
„Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.“
— Démosthenés ancient greek statesman and orator -384 - -322 BC
A collection of quotes on the topic of motivational, attitude, inspirational, success.
„Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.“
— Démosthenés ancient greek statesman and orator -384 - -322 BC
„I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.“
— C.G. Jung Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology 1875 - 1961
Variant: I am not what happens to me. I choose who I become.
„It’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.“
— Marilyn Monroe American actress, model, and singer 1926 - 1962
Variant: Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.
„Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.“
— Confucius Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher -551 - -479 BC
Attributed on the internet but not found in print prior to an attribution in Aero Digest, Vols. 58–59, 1949, p. 115 https://books.google.com/books?id=q2ofAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Life+is+simple%22+but+we+insist+on+making+it+complicated&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22Life+is+simple%22+
Misattributed, Not Chinese
„We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.“
— Maya Angelou American author and poet 1928 - 2014
„Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge.“
— C.G. Jung Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology 1875 - 1961
„When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.“
— Max Planck German theoretical physicist 1858 - 1947
„Keep your face always toward the sunshine – and shadows will fall behind you.“
— Walt Whitman American poet, essayist and journalist 1819 - 1892
This has become attributed to both Walt Whitman and Helen Keller, but has not been found in either of their published works, and variations of the quote are listed as a proverb commonly used in both the US and Canada in A Dictionary of American Proverbs (1992), edited by Wolfgang Mieder, Kelsie B. Harder and Stewart A. Kingsbury.
Misattributed
„There are no limitations to the mind except those that we acknowledge.“
— Napoleon Hill, book Think and Grow Rich
Source: Think and Grow Rich
„I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.“
— Stephen R. Covey American educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker 1932 - 2012
Total 208 quotes attitude, filter:
„Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think.“
— Benjamin Disraeli British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and Prime Minister 1804 - 1881
— Albert Einstein German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity 1879 - 1955
As quoted in Journal of France and Germany (1942–1944) by Gilbert Fowler White, in excerpt published in Living with Nature's Extremes: The Life of Gilbert Fowler White (2006) by Robert E. Hinshaw, p. 62. From the context http://books.google.com/books?id=_2qfZRp9SeEC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA62#v=onepage&q&f=false it seems that White did not specify whether he had heard Einstein himself say this or whether he was repeating a quote that had been passed along by someone else, so without a primary source the validity of this quote should be considered questionable.
Some have argued that elsewhere Einstein defined a "miracle" as a type of event he did not believe was possible—Einstein on Religion by Max Jammer (1999) quotes on p. 89 from a 1931 conversation Einstein had with David Reichinstein, where Reichinstein brought up philosopher Arthur Liebert's argument that the indeterminism of quantum mechanics might allow for the possibility of miracles, and Einstein replied that Liebert's argument dealt "with a domain in which lawful rationality [determinism] does not exist. A 'miracle,' however, is an exception from lawfulness; hence, there where lawfulness does not exist, also its exception, i.e., a miracle, cannot exist." ("Dort, wo eine Gesetzmässigkeit nicht vorhanden ist, kann auch ihre Ausnahme, d.h. ein Wunder, nicht existieren." D. Reichenstein, Die Religion der Gebildeten (1941), p. 21). However, it is clear from the context that Einstein was stating only that miracles cannot exist in a domain (quantum mechanics) where lawful rationality does not exist. He did not claim that miracles could never exist in any domain. Indeed, Einstein clearly believed, as seen in many quotations above, that the universe was comprehensible and rational, but he also described this characteristic of the universe as a "miracle". In another example, he is quoted as claiming belief in a God, "Who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world."
As quoted in From Yale to Jail: The Life Story of a Moral Dissenter (1993) by David T. Dellinger, p. 418
Disputed
Variant: There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
Variant: There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
„If it's not important for you, then it's not important for me.“
— Lucky Gupta Internet celebrity 1998
2021
— Martin Luther King, Jr. American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement 1929 - 1968
'Where Do We Go From Here?" as published in Where Do We Go from Here : Chaos or Community? (1967), p. 62; many statements in this book, or slight variants of them, were also part of his address Where Do We Go From Here?" which has a section below. A common variant appearing at least as early as 1968 has "Returning violence for violence multiplies violence..." An early version of the speech as published in A Martin Luther King Treasury (1964), p. 173, has : "Returning hate for hate multiplies hate..."
1960s
Source: A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches
Context: The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. … Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
„When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.“
— Viktor E. Frankl, book Man's Search for Meaning
Source: Man's Search for Meaning
„It is nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice. “
— John Marks Templeton stock investor, businessman and philanthropist 1912 - 2008
„Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting!“
— Dr. Seuss American children's writer and illustrator, co-founder of Beginner Books 1904 - 1991
Variant: Today is your day, your mountain is waiting. So get on your way.
„We see the world not as it is, but as we are.“
— Lois McMaster Bujold, The Sharing Knife
Dag Redwing hickory Bluefield
Passage (Vol. III in Tetralogy) (2008), p. 163
The Sharing Knife, Passage (Vol. III in Tetralogy) (2008)
„No-one can make you feel inferior without your consent.“
— Red Symons Australian broadcaster and musician 1949
Attributed quotes
„Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.“
— John F. Kennedy 35th president of the United States of America 1917 - 1963
„Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.“
— Michael Jordan American retired professional basketball player and businessman 1963
Variant: Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, and others make it happen.
„No one is perfect in this imperfect world.“
— Patrice Lumumba Congolese Prime Minister, cold war leader, executed 1925 - 1961
Congo, My Country
„To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are.“
— Muhammad Ali African American boxer, philanthropist and activist 1942 - 2016
„It's not the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog.“
— Mark Twain American author and humorist 1835 - 1910
Anonymous American proverb; since 1998 this has often been attributed to Mark Twain on the internet, but no contemporary evidence of him ever using it has been located.
Variants:
It is not the size of the dog in the fight that counts, but the fight in the dog that matters.
"Stub Ends of Thoughts" by Arthur G. Lewis, a collection of sayings, in Book of the Royal Blue Vol. 14, No. 7 (April 1911), cited as the earliest known occurrence in The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs, edited by Charles Clay Doyle, Wolfgang Mieder, and Fred R. Shapiro, p. 232
It is not the size of the dog in the fight that counts, but the fight in the dog that wins.
Anonymous quote in the evening edition of the East Oregonian (20 April 1911)
What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight — it's the size of the fight in the dog.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, declaring his particular variant on the proverbial assertion in Remarks at Republican National Committee Breakfast (31 January 1958) http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=11229
Misattributed
„Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.“
— Mark Twain American author and humorist 1835 - 1910
„There is direction but there is no destination.“
— Carl R. Rogers American psychologist 1902 - 1987
„Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.“
— Winston S. Churchill Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1874 - 1965
Attributed to Winston Churchill in The Prodigal Project : Book I : Genesis (2003) by Ken Abraham and Daniel Hart, p. 224 and other places, though no source attribution is given. It actually derives from an advertising campaign for Budweiser beer in the late 1930s.
Misattributed
Variant: Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Source: http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/09/03/success-final/
„I will win. Not immediately, but definitely.“
— Loujain al-Hathloul Saudi Arabian activist 1989
As quoted in 8 women show us why International Women’s Day is the day to declare: We won’t wait for our rights! https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/03/why-international-womens-day-is-the-day-to-declare-we-wont-wait-for-our-rights/ (5 March 2017) by Shiromi Pinto, Amnesty International.
„This is the revolution of the new generation.“
— Charles A. Reich, book The Greening of America
Source: The Greening of America (1970), Chapter I : The Coming American Revolution, p. 4
Context: There is a revolution coming. It will not be like revolutions of the past. It will originate with the individual and with culture, and it will change the political structure only as its final act. It will not require violence to succeed, and it cannot be successfully resisted by violence. It is now spreading with amazing rapidity, and already our laws, institutions and social structure are changing in consequence. It promises a higher reason, a more human community, and a new and liberated individual. Its ultimate creation will be a new and enduring wholeness and beauty — a renewed relationship of man to himself, to other men, to society, to nature, and to the land.
This is the revolution of the new generation.
„Every day may not be good…
but there's something good in every day“
— Alice Morse Earle American historian 1851 - 1911
„A quiet conscience makes one strong!“
— Anne Frank victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary 1929 - 1945
The Diary of a Young Girl
„When life gives you lemons, make lemonade“
— Dale Carnegie American writer and lecturer 1888 - 1955
Variant: When fate hands you lemons, make lemonade.
„Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.“
— Marcus Aurelius, book Meditations
Source: Meditations
„Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one“
— Bruce Lee Hong Kong-American actor, martial artist, philosopher and filmmaker 1940 - 1973
„If you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain.“
— Dolly Parton American singer-songwriter and actress 1946
Variant: The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain!
„If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.“
— Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
Source: The Secret Garden
„Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.“
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer German Lutheran pastor, theologian, dissident anti-Nazi 1906 - 1945
— Eleanor Roosevelt American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States 1884 - 1962
Foreword (January 1960)
You Learn by Living (1960)
„You can often change your circumstances by changing your attitude“
— Eleanor Roosevelt American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States 1884 - 1962
„No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.“
— Eleanor Roosevelt American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States 1884 - 1962
Disputed
Variant: No one can make you feel inferior without your permission.
Source: Sometimes claimed to appear in her book This is My Story, but in The Quote Verifier by Ralph Keyes (2006), Keyes writes on p. 97 that "Bartlett's and other sources say her famous quotation can be found in This is My Story, Roosevelt's 1937 autobiography. It can't. Quotographer Rosalie Maggio scoured that book and many others by and about Roosevelt in search of this line, without success. In their own extensive searching, archivists at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, New York, have not been able to find the quotation in This Is My Story or any other writing by the First Lady. A discussion of some of the earliest known attributions of this quote to Roosevelt, which may be a paraphrase from an interview, can be found in this entry from Quote Investigator http://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/03/30/not-inferior/.
„Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character“
— Albert Einstein German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity 1879 - 1955
Speech made in honor of Thomas Mann in January 1939, when Mann was given the Einstein Prize given by the Jewish Forum. Quoted in Einstein Lived Here by Abraham Pais (1994), p. 214 http://books.google.com/books?id=u_9QAAAAMAAJ&q=%22becomes+lack+of+power%22#search_anchor
1930s
Context: The standard bearers have grown weak in the defense of their priceless heritage, and the powers of darkness have been strengthened thereby. Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character; it becomes lack of power to act with courage proportionate to danger. All this must lead to the destruction of our intellectual life unless the danger summons up strong personalities able to fill the lukewarm and discouraged with new strength and resolution.
— Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People
Variant: It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.
Source: How to Win Friends and Influence People
„Your attitude, more than your aptitude, will determine your altitude.“
— John C. Maxwell American author, speaker and pastor 1947
Failing Forward: How to Make the Most of Your Mistakes
„You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside.“
— Wayne W. Dyer American writer 1940 - 2015
„You see, when our attitudes outdistance our abilities, even the impossible becomes possible.“
— John C. Maxwell American author, speaker and pastor 1947
Source: The Success Journey: The Process of Living Your Dreams
„If there is a good will, there is great way.“
— William Shakespeare English playwright and poet 1564 - 1616
„To be or not to be. That's not really a question.“
— Jean-Luc Godard French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic 1930
„A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.“
— Steve Martin American actor, comedian, musician, author, playwright, and producer 1945
„Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Already Taken.“
— Oscar Wilde Irish writer and poet 1854 - 1900
Anonymous advertising copywriter for Menards chain of hardware stores (2000), according to Quote Investigator http://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/01/20/be-yourself
Misattributed
„Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.“
— H.L. Mencken American journalist and writer 1880 - 1956
Sententiæ: The Citizen and the State, p. 624
1940s–present, A Mencken Chrestomathy (1949)
Source: A Mencken Chrestomathy
„Your attitude determines your altitude.“
Zig Ziglar
200 Motivational and inspirational Quotes That Will Inspire Your Success
Variant: Your attitude determines your altitude. - Zig Ziglar
„I love those who can smile in trouble…“
— Leonardo Da Vinci Italian Renaissance polymath 1452 - 1519
„Things are not as they seem. They are what they are.“
— Terry Pratchett, book Thief of Time
Source: Thief of Time
„Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.“
— W. Clement Stone American New Thought author 1902 - 2002
Actually said by Napoleon Hill, Stone later added the line "...with P.M.A." (Positive Mental Attitude) to the end of this quote.
Misattributed
Variant: Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.
— Abraham Lincoln 16th President of the United States 1809 - 1865
Letter to Isham Reavis (5 November 1855)
1850s
Context: If you are resolutely determined to make a lawyer of yourself, the thing is more than half done already. It is but a small matter whether you read with anyone or not. I did not read with anyone. Get the books, and read and study them till you understand them in their principal features; and that is the main thing. It is of no consequence to be in a large town while you are reading. I read at New Salem, which never had three hundred people living in it. The books, and your capacity for understanding them, are just the same in all places.... Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing.
„Do for yourself, for no one else will.“
— Johanna Lindsey American writer 1952 - 2019
Source: A Heart So Wild
„People of little understanding are most apt to be angry when their sense is called into question.“
— Samuel Richardson English writer and printer 1689 - 1761
— Aldous Huxley English writer 1894 - 1963
Variant: The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm.
„In the end, everyone loses everyone.“
— Jonathan Safran Foer, book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Source: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
„Respect yourself and others will respect you.“
— Confucius Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher -551 - -479 BC
Source: Sayings of Confucius
„Life is to be lived, not controlled.“
— Ralph Waldo Emerson American philosopher, essayist, and poet 1803 - 1882
„Be positive, patient and persistent.“
— Banksy pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, and painter
„Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.“
— Martin Luther King, Jr. American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement 1929 - 1968
„Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else.“
— Tom Stoppard, book Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Source: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
„Ah, pay no heed if your enemies laugh. They'll not be able to once you lop off their heads.“
— Christopher Paolini American author 1983
Source: Eragon, Eldest & Brisingr
„Life is 10 percent what you make it
and 90 percent how you take it.“
— Irving Berlin American composer 1888 - 1989
„Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.“
— John C. Maxwell American author, speaker and pastor 1947
„The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.“
— Jimmy Johnson American Chicago blues guitarist and singer 1928
„Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people we personally dislike.“
— Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband
Source: An Ideal Husband
„A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.“
— David Brinkley American journalist 1920 - 2003
„The road to success is always under construction“
— Lily Tomlin American actress, comedian, writer, and producer 1939
„Don't waste your time with explanations: people only hear what they want to hear.“
— Paulo Coelho Brazilian lyricist and novelist 1947
— Sherry Argov American writer 1977
Source: Why Men Love Bitches: From Doormat to Dreamgirl—A Woman's Guide to Holding Her Own in a Relationship
„[Change is] the only evidence of life.“
— Evelyn Waugh British writer 1903 - 1966
Source: Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder
„Two things are infinite: the universe and the human stupidity.“
— Albert Einstein German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity 1879 - 1955
As discussed in this entry from The Quote Investigator http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/04/universe-einstein/#more-173, the earliest published attribution of a similar quote to Einstein seems to have been in Gestalt therapist Frederick S. Perls' 1969 book Gestalt Theory Verbatim, where he wrote on p. 33: "As Albert Einstein once said to me: 'Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity.' But what is much more widespread than the actual stupidity is the playing stupid, turning off your ear, not listening, not seeing." Perls also offered another variant in his 1972 book In and Out the Garbage Pail, where he mentioned a meeting with Einstein and on p. 52 http://books.google.com/books?id=HuxFAAAAYAAJ&q=human+stupidity#search_anchor quoted him saying: "Two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I am not yet completely sure about the universe." However, Perls had given yet another variant of this quote in an earlier book, Ego, Hunger, and Aggression: a Revision of Freud’s Theory and Method (originally published 1942, although the Quote Investigator only checked that the quote appeared in the 1947 edition), where he attributed it not to Einstein but to a "great astronomer", writing: "As modern times promote hasty eating to a large extent, it is not surprising to learn that a great astronomer said: 'Two things are infinite, as far as we know – the universe and human stupidity.' To-day we know that this statement is not quite correct. Einstein has proved that the universe is limited." So, the later attributions in 1969 and 1972 may have been a case of faulty memory, or of intentionally trying to increase the authority of the quote by attributing it to Einstein. The quote itself may be a variant of a similar quote attributed even earlier to the philosopher Ernest Renan, found for example in The Public: Volume 18 from 1915, which says on p. 1126 http://books.google.com/books?id=cTPmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1126#v=onepage&q&f=false: "He quotes the saying of Renan: it isn't the stars that give him an idea of infinity; it is man's stupidity." (Other examples of similar attributions to Renan can be found on this Google Books search http://www.google.com/search?q=renan+infinity+stupidity&btnG=Search+Books&tbm=bks&tbo=1.) Renan was French so this is presumably intended as a translation, but different sources give different versions of the supposed original French quote, such as "La bêtise humaine est la seule chose qui donne une idée de l'infini" (found for example in Réflexions sur la vie, 1895-1898 by Remy de Gourmont from 1903, p. 103 http://books.google.com/books?id=RtrtAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA103#v=onepage&q&f=false, along with several other early sources as seen in this search http://www.google.com/search?q=%22humaine+est+la+seule+chose+qui%22+renan&btnG=Search+Books&tbm=bks&tbo=1) and "Ce n'est pas l'immensité de la voûte étoilée qui peut donner le plus complétement l'idée de l'infini, mais bien la bêtise humaine!" (found in Broad views, Volume 2 from 1904, p. 465 http://books.google.com/books?id=9NEaAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA465#v=onepage&q&f=false). Since these variants have not been found in Renan's own writings, they may represent false attributions as well. They may also be variants of an even older saying; for example, the 1880 book Des vers by Guy de Maupassant includes on p. 9 http://books.google.com/books?id=cQUvAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP21#v=onepage&q&f=false a quote from a letter (dated February 19, 1880) by Gustave Flaubert where Flaubert writes "Cependant, qui sait? La terre a des limites, mais la bêtise humaine est infinie!" which translates to "But who knows? The earth has its boundaries, but human stupidity is infinite!" Similarly the 1887 book Melanges by Jules-Paul Tardivel includes on p. 273 http://books.google.com/books?id=n9cOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA273#v=onepage&q&f=false a piece said to have been written in 1880 in which he writes "Aujourd'hui je sais qu'il n'y a pas de limites à la bêtise humaine, qu'elle est infinie" which translates to "today I know that there is no limit to human stupidity, it is infinite."
Disputed
Variant: "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." Earliest version located is in Technocracy digest: Issues 287–314 from 1988, p. 76 http://books.google.com/books?id=L7LnAAAAMAAJ&q=%22sure+about+the+former%22#search_anchor. Translated to German as: "Zwei Dinge sind unendlich: das Universum und die menschliche Dummheit. Aber beim Universum bin ich mir nicht ganz sicher." (Earliest version located is Arndt-Michael Meyer, Die Macht der Kürze, Books on Demand GmbH, 2004, p. 14 http://books.google.gr/books?id=12DW-RBKTW8C&pg=PA14&dq=%22Zwei+Dinge+sind+unendlich:+das+Universum+und+die+menschliche+%22+arnd&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gquJUsrYBomM7AapmYGgCQ&ved=0CC8Q6wEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Zwei%20Dinge%20sind%20unendlich%3A%20das%20Universum%20und%20die%20menschliche%20%22%20arnd&f=false.)
Variant: Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
„Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.“
— Wayne W. Dyer American writer 1940 - 2015
„What they call you is one thing. What you answer to is something else.“
— Lucille Clifton American poet 1936 - 2010
— Lucille Ball American actress and businesswoman 1911 - 1989
Variant: Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. Your really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.
„Your attitude determines your altitude“
— Stephen R. Covey, book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
„Change your thoughts and you can change the world.“
— Norman Vincent Peale American writer 1898 - 1993
As quoted in Back on Track : How to Straighten Out Your Life When It Throws You a Curve (1997) by Deborah Norville, p. 201
Variant: Change your thoughts and you change your world.
„But then it passed, as all things do.“
— Khaled Hosseini, book And the Mountains Echoed
Source: And the Mountains Echoed
„We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.“
— Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan
Lord Darlington, Act III
Source: Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)
„If you can change your mind, you can change your life.“
— William James American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist 1842 - 1910
— William James American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist 1842 - 1910
"Man alone, of all creatures of earth, can change his thought pattern and become the architect of his destiny." Actually said by Spencer W. Kimball, twelfth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in his Miracle of Forgiveness (1969), p. 114. This predates any of the misquotations.
Other forms: "The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind." This is also misattributed to Albert Schweitzer.
James did say: "As life goes on, there is a constant change of our interests, and a consequent change of place in our systems of ideas, from more central to more peripheral, and from more peripheral to more central parts of consciousness."
Misattributed
Context: Man alone, of all the creatures on earth, can change his own patterns. Man alone is the architect of his destiny. The greatest revolution in our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives … It is too bad that most people will not accept this tremendous discovery and begin living it.
„Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope.“
— Helen Keller, book Optimism
Optimism (1903)
Variant: Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement
„There was never a great genius without a touch of madness.“
— Ben Jonson English writer 1572 - 1637
„When life gives you lemons, make lemonade“
— Elbert Hubbard American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher fue el escritor del jarron azul 1856 - 1915
„My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.“
— Jim Valvano American basketball player-coach 1946 - 1993
„Keep a little fire burning; however small, however hidden.“
— Cormac McCarthy, book The Road
Source: The Road
„You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind.“
— Joyce Meyer American author and speaker 1943
Source: Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind
„You really can change the world if you care enough.“
— Marian Wright Edelman American children's rights activist 1939