—Sri Aurobindo (Indian Yogi, Nationalist)

Happiness comes when you believe in what you are doing, know what you are doing, and live what you are doing.
—Brian Tracy (American Author)

When you affirm big, believe big, and pray big, big things happen.
—Norman Vincent Peale (American Clergyman, Self-Help Author)

The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one’s self to destiny.
—Napoleon I (French Monarch)

The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.
—H. Jackson Brown, Jr. (American Author)

It is foolish to tear one’s hair in grief, as though sorrow would be made less by baldness.
—Cicero (Roman Philosopher)

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worse when they despise him. But of a good leader who talks little when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: “we did it ourselves.”
—Laozi (Chinese Philosopher)

There must be a reason why some people can afford to live well. They must have worked for it. I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things that we could use.
—Mother Teresa (Albanian Catholic Humanitarian)

Life, as it is called, is for most of us one long postponement.
—Henry Miller (American Novelist)

The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.
—Khalil Gibran (Lebanese-born American Philosopher)

The happiness of any given life is to be measured not by its joys and pleasures, but by the extent to which it has been free from suffering, from positive evil.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (German Philosopher)

A leader is best|When people barely know he exists,|When his work is done, his aim fulfilled,|They will say:|We did it ourselves.
—Laozi (Chinese Philosopher)

People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but, they will always remember how you made them feel.
—Maya Angelou (American Poet)

It is often the failure who is the pioneer in new lands, new undertakings, and new forms of expression.
—Eric Hoffer (American Philosopher)

Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything.
—Kurt Vonnegut (American Novelist)

If you would civilize a man, begin with his grandmother.
—Victor Hugo (French Novelist)

Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm and constant.
—Socrates (Anceient Greek Philosopher)

Continuity of purpose is one of the most essential ingredients of happiness in the long run, and for most men this comes chiefly through their work.
—Bertrand A. Russell (British Philosopher)

I am always doing things I can’t do, that’s how I get to do them.
—Pablo Picasso (Spanish Painter)

Short as life is, some find it long enough to outlive their characters, their constitutions and their estates.
—Charles Caleb Colton (English Angelic Priest)

Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second. Give your dreams all you’ve got and you’ll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you.
—William James (American Philosopher)

Friendship is nothing else than an accord in all things, human and divine, conjoined with mutual good-will and affection.
—Cicero (Roman Philosopher)

England has two books, one which she has made and one which has made her: Shakespeare and the Bible.
—Victor Hugo (French Novelist)

Man becomes man only by his intelligence, but he is man only by his heart.
—Henri Frederic Amiel (Swiss Philosopher)

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat. We must find each other.
—Mother Teresa (Albanian Catholic Humanitarian)

Everybody has to be somebody to somebody to be anybody.
—Malcolm Forbes (American Publisher)

Do more than belong: participate. Do more than care: help. Do more than believe: practice. Do more than be fair: be kind. Do more than forgive: forget. Do more than dream: work.
—William Arthur Ward (American Author)

Many a man has finally succeeded only because he has failed after repeated efforts. If he had never met defeat he would never have known any great victory.
—Orison Swett Marden (American New Thought Writer)

Orators are most vehement when they have the weakest cause, as men get on horseback when they cannot walk.
—Cicero (Roman Philosopher)

If a window of opportunity appears, don’t pull down the shade.
—Tom Peters (American Management Consultant)

People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them.
—Eric Hoffer (American Philosopher)

Don’t take life too serious. You’ll never escape it alive anyway.
—Elbert Hubbard (American Writer)

Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
—Pablo Picasso (Spanish Painter)

We are not altogether here to tolerate. We are here to resist, to control and vanquish withal.
—Thomas Carlyle (Scottish Writer)

He who allows his day to pass by without practicing generosity and enjoying life’s pleasures is like a blacksmith’s bellows; he breathes, but does not live.
—Indian Proverb

The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%.
—Andrew Carnegie (Scottish-American Industrialist, Philanthropist)

Which of our methods of measuring could we apply to this eddying mass that is the universe? In the presence of the profundities our sole ability is to dream. Our conception, quickly winded, cannot follow creation, that vast breath.
—Victor Hugo (French Novelist)

The common man is not concerned about the passage of time, the man of talent is driven by it.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (German Philosopher)

There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.
—Elie Wiesel (Romanian-born American Writer)

Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.
—Warren Buffett (American Investor)

You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (American First Lady)

Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God’s gift to himself.
—Mother Teresa (Albanian Catholic Humanitarian)

Men who are occupied in the restoration of health to other men, by the joint exertion of skill and humanity, are above all the great of the earth. They even partake of divinity, since to preserve and renew is almost as noble as to create.
—Voltaire (French Philosopher)

Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.
—Wayne Dyer (American Motivational Writer)

Those who give too much attention to trifling things become generally incapable of great ones.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Responsibilities gravitate to the person who can shoulder them; power flows to the man who knows how.
—Elbert Hubbard (American Writer)

He who refuses to embrace a unique opportunity loses the prize as surely as if he had failed.
—William James (American Philosopher)

Be like a sponge when it comes to each new experience. If you want to be able to express it well, you must first be able to absorb it well.
—Jim Rohn (American Entrepreneur)

Real generosity toward the future consists in giving all to what is present.
—Albert Camus (Algerian-born French Philosopher)

With some people solitariness is an escape not from others but from themselves. For they see in the eyes of others only a reflection of themselves.
—Eric Hoffer (American Philosopher)

One who never asks either knows everything or nothing.
—Malcolm Forbes (American Publisher)

A word, a look, an accent, may affect the destiny not only of individuals, but of nations. He is a bold man who calls anything a trifle.
—Andrew Carnegie (Scottish-American Industrialist, Philanthropist)

Can you really explain to a fish what it’s like to walk on land? One day on land is worth a thousand years of talking about it, and one day running a business has exactly the same kind of value.
—Warren Buffett (American Investor)

People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing.
—Will Rogers (American Actor)

Observe how soon, and to what a degree, a mother’s influence begins to operate! Her first ministration for her infant is to enter, as it were, the valley of the shadow of death, and win its life at the peril of her own! How different must an affection thus founded be from all others!
—Lydia H. Sigourney

God gave us memory that we might have roses in December.
—J. M. Barrie (Scottish Novelist)

The wise man thinks of fame just enough to avoid being despised.
—Epicurus (Ancient Greek Philosopher)

Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn’t stop to enjoy it.
—William Feather (American Publisher)