“It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it.”
Toynbee, cited in: Arnold Joseph Toynbee, Edward DeLos Myers (1955) A study of history. Vol. 7. p. 388
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Arnold Toynbee20
British economic historian 1852–1883Related quotes
“Man is always aiming to achieve some goal and he is always looking for new goals.”
Gordon Pask (1928–1996) British psychologist
Pask (1968) " A comment, a case history, and a plan http://www.pangaro.com/pask/Pask%20Cybernetic%20Serendipity%20Musicolour%20and%20Colloquy%20of%20Mobiles.pdf" in: Cybernetics, Art and Ideas". (1968) p. 76.
“Some goals and difficult goals are reached only by waiting, I can wait.”
Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer
Original: (it) Alcuni traguardi e difficili obiettivi si raggiungono solo aspettando, io so aspettare.
Source: prevale.net
“A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”
Bruce Lee (1940–1973) Hong Kong-American actor, martial artist, philosopher and filmmaker
As translated by Katharine Lyttelton, in Joubert : A Selection from His Thoughts (1899)
Source: Striking Thoughts (2000), p. 121; this likely derives from the observation of Joseph Joubert: The goal is not always meant to be reached, but to serve as a mark for our aim.
“We will not define our goal, but when we reach our goal we will duplicate the goal.”
Dilma Rousseff (1947) 36th President of Brazil
Eternal
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist
Variant: The end of a melody is not its goal: but nonetheless, had the melody not reached its end it would not have reached its goal either. A parable.
“It is a kind of law of nature. The goal one aims for can rarely be reached by a direct road.”
Matsushita Konosuke (1894–1989) Japanese businessman
Source: Quest for prosperity: the life of a Japanese industrialist. 1988, p. 47
Aristotle (-384–-321 BC) Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy
Attributed to Aristotle in Bernhoff A. Dahl, Optimize Your Life! http://books.google.gr/books?id=B1Z2XP_DamQC&dq=, Trionics International Inc., 2005, p. 111. <br class="br">Disputed
“Better to have a big goal and reach half of it than to have no goal and reach all of it.”
Joyce Meyer (1943) American author and speaker