Quotes about potential
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“Genius is 'the inspired gift of God.' It is the clearer presence of God Most High in a man. Dim, potential in all men; in this man it has become clear, actual.”

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher

1840s, Past and Present (1843)

Men, God

“Translated into simpler terms, each portion of energy is endowed with an inbuilt reach of creativity that seeks to fulfill its own potentials in all possible variations - and in such a way that such a development also furthers the creative potentials of each other portion of reality.”

Jane Roberts (1929–1984) American Writer

Session 884, Page 138
Dreams, Evolution and Value Fulfillment, Volume One (1986)
Context: Value fulfillment itself is most difficult to describe, for it combines the nature of a loving presence - a presence with the innate knowledge of its own divine complexity - with a creative ability of infinite proportions that seeks to bring to fulfillment even the slightest, most distant portion of its own inverted complexity. Translated into simpler terms, each portion of energy is endowed with an inbuilt reach of creativity that seeks to fulfill its own potentials in all possible variations - and in such a way that such a development also furthers the creative potentials of each other portion of reality.

Way, Reality

“Many a truth has lain unnoticed for a long time, ignored simply because no one perceived its potential for becoming reality.”

Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French-German physician, theologian, musician and philosopher

The Problem of Peace (1954)
Context: The only originality I claim is that for me this truth goes hand in hand with the intellectual certainty that the human spirit is capable of creating in our time a new mentality, an ethical mentality. Inspired by this certainty, I too proclaim this truth in the hope that my testimony may help to prevent its rejection as an admirable sentiment but a practical impossibility. Many a truth has lain unnoticed for a long time, ignored simply because no one perceived its potential for becoming reality.

Truth, Reality, Time

“It’s very hard to prosper in this modern economy if you haven’t fully unleashed the potential of your people. And”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

Remarks by President Obama After Meeting with Vietnamese Civil Society Leaders at JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi in Hanoi, Vietnam (May 24, 2016) https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/05/24/remarks-president-obama-after-meeting-vietnamese-civil-society-leaders <br class="br">2016 <br class="br">Context: It’s very hard to prosper in this modern economy if you haven’t fully unleashed the potential of your people. And your people’s potential, in part, derives from their ability to express themselves and express new ideas, to try to right wrongs that are taking place in the society.

People

“You have within you the potential to accomplish wonderful things with your life.”

Brian Tracy (1944) American motivational speaker and writer

The 21 Success Secrets of Self-made Millionaires (2001), Conclusion : Success Is Predictable, p. 64
Context: You have within you the potential to accomplish wonderful things with your life. Your greatest responsibilities are to dream big dreams, decide exactly what you want, make a plan to achieve it … take action every single day in the direction of your dreams and goals, and resolve to never, never, never give up. When you take these actions, you put yourself on the side of the angels. You become unstoppable and your success becomes inevitable.

Life

“But the government collection and storage of such bulk data also creates a potential for abuse.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2014, Review of Signals Intelligence Speech (June 2014)
Context: [T]he combination of increased digital information and powerful supercomputers offers intelligence agencies the possibility of sifting through massive amounts of bulk data to identify patterns or pursue leads that may thwart impending threats. It’s a powerful tool. But the government collection and storage of such bulk data also creates a potential for abuse.

“Trust in your abilities and never doubt your potential to achieve. No matter how much negativity exists around you, you have the power to do wonderful, remarkable things.”

Ralph Smart

facebook

“We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

I would have fired BP chief by now, Obama says http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37566848/ns/disaster_in_the_gulf/ (June 8, 2010) <br class="br">2010, 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill (April 2010)

“To start, we will consider a single particle moving in three space dimensions under the influence of a general central potential. Later we will specialize to the case of a Coulomb potential, and work out the spectrum of hydrogen. One other classic problem, the harmonic oscillator, will be treated at the end of this chapter.”

Steven Weinberg (1933) American theoretical physicist

Source: Lectures on Quantum Mechanics (2012, 2nd ed. 2015), Ch. 2: Particle States in a Central Potential

Problem

“It is normal to hate what we fear, and it happens frequently, though not always, that we fear what we hate. I think it may be taken as the rule among primitive men, that they both fear and hate whatever is unfamiliar. They have their own herd, originally a very small one. And within one herd, all are friends, unless there is some special ground of enmity. Other herds are potential or actual enemies; a single member of one of them who strays by accident will be killed. An alien herd as a whole will be avoided or fought according to circumstances. It is this primitive mechanism which still controls our instinctive reaction to foreign nations. The completely untravelled person will view all foreigners as the savage regards a member of another herd. But the man who has travelled, or who has studied international politics, will have discovered that, if his herd is to prosper, it must, to some degree, become amalgamated with other herds.”

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist

1950s, What Desires Are Politically Important? (1950)

Men, Hate, Fear, Travel

“While I have not lost faith in its potentialities, my views have changed since. War can not be avoided until the physical cause for its recurrence is removed and this, in the last analysis, is the vast extent of the planet on which we live. Only though annihilation of distance in every respect, as the conveyance of intelligence, transport of passengers and supplies and transmission of energy will conditions be brought about some day, insuring permanency of friendly relations. What we now want most is closer contact and better understanding between individuals and communities all over the earth and the elimination of that fanatic devotion to exalted ideals of national egoism and pride, which is always prone to plunge the world into primeval barbarism and strife. No league or parliamentary act of any kind will ever prevent such a calamity. These are only new devices for putting the weak at the mercy of the strong.”

Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) Serbian American inventor

My Inventions (1919)

War, World, Faith, Intelligence

“He was a brilliant singer and a brilliant person. Vasyl Slipak could never stay aside the injustice. When he decided to go to Ukraine, I tried to persuade him to remain in France, just willing to defend him from potential threat. But he insisted Ukraine needed him more than French opera.”

Vasyl Slipak (1974–2016) Ukrainian opera singer

Guillaume Dussau, singer of Paris Opera, Ukrainians bid their last farewells to opera singer Vasyl Slipak, laid to rest in Lviv // UT.Ukraine Today. - 2016. - July 01. Fox News http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/02/18/ahmadinejad-obama-cant-spell-obama#ixzz1pkEko0Id/

Personality

“When education and resources are available to all without a price tag, there will be no limit to human potential.”

Jacque Fresco (1916–2017) American futurist and self-described social engineer

Source: Designing the Future (2007), p.81

Education

“I have an expectation that there’ll be a cooling in the existing market. But as I say, our view that we absolutely maintain is that we’re bringing on-stream a section of the housing market that is undersupplied and that we don’t expect to see a dramatic drop in people’s housing values. [...] At the moment it’s cooling because we’re seeing potentially that easing off by meeting the fact that we’re easing off a bit of demand. It’s not clear whether or not that will be sustained. We believe that if we want to make sure we’re addressing the issues we have, it is about addressing supply as well.”

Jacinda Ardern (1980) Prime Minister of New Zealand

Interview with Lisa Owen at Newshub Nation, 21 October 2017

People, Making love, Housing

“From praise comes joy, from joy – strength, from strength – virtue, from virtue – purity and from purity comes realization of one’s full potential.”

Leon MacLaren (1910–1994) British philosopher

Leon MacLaren, The Machinery of Government, 1998

Joy

“Determination, knowledge, and wisdom work in collaboration; determination dominates, for without persistence, knowledge and wisdom never attain their full potential.”

Gandolfo – (RJ Intindola)

1979

Wisdom, Knowledge

“Uncertainty is the equivalent of a predator waiting in the shadows and pounces upon us when least expected. Frequently, we are aware of pending uncertainty, such as, waiting for the results; of a test, a pending loan application, a promotion or potential employment, and the fact uncertainty will be present for our entire life.”

Gandolfo – (RJ Intindola)

1990

Life, Waiting

“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”

Pope John XXIII (1881–1963) 261st Pope of the Catholic Church

Fear, Dreams, Hope, Thinking

“Before I got pregnant, my mindset was like, it’s possible that I’ll never reach my potential again.”

Alex Morgan (1989) American soccer player

"The Advice Alex Morgan Would Give Her Daughter About Getting Into Sports" https://www.romper.com/life/alex-morgan-olympics-daughter-interview (July 10, 2021)

“If our youths can try to dedicate more time for fruitful things, it will block spirit of goallessness. Wasting time replying and reposting useless things help kill potentials. It is better to sleep than to stay awake to use your consciousness to kill your potential.”

Idegu Ojonugwa Shadrach (1995)

Youth, Sleep, Time, Help

“Sometimes you need a little crisis to get your adrenaline flowing and help you realize your potential.”

Jeannette Walls book The Glass Castle

Source: The Glass Castle

Help

“… So please, be tolerant of those who describe a sporting moment as their best ever. We do not lack imagination, nor have we had sad and barren lives; it is just that real life is paler, duller, and contains less potential for unexpected delirium.”

Nick Hornby Fever Pitch

Source: Fever Pitch

Life, Sadness, Imagination, Sport

“The potential beauty of human life is constantly made ugly by man's ever-recurring song of retaliation.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

Life, Beauty

“… character reigns preeminent in determining potential.”

Laura Hillenbrand book Seabiscuit: An American Legend

Source: Seabiscuit: An American Legend

“Everyone is a potential murderer-in everyone there arises from time to time theto kill-though not theto kill.”

Agatha Christie Curtain

Source: Curtain

Time

“a person is a fluid process, not a fixed and static entity; a flowing river of change, not a block of solid material; a continually changing constellation of potentialities, not a fixed quantity of traits.”

Carl R. Rogers (1902–1987) American psychologist

Source: On Becoming a Person: A Therapist's View of Psychotherapy

Change, Personality

“I'm not the hero, Mac. Never have been. Never will be. Let us be perfectly clear: I'm not the antihero, either, so quit waiting to discover my hidden potential. There's nothing to redeem me.”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author

Source: Shadowfever

Waiting

“Every man's foremost task is the actualization of his unique, unprecedented and never-recurring potentialities, and not the repetition of something that another, and be it even the greatest, has already achieved.”

Martin Buber (1878–1965) German Jewish Existentialist philosopher and theologian

“For each of us destiny is a blend of potential, circumstances, and choices.”

Brandon Mull (1974) American fiction writer

Source: A World Without Heroes

“Almost all people have this potential for evil, which would be unleashed only under certain dangerous social circumstances.”

Iris Chang book The Rape of Nanking

Source: The Rape of Nanking

People, Evil

“There was nothing I wanted to do more than be unconscious again, wrapped in black, gone away. I was raw. I felt swollen with potential tears, like a water balloon filled to burst. Begging for a pin prick.”

Gillian Flynn book Sharp Objects

Source: Sharp Objects

Tear, Water

“I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply ALL my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy.”

Og Mandino (1923–1996) American author

Source: The Greatest Salesman in the World (2001): 2001 Gift Edition

Mountain, Effort

“Lacy was just as happy alone as with company. When she was alone, she was potential; with others she was realized.”

Steve Martin (1945) American actor, comedian, musician, author, playwright, and producer

Source: An Object of Beauty

Happiness

“There is no single effort more radical in its potential for saving the world than a transformation of the way we raise our children.”

Marianne Williamson (1952) American writer

Children, World, Way, Effort

“Everyone has the potential to be extraordinary. As long as you have a soul and free will, you can be anything, do anything, choose anything.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Heavenly Fire

Source: City of Heavenly Fire

Soul

“A dream worth pursuing is a picture and blueprint of a person's purpose and potential”

John C. Maxwell (1947) American author, speaker and pastor

Source: Put Your Dream to the Test: 10 Questions that Will Help You See It and Seize It

Dreams, Personality

“But anyone can begin. It was the part with all the promise, the potential, the things I loved. More and more, though, I was finding myself wanting to find out what happened in the end..”

Sarah Dessen book What Happened to Goodbye

Source: What Happened to Goodbye

Love, Parting

“You enter the forest
at the darkest point,
where there is no path.

Where there is a way or path,
it is someone else's path.

You are not on your own path.

If you follow someone else's way,
you are not going to realize
your potential.”

Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) American mythologist, writer and lecturer

Source: The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life & Work

Way

“Potential," I said, "doesn't mean a thing. You've got to do it. Almost every baby in a crib has more potential than I have.”

Charles Bukowski book Women

Source: Women

Baby

“Trust and faith bring joy to life and help relationships grow to their maximum potential.”

Joyce Meyer (1943) American author and speaker

Source: Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind

Life, Faith, Help, Joy

“… we are custodians of deep and ancient thresholds. In the human face you see that potential and the miracle of undying possibility.”

John O'Donohue (1956–2008) Irish writer, priest and philosopher

Source: Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

“It isn't wise to be rude to one's mother. She knows everything about your childhood that is potentially embarassing.”

Mercedes Lackey (1950) American novelist and short story writer

Source: Elvenborn

Childhood

“You are your father's daughter,' he said, the skin around his eyes tightening. 'Trent is his father's son. Apart, you are annoying. Together… you have the potential to be a problem.”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Source: The Good, the Bad, and the Undead

Problem, Daughters

“Through imagination, we can visualize the uncredited worlds of potential that lie within us.”

Stephen R. Covey (1932–2012) American educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker

Lie, World, Imagination

“Your past is not your potential”

Barbara Winter (1944)

Making a Living Without a Job: Winning Ways for Creating Work That You Love

Past

“You are the male I might have been. You are the potential I had and lost. You are the honor and the strength and the kindness she needs. You'll take care of her. I want you to take care of her.”

Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist

Source: Lover Awakened

“I have to admit, an unrequited love is so much better than a real one. I mean, it's perfect… As long as something is never even started, you never have to worry about it ending. It has endless potential.”

Sarah Dessen book The Truth About Forever

Source: The Truth About Forever

Love, Perfection

“The rose is a rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies. Within it, at all times, it contains its whole potential. It seems to be constantly in the process of change: Yet at each state, at each moment, it is perfectly all right as it is.”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

Source: Warrior of the Light

Change, Time

“The metaphor is perhaps one of man's most fruitful potentialities.”

José Ortega Y Gasset (1883–1955) Spanish liberal philosopher and essayist

"Taboo and Metaphor"
The Dehumanization of Art and Ideas about the Novel (1925)
Context: The metaphor is perhaps one of man's most fruitful potentialities. Its efficacy verges on magic, and it seems a tool for creation which God forgot inside one of His creatures when He made him. All our other faculties keep us within the realm of the real, of what is already there. The most we can do is to combine things or to break them up. The metaphor alone furnishes an escape; between the real things, it lets emerge imaginary reefs, a crop of floating islands. A strange thing, indeed, the existence in man of this mental activity which substitutes one thing for another — from an urge not so much to get at the first as to get rid of the second.

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

Leo Buscaglia (1924–1998) Motivational speaker, writer

LOVE (1972)
Variant: Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest accomplishment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

Life, Smile, Wise, Relationship

“maybe there is more to a person than a body and a mind. maybe something else figures into the mix— not a soul, exactly, but a spirit that hints you might one day be greater, stronger than you are now. a promise; a potential.”

Jodi Picoult book Keeping Faith

Source: Keeping Faith

Soul, Personality

“For Emily Dickinson every philosophical idea was a potential lover. Metaphysics is the realm of eternal seduction of the spirit by ideas.”

Charles Simic (1938) American poet

Lovers, Idea

“It seems an obvious thing to say, but you should not imagine that we Pakistanis are all potential terrorists, just as we should not imagine that you Americans are all undercover assassins.”

Mohsin Hamid book The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Source: The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Imagination

“Relationship Principle 6
Men see how you dress, and then make assumptions about your relationship potential.”

Sherry Argov (1977) American writer

Source: Why Men Marry Bitches: A Woman's Guide to Winning Her Man's Heart

Men

“The song we’re composing already exists in potential. Our work is to find it.”

Steven Pressfield (1943) United States Marine

Source: Do the Work

“Because it is senior year I have begun to see things as potential absences. The things I love will become the things I'll miss.”

David Levithan The Realm of Possibility

Source: The Realm of Possibility

Love

“One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We cannot be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.”

Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American author and poet

Courage

“The potential of the average person is like a huge ocean unsailed, a
new continent unexplored, a world of possibilities waiting to be
released and channeled toward some great good.”

Brian Tracy (1944) American motivational speaker and writer

World, Waiting, Personality

“If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse gift will find a fitting place.”

Margaret Mead (1901–1978) American anthropologist

Source: 1930s, Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies (1935), p. 322
Context: Historically our own culture has relied for the creation of rich and contrasting values upon many artificial distinctions, the most striking of which is sex. It will not be by the mere abolition of these distinctions that society will develop patterns in which individual gifts are given place instead of being forced into an ill-fitting mould. If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.

“Every fairy tale offers the potential to surpass present limits, so in a sense the fairy tale offers you freedoms that reality denies.”

Azar Nafisi book Reading Lolita in Tehran

Source: Reading Lolita in Tehran

Reality, Sense, Freedom

“Every love story is a potential grief story.”

Julian Barnes (1946) English writer

Source: Levels of Life

Love

“Their words, like the music, had the potential to be endless.”

Sarah Dessen book Keeping the Moon

Source: Keeping the Moon

Music

“Being poor is not an indication of potential or worth. It’s a lack of resources.”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Source: A Perfect Blood

“Because the world isn’t divided into the special and the ordinary. Everyone has the potential to be extraordinary. As long as you have a soul and free will, you can be anything, do anything, choose anything”

Cassandra Clare book City of Heavenly Fire

Variant: Because the world isn’t divided into the special and the ordinary. Everyone has the potential to be extraordinary. As long as you have a soul and free will, you can be anything, do anything, choose anything.
Source: City of Heavenly Fire

World, Soul

“Back when I was on my first assignment as a seeker, I was way out in Arizona. Brought in this kid named Clarisse.”

“Clarisse?”

“Sibling of yours,” Hedge said. “Ares kid. Violent. Rude. Lots of potential.”

Rick Riordan (1964) American writer

Way, Siblings

“If we humans are good at anything, it’s thinking we’ve got a terrific idea and going for it without acknowledging the potential consequences or our own ignorance.”

David Suzuki (1936) Canadian popular scientist and environmental activist

Idea, Thinking

“When smart people are nice, it's always terrifying, because I know they're taking in everything and thinking all kinds of smart and potentially judgmental things.”

Mindy Kaling book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Source: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

People, Thinking

“Man’s main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality.”

Erich Fromm (1900–1980) German social psychologist and psychoanalyst

Source: Man for Himself (1947), Ch. 4 "Problems of Humanistic Ethics"

Life, Birth, Effort, Personality

“We are all potentially characters in a novel--with the difference that characters in a novel really get to live their lives to the full.”

Georges Simenon (1903–1989) Belgian writer

“People--stupid when they lived; potentially stupid when they died.”

Rob Thurman (1950) American writer

Source: Roadkill

People, Stupidity

“Events conspired to bring you back to where you'd been. It was what you did then that made all the difference: it was all about potential.”

Sarah Dessen book The Truth About Forever

Source: The Truth About Forever

“But as long as something is never even started, you never have to worry about it ending. It has endless potential.”

Sarah Dessen book The Truth About Forever

Source: The Truth About Forever

“True happiness comes not when we get rid of all of our problems, but when we change our relationship to them, when we see our problems as a potential source of awakening, opportunities to practice, and to learn.”

Richard Carlson (1961–2006) Author, psychotherapist and motivational speaker

Source: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... and it's all small stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life

Happiness, Problem, Learning, Change

“Somewhere in the crowd was at least one potential friend who'd understand the fundamental value of goofing off.
Because if not, how boring would that be?”

Alyson Nöel book Radiance

Source: Radiance

Understanding

“If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be 'meetings.”

Dave Barry (1947) American writer

Back To Work, For Team

“How weird was it that so many bits and pieces, all diverse, could make something whole. Something with potential. 'Perfect.”

Sarah Dessen book The Truth About Forever

Source: The Truth About Forever

Perfection

“Every form of happiness if one, every desire is driven by the same motor--by our love for a single value, for the highest potentiality of our own existence--and every achievement is an expression of it.”

Ayn Rand (1905–1982) Russian-American novelist and philosopher

Love, Happiness

“One of the greatest tragedies in life is to watch potential die untapped.”

Myles Munroe (1954–2014) Bahamian Evangelical Christian minister

Life

“Why don't you just buy me a minivan, zip me into mom jeans, and shoot me in the face" - Melanthe the potential Queen of Persuasions:”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: Demon from the Dark

Moms

“If any organism fails to fulfill its potentialities, it becomes sick.”

William James (1842–1910) American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist

“Potentiality knocks on the door of my heart. [On Seeing The 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning ]”

Haruki Murakami book The Elephant Vanishes

Source: The Elephant Vanishes

Beauty, Girl, Heart, Perfection

“Women have been repeating the same mistake since time began: falling for a man’s potential. We rarely see it the same way, and even more rarely care to achieve it.”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author

Source: The Alpha Alternative: JZB Sex Scene

Women, Way, Time

“You know what Sunday is, it's a day with a lot of potential for naps.”

Polly Horvath (1957) Author

“The educated ones leave, the ones with the potential to right the wrongs. They leave the weak behind. The tyrants continue to reign because the weak cannot resist. Do you not see that it is a cycle? Who will break that cycle?”

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie book Purple Hibiscus

Source: Purple Hibiscus

Education

“I'm not a prophet or a stone aged man / just a mortal with potential of a superman / I'm living on.”

David Bowie (1947–2016) British musician, actor, record producer and arranger

Source: The Songs Of David Bowie

Age

“I have to come to realize that God does not want to punish us, but rather, to fulfill our lives. God created us, loves us and wants to help us to realize our potential so that we can be useful to others.”

Ben Carson (1951) 17th and current United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; American neurosurgeon

Source: Think Big: Unleashing Your Potential for Excellence

Love, God, Help

“All of us started normal. All of us started out as functioning human beings with the potential to do almost anything we wanted, but somewhere along the paths of our lives, we got lost.”

James Frey book A Million Little Pieces

page 332
Source: A Million Little Pieces (2003)
Context: All of us started out normal. All of us started out as functioning human beings with the potential to do almost anything we wanted, but somewhere along the paths of our lives we got lost. Though we are here at this Clinic trying to find our way back, we all know that most of us will never get there. Things like the fight allow us to dream, and take us away from here, and allow us to imagine what the normal World must be like and how normal people must live in it.

“Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential.”

John C. Maxwell (1947) American author, speaker and pastor

People, Success, Motivational, Graduation

“In matters of the heart as well, a certain level of negativity and suspicion is universally recommended. You may try to project a thoroughly positive outlook in order to attract a potential boyfriend, but you are also advised to Google him.”

Barbara Ehrenreich (1941) American writer and journalist

Universe, Heart

“Once we overcome our fear of being tiny, we find ourselves on the threshold of a vast and awesome Universe that utterly dwarfs — in time, in space, and in potential — the tidy anthropocentric proscenium of our ancestors.”

Carl Sagan book Pale Blue Dot

Source: Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (1994), p. 53
Context: Once we overcome our fear of being tiny, we find ourselves on the threshold of a vast and awesome Universe that utterly dwarfs — in time, in space, and in potential — the tidy anthropocentric proscenium of our ancestors. We gaze across billions of light-years of space to view the Universe shortly after the Big Bang, and plumb the fine structure of matter. We peer down into the core of our planet, and the blazing interior of our star. We read the genetic language in which is written the diverse skills and propensities of every being on Earth. We uncover hidden chapters in the record of our origins, and with some anguish better understand our nature and prospects. We invent and refine agriculture, without which almost all of us would starve to death. We create medicines and vaccines that save the lives of billions. We communicate at the speed of light, and whip around the Earth in an hour and a half. We have sent dozens of ships to more than seventy worlds, and four spacecraft to the stars. We are right to rejoice in our accomplishments, to be proud that our species has been able to see so far, and to judge our merit in part by the very science that has so deflated our pretensions.

Fear, Universe, Time

“Because the world isn't divided into the special and the ordinary. Everyone has the potential to be extra ordinary.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Heavenly Fire

Source: City of Heavenly Fire

World

“Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

First mentioned as "Continuous effort — not strength or intelligence — is the key to unlocking and using our potential." according to Quote Investigator in the 1981 book The Reflecting Pond: Meditations for Self-Discovery by Liane Cordes, Quote Page 89, Hazelden Publishing, Center City, Minnesota. For further research on this quote see: Quote Investigator (August 31, 2013): Continuous Effort — Not Strength or Intelligence — Is the Key to Unlocking and Using Our Potential Winston Churchill? Liane Cordes? Liane Cardes? Apocryphal? Archived http://archive.is/E0M12 on June 2, 2020. <br class="br">Source: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/08/21/effort/ from the original

Intelligence, Effort

“I was beginning to see, though, that the unknown wasn't always the greatest thing to fear. The people who know you best can be risker, because the words they say and things they think have the potential to be not only scary but true, as well.”

Sarah Dessen book Just Listen

Source: Just Listen

People, Fear, Thinking

“Potential has a shelf life.”

Margaret Atwood (1939) Canadian writer

Source: CAT'S EYE.

Life

“Life is short, and potential studies infinite. We have a much better chance of accomplishing something significant when we follow our passionate interests and work in areas of deepest personal meaning.”

Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002) American evolutionary biologist

Life, Study, Passion, Chance

“Bangladesh is heavily invested in advertising itself to Americans and other potential trading partners as a "moderate Muslim country."… Over the last few decades, however, they have come more and more under the thumb of radical jihadis. Yet, they have not stopped trying to portray themselves as what they perhaps were at one point, and few Americans know that the reality is not what they are saying it is.”

Richard Benkin American journalist

Benkin, Richard L. (2012). A quiet case of ethnic cleansing: The murder of Bangladesh's Hindus. New Delhi: Akshaya Prakashan. p.300.

Reality, Country

“Leaders and managers do not have to risk lives, profit, or mission failure because they failed to plan for a crisis. Do not allow yourself to be put on the defense by changing circumstances. No one enjoys wasting time, but don't be reluctant to call a meeting just to discuss something that might happen. Remember the oil filter theory. Rather than disobey your instincts and proceed with the status quo or embark on a risky course, invest some planning time in your business. Control your risks. Identify important decision points. Forecast potential crisis. Apply the six hour model. A little time spent discussing your business is never wasted.”

Wheeler L. Baker (1938) President of Hargrave Military Academy

Source: Crisis Management: A Model For Managers (1993), p. 74

Failure, Business, Decision, Change

“I will do all I can to win a medal [2012 Olympics]. To see the National flag go up while standing on the podium is the proudest moment in an athlete's life and I will want to experience that for myself in London. Please just keep praying for the entire Indian contingent. We have a really good chance of doing well at these Games and it will provide a huge fillip to Indian Olympic sport if we are all able to perform to potential.”

Sania Mirza (1986) Indian tennis player

Source: Boria Majumdar "I'll play with anyone for my country: Sania Mirza"

Life, Game, Sport, Chance

“Healthcare is one of the areas where open data will potentially take off soonest and have the biggest impact.”

Tim O'Reilly (1954) Irish computer programmer

"Open Source and the future of print in the age of the Social Network" http://www.linuxvoice.com/interview-tim-oreilly/, Linux Voice, February 20, 2015. ( WebCite archive http://www.webcitation.org/6WiMJqC9h)

“This loving person is a person who abhors waste — waste of time, waste of human potential. How much time we waste. As if we were going to live forever.”

Leo Buscaglia (1924–1998) Motivational speaker, writer

LOVE (1972)

Love, Time, Personality

Quotes about potential page 2

Quotes about potential
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