Quotes about attainment (1036 quotes, page 11)

“I believe...all the enduring institutions which human societies have attained have been reached, not of the set design and forethought of some group of statesmen, but by that unbidden and unconscious convergence of many thoughts and wills in successive generations to which, as it obeys no single guiding hand, we may give the name of "drifting."”

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (1830–1903) British politician

Source: Minute (20 April 1875), quoted in E. D. Steele, 'Salisbury at the India Office', in Lord Blake and Hugh Cecil (eds.), Salisbury: The Man and his Policies (1987), p. 141

Success

“When a man has sufficiently distinguished himself by service, and by acquiring and accepting the theoretical views that were glanced at in 'Seeking the Master' then he finds his Master — or rather his Master finds him. During all the time of his struggle those gracious eyes have been upon him watching him progress; in many lives in the past he has come under the same influence which now is to become the dominant influence in his life. He has reached a point where the Master can reveal Himself, can place him definitely on probation, can help to prepare him for Initiation. That is the first stage: a particular Master chooses a particular aspirant and takes charge of him, in order to prepare him for Initiation; for you must remember that Initiation is a quite definite thing, that only Those who have already attained can enable others to enter on the Path which They Themselves have trodden.”

Annie Besant (1847–1933) British socialist, theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator

Source: Initiation, The Perfecting of Man, 1923, p. 61

Past , Life , Time , Help

“The Path of Purification is the Probationary Path, on which certain qualifications must be developed; the Path of Illumination is the Path of Holiness, subdivided into four stages, each of which is entered by a special Initiation, symbolized among Christians as the Birth, Baptism, Transfiguration, and Passion of Christ; the Path of Union is the attainment of Masterhood, Liberation, Final Salvation.”

Annie Besant (1847–1933) British socialist, theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator

Source: Initiation, The Perfecting of Man (1923)

Passion , Birth , Christ

“Nothing troubled the charm and silence of this solitude. Making the most serious reflections on what we behold, and on our present position, I said to myself: Thus does life also pass away, now calm, now agitated, but at last the end is attained. Happy, ah, thrice happy they who can then look out to the never-ending future with calm and confidence, who can cast themselves on the bosom of God, the Center of our felicity.”

Théodore Guérin (1798–1856) Catholic saint and nun from France

First Journal of Travel (1840)

God , Confidence , Silence , Happiness

“...the great Book of Genesis—a marvellous cup filled with the “wine” of the esoteric knowledge of the Sanctuaries of ancient days. Temples of the Ageless Wisdom exist to-day, even if less easily discoverable, and in them are to be found the selfsame teachings, laws, successions, Initiations and radiations of the light of Truth. World changes are not reflected in the Mysteries, which are repositories and conveyors of eternal and unchanging Ideas. A sack of corn containing a silver cup awaits every Benjamin who finds himself called by a Hierophant (Joseph) from the “famine-stricken” outer world to the “storehouse” from which an elder brother (a Master) Who has already attained will, in prodigal abundance, supply a gift of the golden grain of eternal verities.”

Geoffrey Hodson (1886–1983) New Zealand occultist

The Hidden Wisdom In The Holy Bible (1963), Volume III

Law , Success , Light , Knowledge

“To be enlightened is to obliterate all self-consciousness. What need is there to make others understand? This shows precisely that he has not yet attained real awakening and final enlightenment.”

Zhiyanzhai

As quoted in Enchantment and Disenchantment: Love and Illusion in Chinese Literature by Wai-yee Li (Princeton University Press, 1993), p. 221

Self-confidence , Making love , Understanding

“By resorting to illusions, the supreme expression of love is attained. Nothing can compare to it.”

Zhiyanzhai

As quoted in Enchantment and Disenchantment: Love and Illusion in Chinese Literature by Wai-yee Li (Princeton University Press, 1993), p. 159

Love , Making love

“In carrying on the grand work of improving national health, extirpating loathsome disease, discovering and removing the causes of disease, the distinction must be carefully drawn between the object to be accomplished and the means by which it shall be attained. The object is a grand one; the method of accomplishing it must be equally so, i.e., it must be guided by moral principle.”

Elizabeth Blackwell (1821–1910) England-born American physician, abolitionist, women's rights activist

p. 757 https://books.google.com/books?id=85o2AAAAMAAJ&pg=757
Medicine and Morality (1881)

Health , Disease

“The chief blessings of human nature are the three following:—TRUTH—VIRTUE—and LIBERTY.—These are, therefore, the blessings in the possession of which the interest of our country lies, and to the attainment of which our love of it ought to direct our endeavours. By the diffusion of KNOWLEDGE it must be distinguished from a country of Barbarians: by the practice of religious VIRTUE, it must be distinguished from a country of gamblers, Atheists, and libertines: and by the possession of LIBERTY, it must be distinguished from a country of slaves.”

Richard Price (1721–1791) Welsh nonconformist preacher and radical

Source: A Discourse on the Love of Our Country (1789), p. 11

Knowledge , Truth , Country , Love

“Each person is morally obliged to regard the good of anyone else as much as his own good, except when he judges it to be less, when impartially viewed, or less certainly knowable or attainable by him.”

Henry Sidgwick book The Methods of Ethics

Source: The Methods of Ethics (1874), Book 3, chapter 13, section 3 (7th ed., 1907)

Personality

“Anything you really want, you can attain, if you really go after it.”

Wayne W. Dyer (1940–2015) American writer

“Religion translates metaphysical or universal truths into dogmatic language; now though dogma is not accessible to all men in its intrinsic truth, which can only be directly attained by the Intellect, it is nonetheless accessible through faith, which is, for the great majority, the only possible mode of participation in the Divine Truths. As for intellectual knowledge, which proceeds neither from belief nor from a process of reasoning, it goes beyond dogma in the sense that, without ever contradicting the latter, it penetrates its internal dimension, that is, the infinite Truth that dominates all forms.”

Frithjof Schuon book The Transcendent Unity of Religions

[1993, The Transcendent Unity of Religions, Quest Books, xxxi, 978-0-8356-0587-8]
Miscellaneous, Religion

Knowledge , Sense , Men , Universe

“Whosoever by God's grace sees Him sees not creatures. He who attains to the vision of the Lord is lost to himself.”

Abu al-Hassan al-Kharaqani (963–1033) Iranian Sufi (963–1033)

Source: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam (2002), p. 93

God

“Trust in God is the last station on the Divine Path for nothing remains to be attained through mystical efforts after having experienced spiritual satisfaction.”

Abu Nasr as-Sarraj

Source: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam (2004), p. 83

God , Effort

“We don't need to remake our health-care system or rebuild it from the ground up. We don't need to do very much. It's pretty simple, quite attainable. Just an added perspective and a change of pace.”

Victoria Sweet Physician

Slow Medicine: The Way to Healing (2017)

Health , Change

“Political Economy or Economics is a study of mankind in the ordinary business of life; it examines that part of individual and social action which is most closely connected with the attainment and with the use of the material requisites of wellbeing.”

Alfred Marshall book Principles of Economics

Bk I, Ch. I, Introduction
Principles of Economics, (1890)

Study , Business , Life , Parting

“One does not attain everything he wishes for.
Winds blow counter to what the ships desire.”

Al-Mutanabbi (915–965) Arabic poet from the Abbasid era

From the poem Bima At-Taʿallulu http://www.almotanabbi.com/poemPage.do?poemId=272

“The Quranic conception of God was, and can still be, a revolutionary force of incalculable value for the attainment of human welfare.”

Mohammad Habib (1895–1971) Indian historian

quoted in Peter Hardy in Historians of India, Pakistan and Ceylon. by Philips, C. H. (Cyril Henry), 1912- https://archive.org/details/historiansofindi0000phil/page/298/mode/2up and in E. Sreedharan - A Textbook of Historiography, 500 B.C. to A.D. 2000-Orient blackswan (2019)

God

“Success comes through the application of power, and power is attained through the cooperative efforts of other people. A negative personality will not induce cooperation.”

Napoleon Hill book Think and Grow Rich

Think and Grow Rich (1938) p. 87

Success , Personality , People , Effort

“When a warrior learns to stop the internal dialogue, everything becomes possible; the most far-fetched schemes become attainable.”

Carlos Castaneda book The Wheel of Time

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from "Tales of Power" (Chapter 10)

Learning

“A person knows what he knows. An animal knows, but doesn't know what he knows. In Yoga, "I" consciousness is called asmita klesha. It is classified as an affliction and a hindrance to attaining higher consciousness.”

Baba Hari Dass (1923–2018) master yogi, author, builder, commentator of Indian spiritual tradition

Source: Fire without Fuel - The Aphorisms of Baba Hari Dass (1986), Ch.III: Mind - Its Functions and Its Fantasies

Personality , Affliction , Animals

“The "Master Mind" may be defined as: "Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose."”

Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American author

Power of the Master Mind
Source: Think & Grow Rich, January 1963, p. 148.

People , Knowledge , Effort

“If anyone wants change, they have the obligation to do something to attain that change.”

Beatrice Mtetwa (1957) Zimbabwean human rights lawyer

Source: Courage of Zimbabwe human rights lawyer captured in film https://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/jun/18/zimbabwe-lawyer-film-beatrice-mtetwa
Context: The only weapon I developed as a form of protest was to surreptitiously take out the air from the bicycle tyres every morning, which almost always delayed the cyclists. From then on, I questioned virtually everything I did not agree with.

Change

“Don't be afraid of perfection. You will never attain it!”

Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) Spanish artist

Source: Quotes of Salvador Dali, 1961 - 1970, Diary of a Genius (1964), p. 44

Perfection

“When an irrational animal like camel dances at the tune of bell, why don't you, being the best of creation, attain absorption and ecstasy in the love of God, or go into rapture by listening the name of the Beloved.”

Bu Ali Shah Qalandar (1209–1324) Indian Sufi saint

Source: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam (2004), p. 270

God , Dance , Animals , Love

“The gnostic (arif) attains the station of passionate love of God so that he may experience Godhead or His pure Essence.”

Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki (1173–1235) Indian Sufi

Source: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam (2004), p. 264

God , Passion , Love

“Dear Mr. President:
It appears proper that I should bring to your notice the fact that the record shows that I shall attain the age of 64 years on November 23rd next- one month from today.
I am as always at your service.
Most sincerely yours,
Ernest J. King
Admiral, U.S. Navy”

Ernest King (1878–1956) United States Navy admiral, Chief of Naval Operations

Source: Letter from King to Franklin D. Roosevelt on 23 October 1942, notifying the President that King was about to reach mandatory retirement age, at which time he could only be kept in the Navy at the desire of the President. Roosevelt hand-wrote on the same letter "So what, old top? I may even send you a birthday present!" and had it sent back to King. As quoted in Fleet Admiral King: A Naval Record (1952), by Ernest King and Walter M. Whitehill, p. 412

Appearance , Sincerity , Age

“There are two reasons most people don’t attain wealth: they didn’t think they were smart enough to get rich and they were never taught how to create wealth.”

Jay Samit (1961) American businessman

Future Proofing You (2021)

Thinking , Wealth , People

“Wealth that can last generations can now be attained in the shortest time ever in history.”

Jay Samit (1961) American businessman

Future Proofing You (2021)

Time , History , Wealth

“And now, gentlemen, what is the condition of the great body of the people? In the first place, gentlemen, they have for centuries been in the full enjoyment of that which no other country in Europe has ever completely attained—complete rights of personal freedom.”

Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and Prime Minister

Source: Speech to the Conservatives of Manchester (3 April 1872), quoted in Selected Speeches of the Late Right Honourable the Earl of Beaconsfield, Volume II, ed. T. E. Kebbel (1882), p. 507

Freedom , Personality , People , Country

“Mountain climbing is an analogue of the research process in theoretical physics. In working on a problem in physics one is never assured of a solution, because there are many false leads and pitfalls. Likewise in climbing there is no certainty of attaining the summit; the route is often unknown, or sometimes one attains a false summit. But the important point is that if you reach the top, the view is enormous. There is no comparison between what you see from just below the summit and what you can see from the top. Similarly with finally solving an important problem in physics the view you get is enormous.”

Heinz R. Pagels (1939–1988) American physicist

Source: The Cosmic Code (1982), p. 272

Mountain , Falseness , Problem

“Beings that can laugh at themselves, particularly their own foibles, stand the greatest chance of attaining wisdom.”

Charles E. Gannon (1960) American novelist

Source: Trial by Fire (2014), Chapter 56 (p. 814)

Chance , Wisdom

“When buddhas look at samsara with the eyes of their omniscience, they do not see it as an enjoyable place. They are acutely aware of the sufferings of beings... and they see how senseless are the pointless, temporary goals that beings try so hard to attain.”

Dilgo Khyentse (1910–1991) Bhutanese Buddhist Lama

The Heart of Compassion (2006)

Suffering

“Strive to attain the supreme Reality” is the bold declaration of Sri Sankara. Yet you have made the material world alone the only solid reality. This treacherous mirage is luring humanity to its destruction. Stop this downward plunge.”

Swami Sivananda (1887–1963) Indian philosopher

Sayings of Swami Sivanada (1947)

Reality , World

“Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. Our internal resources are great, and, if necessary, foreign assistance is undoubtedly attainable.”

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America

We gratefully acknowledge, as signal instances of the Divine favour towards us, that his Providence would not permit us to be called into this severe controversy, until we were grown up to our present strength, had been previously exercised in warlike operation, and possessed of the means of defending ourselves. With hearts fortified with these animating reflections, we most solemnly, before God and the world, declare that, exerting the utmost energy of those powers, which our beneficent Creator hath graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we have been compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness and perseverence, employ for the preservation of our liberties; being with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than to live slaves.
Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (1775); Jefferson composed the first draft of this document, but the final work was done by John Dickinson, working with his original draft. Full text online http://www.nationalcenter.org/1775DeclarationofArms.html
1770s

Perfection

“The beauty of our religion is that the reward is dependent on the sincerity of trying and not the attainment of the result.”

Yasir Qadhi (1975) Pakistani-American preacher and imam

Religion , Dependency , Beauty , Sincerity

Quotes about attainment page 11

Quotes about attainment
page 11