“What keeps me going is goals.”
Muhammad Ali (1942–2016) African American boxer, philanthropist and activist
Martin Svoboda
Verified author @quick, member from April 4, 2011“The greatest victory in life is to rise above the material things that we once valued most.”
Muhammad Ali book The Soul of a Butterfly
Source: The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey
“Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.”
Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher
Variant: Someone who is a clever speaker and maintains a 'too-smiley' face is seldom considered a humane person.
Source: The Analects, Chapter I
“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”
Non qui parum habet, sed qui plus cupit, pauper est.
Seneca the Younger (-4–65 BC) Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist
Source: Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter II: On discursiveness in reading, Line 6.
Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968) Soviet pilot and cosmonaut, the first human in space
This has been reported as a remark Gagarin made while in orbit aboard Vostok 1, but there is no indication of it in the official transcripts of his communications. It is similar to the above statements he reportedly made after his return to earth, which might have given rise to this account.
Misattributed
“There is no doubt; even a rejection can be the shadow of a caress”.”
José Ortega Y Gasset (1883–1955) Spanish liberal philosopher and essayist
“Belief in the unreal can comfort the human mind, but it also weakens it.”
Aaron Guzikowski tv series Raised by Wolves
Raised by Wolves, season 1, episode 1. Mother.
“Life is not always a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well.”
Jack London (1876–1916) American author, journalist, and social activist
As quoted in Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior (1991) by Dan Millman, p. 78
Life’s not a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes playing a poor hand well.
As quoted in "They Came to Write in Hawai‘i" by Joseph Theroux, in Spirit of Aloha (March/April 2007)
“The trick is growing up without growing old.”
Casey Stengel (1890–1975) American baseball player and coach
“You need a reason to be angry. You don't need a reason to be happy.”
Louis Sachar book Sideways Stories From Wayside School
Sideways Stories From Wayside School
Source: Sideways Stories from Wayside School
“Myths are public dreams, dreams are private myths.”
Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) American mythologist, writer and lecturer
“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”
Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) American mythologist, writer and lecturer
Variant: You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.
“the biggest risk is to take no risk. or to take crazy risks.”
John Marsden book Tomorrow, When the War Began
Source: Tomorrow, When the War Began
Martha Graham (1894–1991) American dancer and choreographer
I Am A Dancer (1952)
Source: Blood Memory
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was within me an invincible summer.”
Albert Camus (1913–1960) French author and journalist
“Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself.”
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright
“Do it or do not do it - you will regret both.”
Sören Kierkegaard book Aut-Aut
Marry, and you will regret it; don’t marry, you will also regret it; marry or don’t marry, you will regret it either way. Laugh at the world’s foolishness, you will regret it; weep over it, you will regret that too; laugh at the world’s foolishness or weep over it, you will regret both. Believe a woman, you will regret it; believe her not, you will also regret it… Hang yourself, you will regret it; do not hang yourself, and you will regret that too; hang yourself or don’t hang yourself, you’ll regret it either way; whether you hang yourself or do not hang yourself, you will regret both. This, gentlemen, is the essence of all philosophy.
Source: Either/Or
“Longing is the agony of the nearness of the distant.”
Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) German philosopher