Inspirational Quotations

The results of life are uncalculated and uncalculable. The years teach much which the days never know. The persons who compose our company, converse, and come and go, and design and execute many things, and somewhat comes of it all, but an unlooked for result. The individual is always mistaken. He designed many things, and drew in other persons as coadjutors, quarrelled with some or all, blundered much, and something is done; all are a little advanced, but the individual is always mistaken. It turns out somewhat new, and very unlike what he promised himself.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Philosopher)

If it is given with love, a mere handful is enough.
—Indian Proverb

We may not be interested in chaos but chaos is interested in us.
—Robert Cooper

Let us accept truth, even when it surprises us and alters our views.
—George Sand (French Novelist, Dramatist)

Ability & Attitude & Activity – Excuses = Success.
—Unknown

Have you invested as much this year in your career as in your car?
—Molly Sargent (American Management Consultant)

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through the experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.
—Helen Keller (American Author)

I succeed because I expect to.
—Unknown

Love is but another name for that inscrutable presence by which the soul is connected with humanity.
—William Gilmore Simms (American Poet)

We cannot fight against anything, unless we fight for something—and what we must fight for is the supremacy of reason, and a view of man as a rational being.
—Ayn Rand (Russian-born American Novelist)

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
—The Holy Bible (Scripture in the Christian Faith)

All beings seek for happiness; so let your compassion extend itself to all.
—Mahavamsa

Enjoy the spring of love and youth, to some good angel leave the rest; For time will teach thee soon the truth, there are no birds in last year’s nest.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Happy are those that persevere to the end, for they shall inherit the earth.
—The Holy Bible (Scripture in the Christian Faith)

The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It’s the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun.
—Napoleon Hill (American Author)

We must have friendship for all; we must be merciful toward those that are in misery; when people are happy, we ought to be happy; and to the wicked we must be indifferent. These attitudes will make the mind peaceful.
—Swami Vivekananda (Indian Hindu Mystic)

I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong.
—Leo Rosten (Russian-born American Humorist)

To love someone – is to love their potential into reality.
—Unknown

Fate is nothing but the deeds committed in a prior state of existence.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Philosopher)

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
—Carl Sagan (American Astronomer)

Do not anxiously hope for what is not yet to come; do not vainly regret what is already past.
—Chinese Proverb

We have to believe that a creative being lives within ourselves, whether we like it or not, and that we must get out of its way, for it will give us no peace until we do.
—Mary Richards

It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.
—Unknown

It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.
—John Wooden (American Sportsperson)

The man who works need never be a problem to anyone. Opportunities multiply as they are seized; they die when neglected. Life is a long line of opportunities. Wealth is not in making money, but in making the man while he is making money. Production, not destruction, leads to success.
—John Wicker

Men of learning are those who have read the contents of books. Thinkers, geniuses, and those who have enlightened the world and furthered the race of men, are those who have made direct use of the book of the world.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (German Philosopher)

Don’t pray for fewer problems; pray for more skills.|Don’t ask for smaller challenges; ask for greater wisdom.|Don’t look for an easy way out; look for the best possible outcome.
—Steve Goodier

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.
—Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus

In loving, you lean on someone to hold them up.
—Rod McKuen

We change, whether we like it or not.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Philosopher)

Look upon every man, woman, and everyone as God. You cannot help anyone, you can only serve: serve the children of the Lord, serve the Lord Himself, if you have the privilege.
—Swami Vivekananda (Indian Hindu Mystic)

Have great hopes and dare to go all out for them. Have great dreams and dare to live them. Have tremendous expectations and believe in them.
—Norman Vincent Peale (American Clergyman, Self-Help Author)

There ain’t no rules around here.|We’re trying to accomplish something.|There’s a way to do it better—find it.
—Thomas Edison (American Inventor)

Nothing of any importance can be taught. It can only be learned, and with blood and sweat.
—Robert Anton Wilson (American Polymath)

When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.
—George Washington Carver (American Scientist)

What is a grain? It is the companionship of the virtuous.|What is grief? It is the company of fools.|What is loss? It is the dissipation of time.|What is prudence? It is devotion to virtue.|What is valour? It is the conquest of the senses.|Who is the beloved wife? One who is devoted to her husband.|What is wealth? It is knowledge.|What is happiness? It is to remain settled in one’s own country.|What is rulership? It is to command obedience.
—Subhashita Manjari

Garner up pleasant thoughts in your mind, for pleasant thoughts make pleasant lives.
—John Wilkins (English Anglican Clergyman)

It is said that when the world ends, even the moutains start moving due to the force of the wind. But even when such a thing happens, the mental state of the brave does not waver since it is very clear. Clarity in thoughts gives you the strength to withstand anything.
—Subhashita Manjari

The way to build a nation is to build a good citizen. The majority of the citizens should be efficient, of good character and possess a reasonable high sense of duty.
—Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya (Indian Engineer)

Habit is a second nature which prevents us from knowing the first, of which it has neither the cruelties nor the enchantments.
—Marcel Proust (French Novelist)

Hope is the thing with feathers|That perches in the soul|And sings the tune without the words|And never stops at all,||And sweetest in the gale is heard;|And sore must be the storm|That could abash the little bird|That kept so many warm.||I’ve heard it in the chillest land|And on the strangest sea,|Yet never, in extremity,|It asked a crumb of me.
—Emily Dickinson (American Poet)

High station in life is earned by the gallantry with which appalling experiences are survived with grace.
—Tennessee Williams (American Playwright)

The quality of our expectations determines the quality of our action.
—Jean-Baptiste Andre Godin

Some men have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to, when all they need is one reason why they can.
—Willis R. Whitney (American Chemist)

Each of us is given a pocketful of time to spend however we may. We use what we will. We waste what we will. But we can never get back a day.
—Unknown

If you want to make good use of your time, you’ve got to know what’s most important and then give it all you’ve got.
—Lee Iacocca (American Businessperson)

A challenge gives you the opportunity to flex your spiritual muscles.
—Unknown

The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another’s, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises.
—Leo Buscaglia (American Motivational Speaker)

The life that is unexamined is not worth living.
—Plato (Ancient Greek Philosopher)

Working hours are never long enough. Each day is a holiday, and ordinary holidays are grudged as enforced interruptions in an absorbing vocation.
—Winston Churchill (British Head of State)

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things only hoped for.
—Epicurus (Ancient Greek Philosopher)

It takes a person who is wide awake to make his dream come true.
—Roger Babson (American Entre)

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

It’s not what you are that holds you back, it’s what you think you’re not.
—Unknown

Many people dream of success. To me success can only be achieved through repeated failures and introspections. In fact, success represents 1% of your work that results from the 99% that is called failure.
—Soichiro Honda (Japanese Inventor)

The best portion of a good man’s life: his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.
—William Wordsworth (English Poet)

You can’t behave in a calm, rational manner. You’ve got to be out there on the lunatic fringe.
—Jack Welch (American Businessperson)

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.
—Benjamin Disraeli (British Head of State)

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.
—Albert Einstein (German-born Theoretical Physicist)

How important it is to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes.
—Maya Angelou (American Poet)

Hate the sin & not the sinner is a percept which, though easy enough to understand, is rarely practiced, and therefore the poison of hatred spreads in the world.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (Indian Hindu Political leader)

Those who are fired with an enthusiastic idea and who allow it to take hold and dominate their thoughts find that new worlds open for them. As long as enthusiasm holds out, so will new opportunities.
—Norman Vincent Peale (American Clergyman, Self-Help Author)

Fear collides with our most conservative self and allows us to stop before we try, dismiss before we think, mock before we imagine.
—Carol Lloyd

A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.
—Francis Bacon (English Philosopher)

Chance favors the prepared mind.
—Louis Pasteur (French Biologist)

The delight we inspire in others, has this enchanting peculiarity. That, unlike any other reflection, returns to us more radiant than ever.
—Victor Hugo (French Novelist)

Practice no vice because it’s trivial… Neglect no virtue because it’s so.
—Chinese Proverb

To be able to stand not knowing long enough for something alive to take shape.
—Lynda Barry (American Cartoonist)

It is better to live rich than to die rich.
—Samuel Johnson (British Essayist)

A person should contemplate the workings of the universe with reverence and introspection. In this way expression is given to the effects of these laws upon his own person. This is the source of a hidden power.
—I. Ching

Everywhere in the universe, what we call life and movement results from a continual conflict of forces or impulses. Whenever that active antagonism ceases, the immobility and inertia, which are death, result.
—Albert Pike (American Military Leader)

Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.
—Isaac Asimov (Russian-born American Children’s Books Writer)

When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace.
—The 14th Dalai Lama (Tibetan Buddhist Religious Leader)

You have not converted a man because you have silenced him.
—John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn (British Political leader)

If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today.
—E. Joseph Cossman

The mind has to be empty to see clearly.
—Jiddu Krishnamurti (Indian Philosopher)

We are fallible. We certainly haven’t attained perfection. But we can strive for it, and the virtue is in the striving.
—Carlos P. Romulo (Philippine Diplomat)

Love is energy of life.
—Robert Browning (English Poet)

It is better to live richly than to die rich.
—Muriel Strode (American Author, Businesswoman)

As a toy fruit or a toy elephant reminds one of the real fruit and the living animal, so do the images that are worshipped remind one of the God who is formless and eternal.
—Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (Indian Hindu Philosopher)

Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will – his personal responsibility in the realm of faith and morals
—Albert Schweitzer (French Theologian)

The quality of your work, in the long run, is the deciding factor on how much your services are valued by the world.
—Orison Swett Marden (American New Thought Writer)

How can I be useful. Of what service can I be. There is something inside me. What can it be?
—Vincent van Gogh (Dutch Painter)

One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.
—Andre Gide (French Novelist)

As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind. As rain does not break through a well-thatched house, passion will not break through a well-reflecting mind.
—The Dhammapada (Buddhist Anthology of Verses)

I believe that you control your destiny, that you can be what you want to be. You can also stop and say, “No, I won’t do it, I won’t behave his way anymore. I’m lonely and I need people around me, maybe I have to change my methods of behaving and then you do it.”
—Leo Buscaglia (American Motivational Speaker)

The time which we have at our disposal every day is elastic; the passions that we feel expand it, those that we inspire contract it; and habit fills up what remains.
—Marcel Proust (French Novelist)

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.
—Thomas Edison (American Inventor)

If you have made mistakes, even serious ones,
there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is
not the falling down, but the staying down.
— Mary Pickford

Health is the greatest possession.
Contentment is the greatest treasure.
Confidence is the greatest friend.
Non-being is the greatest joy.
— The Dhammapada

Hatred is an affair of the heart;
contempt that of the head.
— Arthur Schopenhauer

It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.
— Walt Disney

If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come.
— Chinese Proverb

Great doubts deep wisdom… Small doubts little wisdom.
— Chinese Proverb

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all
of us tend to put off living.
We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-
instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today.
— Dale Carnegie

You can get everything in life you want if
you will just help enough other people get what they want.
— Zig Ziglar

There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope.
— Bern Williams

Five great enemies to peace inhabit with us:
vice, avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride.
If those enemies were to be banished,
we should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace.
— Petrarch