„You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.“

„Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself, believe.“

—  Winston S. Churchill Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1874 - 1965

„Give them food what you have for yourself, and clothe them by which you clothe yourself, and do not beat them, and do not revile them.“

—  Muhammad Arabian religious leader and the founder of Islam 570 - 632

Sunan Abu-Daud Book 11, Hadith 2139 http://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=11&translator=3&start=44&number=2138#
Sunni Hadith
Context: Narrated Mu'awiyah al-Qushayri: I went to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) and asked him: What do you say (command) about our wives? He replied: Give them food what you have for yourself, and clothe them by which you clothe yourself, and do not beat them, and do not revile them.

„You don't psych yourself up for these things, you do them… I'm acting for the audience, not for myself, and I do it as directly as I can.“

—  James Cagney American actor and dancer 1899 - 1986

Cagney by Cagney, his autobiography (1976)

„You can curse the dead or pray for them, but don't expect them to do a thing for you. They're far too interested in watching us, to see what in heaven's name we will do next.“

—  Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible

Source: The Poisonwood Bible

„Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.“

—  Donald Miller, book Blue Like Jazz: nonreligious thoughts on Christian spirituality

Blue Like Jazz (2003, Nelson Books)

„The Way of Mastery is to break all the rules—but you have to know them perfectly before you can do this; otherwise you are not in a position to transcend them.“

—  Aleister Crowley poet, mountaineer, occultist 1875 - 1947

Source: Magical and Philosophical Commentaries on The Book of the Law

„Sometimes just being still is the best thing you can do for yourself.“

—  Silas House American writer 1971

Source: Eli the Good

„The best thing you can do is look after yourself. Get on with it.“

—  Karl Pilkington English television personality, social commentator, actor, author and former radio producer 1972

Podcast Series 2 Episode 5
On Sayings

„The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not a slave of colonial forces like you and others. … Do not indulge yourself in things you have no business with! The lie is before you and the grave is in front of you!“

—  Abdullah of Saudi Arabia former King of Saudi Arabia 1924 - 2015

In reply to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi at the Arab League Summit in Egypt, 2 March 2003 when Abdullah was Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. هنيئاً لك أيها الوطن بهذه القيادة, جريدة الرياض, 2011/02/25, 2013-02-16 http://www.alriyadh.com/2011/02/25/article607898.html,

„If you do the things you need to do when you need to do them, then someday you can do the things you want do when you want to do them.“

—  John C. Maxwell American author, speaker and pastor 1947

Source: The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth: Live Them and Reach Your Potential

„You got to be right with yourself before you can be right with anybody else.“

—  August Wilson American playwright 1945 - 2005

„If you're crazy, there's two things you can do to make yourself feel better: One is to get yourself cured. The other is to make everyone you have to deal with crazy.“

—  Alan Dean Foster American fiction writer 1946

„If you want to be proud of yourself, then do things in which you can take pride“

—  Karen Horney American-German psychoanalyst 1885 - 1952

Source: Neurosis and Human Growth: The Struggle Towards Self-Realization

„It's so easy to get caught up in what people expect of you. Sometimes, you can just lose yourself.“

—  Sarah Dessen, book Dreamland

Source: Dreamland (2000)

„When they give you things, ask yourself why. When you're grateful to them for giving you the things you should have anyway, ask yourself why.“

—  Jeff VanderMeer, book Finch

Opening epigram
Finch (2009)

„Expectation wasn't just about what people expected of you. It was about what you expected of yourself.“

—  Brandon Sanderson, book Words of Radiance

Source: Words of Radiance

„No matter how bad things get, you can always see the beauty in them. The worse things get, the more you have to make yourself see the magic in order to survive.“

—  Francesca Lia Block American children's writer 1962

Source: Pink Smog

„It is a big mistake to think that the best way to express yourself is to do whatever you want, acting as you please. This is not expressing yourself. If you know what to do exactly, and you do it, then you can express yourself fully.“

—  Shunryu Suzuki Japanese Buddhist missionary 1904 - 1971

Express Yourself Fully (page 8)
Not Always So, practicing the true spirit of Zen (2002)

„Be content with who you are and where you are, and do whatever you can do to bring to others such contentment, and joy, and understanding that you have managed to find yourself.“

—  Alexander McCall Smith, book The Double Comfort Safari Club

Source: The Double Comfort Safari Club