Martin Svoboda

@quick, member from April 4, 2011
Ian Fleming photo
John C. Maxwell photo
Sören Kierkegaard photo

“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”

Sören Kierkegaard (1813–1855) Danish philosopher and theologian, founder of Existentialism

Attributed to Kierkegaard in a number of books, the earliest located on Google Books being the 1976 book Jack Kerouac: Prophet of the New Romanticism by Robert A. Hipkiss, p. 83 http://books.google.com/books?id=g_JaAAAAMAAJ&q=%22problem+to+be+solved%22#search_anchor. In the 1948 The Hibbert Journal: Volumes 46-47 the quote is referred to as "the famous Kierkegaardian slogan" on p. 237 http://books.google.com/books?id=UuDRAAAAMAAJ&q=%22the+famous+Kierkegaardian+slogan+life+is+not+a+problem+to+be+solved%22#search_anchor, which may be intended to suggest the phrase is Kierkegaard-esque rather than being something written by Kierkegaard. In reality this seems to be a slightly altered version of the quote "The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved; it is a reality to be experienced" which appeared in the 1928 book The Conquest of Illusion by Jacobus Johannes Leeuw, p. 9 http://books.google.com/books?id=OFdVAAAAMAAJ&q=%22not+a+problem+to+be+solved%22#search_anchor.
Misattributed

Billy Wilder photo

“Anyone who doesn't believe in miracles isn't a realist.”

Billy Wilder (1906–2002) American filmmaker

David Ben-Gurion, as quoted in Israel : Years of Crisis Years of Hope (1973) by Roman Frister, p. 45
Misattributed

Steve Jobs photo

“Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith.”

Steve Jobs (1955–2011) American entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple Inc.

2005-09, Address at Stanford University (2005)
Context: Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking. Don’t settle.

Molière photo

“Trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.”

Molière (1622–1673) French playwright and actor
Pelé photo
Sara Teasdale photo

“Oh, beauty, are you not enough?
Why am I crying after love?”

"Spring Night"
Rivers to the Sea (1915)

Joseph Campbell photo

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.”

Variant: Follow your bliss and doors will open where there were no doors before.
Source: The Power of Myth

Honoré de Balzac photo

“Man dies in despair while the Spirit dies in ecstasy.”

Source: Seraphita (1835), Ch. 3: Seraphita - Seraphitus.

Yasunari Kawabata photo
Paulo Coelho photo

“Beware when making a woman cry. God is counting her tears.”

Source: Adultery

Audre Lorde photo

“Nothing I accept about myself can be used against me to diminish me.”

Audre Lorde (1934–1992) writer and activist

Source: Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches

Ernest Hemingway photo
Arthur Ashe photo
Nelson Mandela photo

“Remember to celebrate milestones as you prepare for the road ahead.”

Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) President of South Africa, anti-apartheid activist
Joseph Campbell photo

“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.”

Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) American mythologist, writer and lecturer

Source: A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living

Oprah Winfrey photo

“You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.”

Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist