Inspirational Quotations

Love is always bestowed as a gift—freely, willingly and without expectation. We don’t love to be loved; we love to love.
—Leo Buscaglia (American Motivational Speaker)

Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.
—Moshe Arens

A single kind word keeps one warm for three winters.
—Chinese Proverb

When we are chafed and fretted by small cares, a look at the stars will show us the littleness of our own interests.
—Maria Mitchell

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)

The dream is the small hidden door in the deepest and most intimate sanctum of the soul, which opens to that primeval cosmic night that was soul long before there was conscious ego and will be soul far beyond what a conscious ego could ever reach.
—Carl Jung (Swiss Psychologist)

A man may be outwardly successful all his life long, and die hollow and worthless as a puff-ball; and he may be externally defeated all his life long, and die in the royalty of a kingdom established within him.—A man’s true estate of power and riches, is to be in himself; not in his dwelling, or position, or external relations, but in his own essential character.—That is the realm, in which he is to live, if he is to live as a Christian man.
—Henry Ward Beecher (American Protestant Clergyman)

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
—John Watson (Ian Maclaren)

We didn’t lose the game; we just ran out of time.
—Vince Lombardi (American Sportsperson)

Intelligence is not to make no mistakes, but quickly to see how to make them good.
—Bertrand A. Russell (British Philosopher)

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)

We can chart our future clearly and wisely only when we know the path which has led to the present.
—Adlai Stevenson (American Diplomat)

I can accept failure, but I can’t accept not trying.
—Michael Jordan (American Sportsperson)

No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it.
—Andrew Carnegie (Scottish-American Industrialist, Philanthropist)

Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (French Novelist, Aviator)

A human thought is an actual existence, and a force and power, capable of acting upon and controlling matter as well as mind.
—Albert Pike (American Military Leader)

We are more than what we do… much more than what we accomplish… far more than what we possess.
—William Arthur Ward (American Author)

As you grow older, you stand for more and fall for less.
—Anonymous

The tree may be cut back, but it grows again.|The moon may wane, but it shines anew.|Good men go on despite calamities.
—Indian Proverb

People have a way of becoming what you encourage them to be—not what you nag them to be.
—Scudder Parker (American Minister)

I do not deny that many appear to have succeeded in a material way by cutting corners and by manipulating associates, both in their professional and in their personal lives. But material success is possible in this world and far more satisfying when it comes without exploiting others.
—Alan Greenspan (American Economist)

I now appreciate all that I have. I am grateful for the smallest things today. I can always find something in my life for which to be grateful. I give thanks for everything that is now coming into my life. I rejoice in the wonders of life.
—Unknown

The greatest difficulties lie where we are not looking for them.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German Poet)

Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.
—H. L. Mencken (American Journalist)

You must learn to translate wisdom and strong feelings into labor.
—Jim Rohn (American Entrepreneur)

It is a good rule to face difficulties at the time they arise and not allow them to increase unacknowledged.
—Edward W. Ziegler

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. Let them be your only diet, drink, and botanical medicines.
—Henry David Thoreau (American Philosopher)

Nothing in the world is single; all things by law divine in one spirit mix and mingle. Why not I with thine?
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (English Poet)

Do little things now; so shall big things come to thee by and by asking to be done.
—Persian Proverb

Don’t accept that just because a thing has been done a certain way, that it will always have to be that way.
—Mark McCormack

Those who say a thing cannot be done should not stand in the way of those who are doing it.
— Unknown

Now it is a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best you very often get it.
— W. Somerset Maugham

No one had ever had an idea in a dress suit.
— Frederick Banting

There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.
— Oscar Wilde

A knife of the keenest steel requires the whetstone,
and the wisest man needs advice.
— Zoroaster

Make yourself necessary to somebody.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life is just a mirror,
and what you see out there,
you must first see inside of you.
— Wally Amos

Wisdom is knowing what to do next,
skill is knowing how to do it, and virtue is doing it.
— David Starr Jordan

Men do not fail; they give up trying.
— Elihu Root

You become what you think about.
— Earl Nightingale

What you seem to be, be really.
—Benjamin Franklin (American Political leader)

I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become…Become the change you want to see – those are words I live by.
—Oprah Winfrey (American TV Personality)

The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious—the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science.
—Albert Einstein (German-born Theoretical Physicist)

The mind has exactly the same power as the hands: not merely to grasp the world, but to change it.
—Colin Wilson (British Philosopher)

The opposite of a fact is falsehood, but the opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth.
—Niels Bohr (Danish Physicist)

It’s up to each of us alone to figure out who we are, who we are not, and to act more or less consistently with those conclusions.
—Tom Peters (American Management Consultant)

Freedom, after all, is simply being able to live with the consequences of your decisions.
—James X. Mullen

If you care about something, you have to protect it—if you’re lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.
—John Irving

Convictions are the mainsprings of action, the driving powers of life. What a man lives are his convictions.
—Francis Kelley

All great ideas are dangerous.
—Oscar Wilde (Irish Poet)

When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.
—Buckminster Fuller (American Inventor, Philosopher)

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
—Anne Bradstreet (English Poet)

The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modem world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
—Bertrand A. Russell (British Philosopher)

Memories are tucked away, but not forgotten.
—Anonymous

October. This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February.
—Mark Twain (American Humorist)

It is unbecoming for young men to utter maxims.
—Aristotle (Ancient Greek Philosopher)

To change one’s life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions.
—William James (American Philosopher)

When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than youever dreamed yourself to be.
—Patanjali (Indian Hindu Philosopher)

The sun, though it passes through dirty places, yet remains as pure as before.
—Francis Bacon (English Philosopher)

One man all by himself is nothing. Two people who belong together make a world.
—Hans Margolius

There is nothing more frightening than a bustling ignorance.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German Poet)

Life needs penalties and rewards for people. You can’t control people with only penalties. You have to think how to create rewards.
—Rudy Giuliani (American Politician)

In absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia.
—Unknown

If there is righteousness in the heart|There will be beauty in the character;|If there is beauty in the character|There will be harmony in the home;|When there is harmony in the home|There will be order in the nation;|When there is order in the nation|There will be peace in the world.
—Sathya Sai Baba (Indian Hindu Religious Leader)

Hear my words that I might teach you,|Take my arms that I might reach you.
—Simon & Garfunkel

A bamboo tree grows six inches in the first nineteen years and twenty feet in its twentieth year. The best time to plant a bamboo tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.
—Chinese Proverb

In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is.
—Yogi Berra (American Sportsperson)

I don’t think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

The wise devote themselves to the welfare of all, for they see themselves in all.
—The Upanishads

Let us be silent that we may hear the whispers of the Gods.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Philosopher)

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

Leadership has a harder job to do than just choose sides. It must bring sides together.
—Jesse Jackson (American Baptist Civil Rights Activist)

Neither piety, virtue, nor liberty can long flourish in a community where the education of youth is neglected.
—Peter Cooper

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
—Buddhist Teaching

Hope springs exulting on triumphant wing.
—Robert Burns (Scottish Poet)

Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day. Wisdom consists in not exceeding that limit.
—Elbert Hubbard (American Writer)

The meaning of life is not an unquestionable answer; it is an unanswerable question.
—Terri Guillemets

I sit astride life like a bad rider on a horse. I only owe it to the horse’s good nature that I am not thrown off at this very moment.
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (Austrian Philosopher)

Opportunities multiply as they are seized.
—Sun Tzu (Chinese Military Leader)

Wit is educated insolence.
—Aristotle (Ancient Greek Philosopher)

Dream is not what you see in sleep, dream is the thing which does not let you sleep.
—Anonymous

There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (Indian Hindu Political leader)

The Three Rules of Work: 1. Out of clutter, find simplicity. 2. From discord, find harmony. 3. In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity
—Albert Einstein (German-born Theoretical Physicist)

The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.
—Muhammad Ali (American Sportsperson)

Hard things are put in our way, not to stop us, but to call out our courage and strength.
—Anonymous

Living each moment to its absolute fullest is perhaps the only justification you have for receiving this incredible gift called life.
—Unknown

Don’t stay in bed, unless you can make money in bed.
—George Burns

Face the brutes. That is a lesson for all life—face the terrible, face it boldly. Like the monkeys, the hardships of life fall back when we cease to flee before them.
—Swami Vivekananda (Indian Hindu Mystic)

We need time to dream, time to remember, and time to reach the infinite. Time to be.
—Gladys Taber

Let us see how high we can fly before the sun melts the wax in our wings.
—Arthur Eddington (English Astrophysicist)

Those who seek faultless friends, remain friendless.
—Anonymous

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (American Head of State)

Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything.
—George Lois (American Art Director)

Life breaks us all, but afterwards, many of us are strongest at the broken places.
—Ernest Hemingway (American Author)

A local politician was once enmeshed in his own oratory. Said he: “Build a chain-link fence around the winter’s supply of summer weather; skim the clouds from the sky with a teaspoon; catch a thundercloud in a saucepan; break a hurricane to harness; quiet and soothe an earthquake; lasso an avalanche; pin a napkin on the crater of an active volcano-but never expect to see me false to my principles.
—Anonymous

The average person thinks he isn’t.
—Larry Lorenzoni

Physical courage, which despises all danger, will make a man brave in one way; and moral courage, which despises all opinion, will make a man brave in another. The former would seem most necessary for the camp; the latter for the council; but to constitute a great man, both are necessary.
—Charles Caleb Colton (English Angelic Priest)

Laughter is the closest distance between two people.
—Victor Borge

There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self. So you have to begin there, not outside, not on other people. That comes afterward, when you’ve worked on your own corner.
—Aldous Huxley (English Humanist)

If you’re enthusiastic about the things you’re working on, people will come ask you to do interesting things.
—R. James Woolsey, Jr. (American Diplomat)