Quotes about motivation

„One of the greatest advantages of the totalitarian elites of the twenties and thirties was to turn any statement of fact into a question of motive.“

—  Hannah Arendt, book The Origins of Totalitarianism

Source: The Origins of Totalitarianism

„Action isn’t just the effect of motivation; it’s also the cause of it.“

—  Mark Manson American writer and blogger 1984

Source: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (2016), Chapter 7, “Failure Is the Way Forward” (p. 160)

„Heroes are those who can somehow resist the power of the situation and act out of noble motives, or behave in ways that do not demean others when they easily can.“

—  Philip G. Zimbardo American social psychologist, author of Stanford Prison Experiment 1933

„Never depend upon institutions or government to solve any problem. All social movements are founded by, guided by, motivated and seen through by the passion of individuals.“

—  Margaret Mead American anthropologist 1901 - 1978

Attributed in Talent Development for English Language Learners: Identifying and Developing Potential (2013) by Michael S. Matthews, Ph.D. SBN-13:9781618211057
2000s
Variant: Never ever depend on governments or institutions to solve any major problems. All social change comes from the passion of individuals.

„There are those… who enter the world in such poverty that they are deprived of both the means and the motivation to improve their lot.“

—  Aga Khan IV 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailism 1936

Speech at the Innauguration of the Aga Khan Baug, Versova, India (17 January 1983) http://ismaili.net/speech/s830117.html <!-- ***Source: Selection of Speeches: 1976-1984
Source: Africa Ismaili, XIV, 2 (July 1983), pp. 20-22
Source: American Ismaili, (July 11, 1983), pp. 15-16 -->
Context: There are those... who enter the world in such poverty that they are deprived of both the means and the motivation to improve their lot. Unless these unfortunates can be touched with the spark which ignites the spirit of individual enterprise and determination, they will only sink back into renewed apathy, degradation and despair. It is for us, who are more fortunate, to provide that spark.

„When evaluating someone’s actions or temperament, always examine motive for it is the essence of what and who they are. One’s actions are in direct correlation with the conscience.“

—  RJ Intindola (Gandolfo)

1992

„If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway!“

—  Matka Tereza Roman Catholic saint of Albanian origin 1910 - 1997

This is a variant or paraphrase of The Paradoxical Commandments, by Kent M. Keith, student activist, first composed in 1968 as part of a booklet for student leaders, which had hung on the wall of Mother Teresa's children's home in Calcutta, India, and have sometimes become misattributed to her. The version posted at his site http://www.paradoxicalcommandments.com begins:
Misattributed
Context: People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

„I think it's rarely about what you actually learn in class it's mostly about things that you stay motivated to go and continue to do on your own.“

—  Maryam Mirzakhani Iranian mathematician 1977 - 2017

Maryam Mirzakhani press conference after winning Field's Medal | august 2014

„I think I have more plans for my future from now and I think we must start work for a campaign now so we have set up a Malala foundation. And through Malala fund we are going to educate girls and we want to do work on the ground: building schools, teachers, training, trying to motivate parents of the children to send their children to school. We also want to recognize those girls who are fighting for their rights. In the future when I grow older, much older I want to do politics. I want to serve my country for politics. I want to help my people and I want to help in education.“

—  Malala Yousafzai Pakistani children's education activist 1997

Statements in PBS interview with Margaret Warner (October 11, 2013)

„When we are equipped with leadership skills that complement traditional rank, we are appropriately prepared to provide the inspiration, the motivation and guidance expected of us. The ethos of 'vakaturaga' (chiefly way) will then retain its true place in Fijian culture in this new millennium.“

—  Josefa Iloilo President of Fiji 1920 - 2011

Opening address to the Great Council of Chiefs meeting, 27 July 2005 (excerpts)

„I think the big mistake in schools is trying to teach children anything, and by using fear as the basic motivation.“

—  Stanley Kubrick American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and editor 1928 - 1999

Quoted in Stanley Kubrick at Look Magazine (2013) by Phillipe Mather, p. 46
Context: I think the big mistake in schools is trying to teach children anything, and by using fear as the basic motivation. Fear of getting failing grades, fear of not staying with your class, etc. Interest can produce learning on a scale compared to fear as a nuclear explosion to a firecracker.

„The larger crimes are apt to be the simpler, for the bigger the crime, the more obvious, as a rule, is the motive.“

—  Arthur Conan Doyle Scottish physician and author 1859 - 1930

„Motivation gets you through the day, but inspiration lasts a lifetime.“

—  Nick Vujicic Serbian Australian evangelist and motivational speaker 1982

„The steam-engine having furnished us with a means of converting heat into a motive power, and our thoughts being thereby led to regard a certain quantity of work as an equivalent for the amount of heat expended in its production, the idea of establishing theoretically some fixed relation between a quantity of heat and the quantity of work which it can possibly produce, from which relation conclusions regarding the nature of heat itself might be deduced, naturally presents itself. Already, indeed, have many successful efforts been made with this view; I believe, however, that they have not exhausted the subject, but that, on the contrary, it merits the continued attention of physicists… The most important investigation in connexion with this subject is that of S. Carnot.“

—  Rudolf Clausius German mathematical physicist 1822 - 1888

First Memoir. On the Moving Force of Heat and the Laws which may be Deduced Therefrom
The Mechanical Theory of Heat (1867)

„I never used any outside influence to advance my career. All I had was the inner urge to seek more within myself. The key to my motivation has always been to look at how far I had still to go rather than how far I had come.“

—  A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, book Wings of Fire

Source: Wings of Fire, p. 140.

„The greatest prayer motivator in existence is answered prayer.“

—  Bill Hybels American writer 1951

Too Busy Not to Pray (2008, InterVarsity Press)

„It is the media that controls the boundaries of what is politically permissible, so better to change the media. Profit motives work against it, but if we can have the audience understand that most other forms of journalism are not credible, then it may be a forced move.“

—  Julian Assange Australian editor, activist, publisher and journalist 1971

[Peter, Farquhar, http://www.news.com.au/technology/ipad/wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-adamant-his-site-broke-collateral-murder-encryption/story-fn5knrwy-1225868870785, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange adamant his site broke Collateral Murder encryption, News.com.au, May 19, 2010, 2010-06-17]

„The Great Vehicle path requires the vast motivation of a Bodhisattva, who, not seeking just his or her welfare, takes on the burden of bringing about the welfare of all sentient beings.“

—  Tenzin Gyatso spiritual leader of Tibet 1935

The Dalai Lama at Harvard: Lectures on the Buddhist Path to Peace (1988) by Jeffrey Hopkins.
Context: What is the Great Vehicle? What is the mode of procedure of the Bodhisattva path? We begin with the topic of the altruistic intention to achieve enlightenment in which one values others more than oneself. The Great Vehicle path requires the vast motivation of a Bodhisattva, who, not seeking just his or her welfare, takes on the burden of bringing about the welfare of all sentient beings. When a person generate this attitude, they enter within the Great Vehicle, and as long as it has not been generated, one cannot be counted among those of the Great Vehicle. This attitude really has great power; it, of course, is helpful for people practicing religion, but it also is helpful for those who are just concerned with the affairs of this lifetime. The root of happiness is altruism — the wish to be of service to others.

„We must promote the idea of secession. Or more specifically, we must promote the idea of a world composed of tens of thousands of distinct districts, regions, and cantons, and hundred of thousands of independent free cities such as the present day oddities of Monaco, Andorra, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Greatly increased opportunities for economically motivated migration would thus result, and the world would be one of small [classically] liberal governments economically integrated through free trade and an international commodity money such as gold.“

—  Hans-Hermann Hoppe Austrian school economist and libertarian anarcho-capitalist philosopher 1949

Interview at quebecoislibre.org (7 December 2002) http://www.quebecoislibre.org/021207-8.htm.