
„Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.“
— Arthur Ashe American tennis player 1943 - 1993
A collection of quotes on the topic of motivational, inspirational, deep, life.
„Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.“
— Arthur Ashe American tennis player 1943 - 1993
„Believe you can and you're halfway there.“
— Theodore Roosevelt American politician, 26th president of the United States 1858 - 1919
„Life would be tragic if it weren't funny.“
— Stephen Hawking British theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author 1942 - 2018
As quoted in "The Science of Second-Guessing", The New York Times (12 December 2004)
„I would rather die of passion than of boredom.“
— Emile Zola, book Au Bonheur des Dames
Source: The Ladies' Paradise
„It is never too late to be what you might have been.“
— George Eliot English novelist, journalist and translator 1819 - 1880
„The secret to getting ahead is getting started.“
— Mark Twain American author and humorist 1835 - 1910
„Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.“
— Martin Luther King, Jr. American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement 1929 - 1968
Source: I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World
„The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.“
— Ralph Waldo Emerson American philosopher, essayist, and poet 1803 - 1882
„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.
„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
Total 428 quotes inspirational, filter:
„If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.“
— Dolly Parton American singer-songwriter and actress 1946
„What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.“
— Jane Goodall British primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist 1934
— 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.
„Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.“
— Dr. Seuss American children's writer and illustrator, co-founder of Beginner Books 1904 - 1991
Georges Duhamel in THE HEART'S DOMAIN (1919). As it was composed in French, the wording in English may vary in translation. Theodore Geisel / Dr. Seuss was born in 1904, and would have been about 15 years old at the time that it was published. The full text can be found at the link below: We do not know the true value of our moments until they have undergone the test of memory. Like the images the photographer plunges into a golden bath, our sentiments take on color; and only then, after that recoil and that trans-figuration, do we understand their real meaning and enjoy them in all their tranquil splendor.
Misattributed
„Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about.“
— Marilyn Monroe American actress, model, and singer 1926 - 1962
— John Lennon English singer and songwriter 1940 - 1980
Variant: When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.
— 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.
„Take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.“
— Erica Jong Novelist, poet, memoirist, critic 1942
„Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.“
— Peter F. Drucker American business consultant 1909 - 2005
„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.
„Whenever you get there, there is no there there.“
— Gertrude Stein American art collector and experimental writer of novels, poetry and plays 1874 - 1946
„You can’t let your failures define you. You have to let your failures teach you.“
— Barack Obama 44th President of the United States of America 1961
— Helen Keller American author and political activist 1880 - 1968
Variant: The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.
„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 American mythologist, writer and lecturer 1904 - 1987
Variant: You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.
„There are no traffic jams on the extra mile.“
— Zig Ziglar American motivational speaker 1926 - 2012
„It isn't where you came from; it's where you're going that counts.“
— Ella Fitzgerald American jazz singer 1917 - 1996
„There are no regrets in life, just lessons.“
— Jennifer Aniston television and film actress from the United States 1969
„Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.“
— Marcus Aurelius, book Meditations
Source: Meditations
„In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.“
— Bill Cosby American actor, comedian, author, producer, musician, activist 1937
„Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.“
— Leo Tolstoy Russian writer 1828 - 1910
„We accept the love we think we deserve.“
— Stephen Chbosky, book The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Source: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
— Socrates classical Greek Athenian philosopher -470 - -399 BC
This is actually a quotation http://books.google.com/books?id=FUIHmRHf8SUC&lpg=PA130&dq=%22not%20on%20fighting%20the%20old%20but%20on%20building%20the%20new%22&pg=PA130#v=onepage&q=%22not%20on%20fighting%20the%20old%20but%20on%20building%20the%20new%22&f=false from a character named Socrates in Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Way_of_the_Peaceful_Warrior, by Dan Millman.
Misattributed
„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.
„Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.“
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe German writer, artist, and politician 1749 - 1832
„You never know when a moment and a
few sincere words can have an impact on a life.“
— Zig Ziglar American motivational speaker 1926 - 2012
„Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.“
— Maya Angelou, book Letter to My Daughter
Variant: Be a rainbow in somebody else's cloud.
Source: Letter to My Daughter
„Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.“
— Maya Angelou American author and poet 1928 - 2014
„Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.“
— Abraham Lincoln 16th President of the United States 1809 - 1865
„Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.“
— Ralph Waldo Emerson American philosopher, essayist, and poet 1803 - 1882
„Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.“
— Albert Einstein German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity 1879 - 1955
Letter to his son Eduard (5 February 1930), as quoted in Walter Isaacson, Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007), p. 367
1930s
„The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.“
— H. Jackson Brown, Jr. American writer 1940
Source: P.S. I Love You
„All your life, you will be faced with a choice. You can choose love or hate…I choose love.“
— Johnny Cash American singer-songwriter 1932 - 2003
„The trouble is, you think you have time.“
— Jack Kornfield American writer 1945
Source: Buddha's Little Instruction Book
„Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.“
— Les Brown American politician 1945
Variant: Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living out fears.
„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
„Never complain, never explain. Resist the temptation to defend yourself or make excuses.“
— Brian Tracy American motivational speaker and writer 1944
„Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.“
— Martin Luther King, Jr. American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement 1929 - 1968
Martin Luther
Misattributed
— Eleanor Roosevelt American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States 1884 - 1962
Source: You Learn by Living (1960), p. 29–30
Context: You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." … You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
„Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late. “
— Benjamin Franklin American author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, a… 1706 - 1790
— Marie Curie French-Polish physicist and chemist 1867 - 1934
As quoted in Our Precarious Habitat (1973) by Melvin A. Benarde, p. v
— Anne Frank victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary 1929 - 1945
As quoted in Networking the Kingdom: A Practical Strategy for Maximum Church Growth (1990) by O. J. Bryson, p. 187; this is the earliest source yet found for this attribution.
Disputed
„Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.“
— Theodore Roosevelt American politician, 26th president of the United States 1858 - 1919
Ch. IX : Outdoors and Indoors, p. 336; the final statement "quoted by Squire Bill Widener" as well as variants of it, are often misattributed to Roosevelt himself.
Variant: Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
Attributed to Roosevelt in Conquering an Enemy Called Average (1996) by John L. Mason, Nugget # 8 : The Only Place to Start is Where You Are. <!-- The Military Quotation Book, Revised and Expanded: More than 1,200 of the Best Quotations About War, Leadership, Courage, Victory, and Defeat (2002) by James Charlton -->
Variant: Do what you can, with what you've got, where you are.
Context: There are many kinds of success in life worth having. It is exceedingly interesting and attractive to be a successful business man, or railroad man, or farmer, or a successful lawyer or doctor; or a writer, or a President, or a ranchman, or the colonel of a fighting regiment, or to kill grizzly bears and lions. But for unflagging interest and enjoyment, a household of children, if things go reasonably well, certainly makes all other forms of success and achievement lose their importance by comparison. It may be true that he travels farthest who travels alone; but the goal thus reached is not worth reaching. And as for a life deliberately devoted to pleasure as an end — why, the greatest happiness is the happiness that comes as a by-product of striving to do what must be done, even though sorrow is met in the doing. There is a bit of homely philosophy, quoted by Squire Bill Widener, of Widener's Valley, Virginia, which sums up one's duty in life: "Do what you can, with what you've got, where you are."
„It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.“
— E.E. Cummings American poet 1894 - 1962
„Whoever loves much, performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well.“
— Vincent Van Gogh Dutch post-Impressionist painter (1853-1890) 1853 - 1890
„Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.“
— Pablo Picasso Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer 1881 - 1973
Quote attributed to Picasso in TIME, October 4, 1976, Modern Living: Ozmosis in Central Park http://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/03/07/child-art/ http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,918412,00.html
Disputed
„The power of imagination makes us infinite.“
— John Muir Scottish-born American naturalist and author 1838 - 1914
1 September 1875, page 226
John of the Mountains, 1938
Context: How infinitely superior to our physical senses are those of the mind! The spiritual eye sees not only rivers of water but of air. It sees the crystals of the rock in rapid sympathetic motion, giving enthusiastic obedience to the sun's rays, then sinking back to rest in the night. The whole world is in motion to the center. So also sounds. We hear only woodpeckers and squirrels and the rush of turbulent streams. But imagination gives us the sweet music of tiniest insect wings, enables us to hear, all round the world, the vibration of every needle, the waving of every bole and branch, the sound of stars in circulation like particles in the blood. The Sierra canyons are full of avalanche debris — we hear them boom again, for we read past sounds from present conditions. Again we hear the earthquake rock-falls. Imagination is usually regarded as a synonym for the unreal. Yet is true imagination healthful and real, no more likely to mislead than the coarser senses. Indeed, the power of imagination makes us infinite.
„Success is getting what you want..
Happiness is wanting what you get.“
— Dale Carnegie American writer and lecturer 1888 - 1955
Variant: Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.
„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/
„Do one thing every day that scares you.“
— Eleanor Roosevelt American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States 1884 - 1962
„Some people look for a beautiful place, others make a place beautiful.“
— Hazrat Inayat Khan Indian Sufi 1882 - 1927
„You must do the thing you think you cannot do.“
— Eleanor Roosevelt American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States 1884 - 1962
Source: You Learn by Living (1960), p. 29–30
Context: You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." … You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
„Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.“
— Theodore Roosevelt American politician, 26th president of the United States 1858 - 1919
Variant: Look Toward the stars but keep your feet firmly on the ground.
Source: The Greatest American President: The Autobiography of Theodore Roosevelt
„I attribute my success to this — I never gave or took any excuse.“
— Florence Nightingale English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing 1820 - 1910
As quoted in The Gigantic Book of Teachers' Wisdom (2007) by Frank McCourt and Erin Gruwell, p. 410
„If you can't do great things, do small things in a great way.“
— Napoleon Hill American author 1883 - 1970
— Maya Angelou American author and poet 1928 - 2014
Shared on her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MayaAngelou/posts/10150251846629796, July 4, 2011
„Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.“
— Marie Curie French-Polish physicist and chemist 1867 - 1934
As quoted in Our Precarious Habitat (1973) by Melvin A. Benarde, p. v
Context: Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.
„You'll never do a whole lot unless you're brave enough to try.“
— Dolly Parton American singer-songwriter and actress 1946
„Life is what you make it. Always has been, always will be.“
— Eleanor Roosevelt American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States 1884 - 1962
„The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine.“
— Mike Murdock American televangelist 1946
„To do nothing is the way to be nothing.“
— Nathaniel Hawthorne American novelist and short story writer (1804 – 1879) 1804 - 1864
— Johnny Cash American singer-songwriter 1932 - 2003
Variant: You build on failure. You use it as a stepping sone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.
„Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.“
— George Bernard Shaw Irish playwright 1856 - 1950
Variant: Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.
„You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.“
— William Faulkner American writer 1897 - 1962
„The secret of getting ahead is getting started.“
— Agatha Christie English mystery and detective writer 1890 - 1976
„Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.“
— Aristotle Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy -384 - -321 BC
„There is direction but there is no destination.“
— Carl R. Rogers American psychologist 1902 - 1987
„It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.“
— Confucius Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher -551 - -479 BC
„In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.“
— Coco Chanel French fashion designer 1883 - 1971
As quoted in Coco Chanel : Her Life, Her Secrets (1971) by Marcel Haedrich
„No-one can make you feel inferior without your consent.“
— Red Symons Australian broadcaster and musician 1949
Attributed quotes
„Life's not about waiting for the storm to pass… it's about learning to dance in the rain. “
— Вивиан Грин American musician 1979
„We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.“
— Maya Angelou American author and poet 1928 - 2014
„Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.“
— Khalil Gibran Lebanese artist, poet, and writer 1883 - 1931
— Jesse Owens American track and field athlete 1913 - 1980
As quoted in Blackthink: My Life as Black Man and White Man https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0688011632 (1970)
1970s
„Action is the foundational key to all success.“
— Pablo Picasso Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer 1881 - 1973
„It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.“
— Lewis Carroll, book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Source: Alice in Wonderland
„In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.“
— Anne Frank, Diary of Anne Frank
Source: The Diary of Anne Frank
„It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.“
— Herman Melville American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet 1818 - 1891
Hawthorne and His Mosses (1850)
Context: It is better to fail in originality, than to succeed in imitation. He who has never failed somewhere, that man can not be great. Failure is the true test of greatness.
Context: It is better to fail in originality, than to succeed in imitation. He who has never failed somewhere, that man can not be great. Failure is the true test of greatness. And if it be said, that continual success is a proof that a man wisely knows his powers, — it is only to be added, that, in that case, he knows them to be small. Let us believe it, then, once for all, that there is no hope for us in these smooth pleasing writers that know their powers.
„All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination.“
— Earl Nightingale American motivational speaker 1921 - 1989
„There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.“
— Maya Angelou, book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Misattributed
Source: This is actually from Zora Neale Hurston, <i>Dust Tracks On the Road,</i> though it is widely attributed to Ms. Angelou's book, <i>I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.</i>
„Each person must live their life as a model for others.“
— Rosa Parks African-American civil rights activist 1913 - 2005
„Most people are real nice, when you finally see them.“
— Harper Lee, book To Kill a Mockingbird
Pt. 2, ch. 31
Jean Louise (Scout) Finch & Atticus Finch
Source: To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Context: "An' they chased him 'n' never could catch him 'cause they didn't know what he looked like, an' Atticus, when they finally saw him, why he hadn't done any of those things... Atticus, he was real nice..."
"Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them."