Quotes About Motivation

The essence of civilization is that men should come to be led more by hope and ambition and example and less by fear.

What our leaders and pundits never let slip is that the terrorists - whatever else they might be - might also be rational human beings; which is to say that in their own minds they have a rational justification for their actions.

You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence.

I have to start my real life soon, before I die of boredom and frustration.

People's anxiety rises and their motivation falls. They feel disoriented and self-doubting. They are resentful and self-protective. Energy is drained away from work into coping tactics.

empowering thoughts

Education is not filling a pail but the lighting of a fire.

Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.

Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.

An idler is a watch that wants both hands; As useless if it goes as when it stands.

Your entitlement is to the deed alone, never to its results. Do not make the results of an action your motive. Do not be attached to inaction. Having renounced rewards resulting from actions, wise men endowed with discrimination are freed from the bondage of birth and go to the Regions of Eternal Happiness.'89

Hunger is not the worst feature of unemployment; idleness is.

Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage.

An artist is a creature driven by demons. He doesn't know why they choose him and he's usually too busy to wonder why.

Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Do not bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.

If we don't discipline ourselves, the world will do it for us.

Wealth flows from energy and ideas.

The best sermon is preached by the minister who has a sermon to preach and not by the man who has to preach a sermon.

Never permit failure to become a habit.

If you want to make a million you don't have to understand money, what you have to understand is people's fears about money

the true competition is the competition of the individual with himself—his present seeking to excel his past.

Music is a friend of labor for it lightens the task by refreshing the nerves and spirit of the worker.

One practical trick, says Sleep, is to "reward yourself in the short term" by relishing the prospect of all the wonderful benefits you will enjoy because you chose to override your desire for instant gratification. That way, deferral becomes associated with pleasure and "you're much more likely to embrace it." Indeed, says Sleep, "I quite like the overriding because you just know that it's going to make your life better.