As regards obstacles, the shortest distance between two points can be a curve.
—Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) German Poet, Playwright, Theater Personality
A deadline is negative inspiration. Still, it’s better than no inspiration at all.
—Rita Mae Brown (b.1944) American Writer, Feminist
Respectable men and women content with good and easy living are missing some of the most important things in life. Unless you give yourself to some great cause you haven’t even begun to live.
—William P. Merrill (1867–1954) American Presbyterian Clergyman, Pacifist, Hymn Writer
Not all who wander are lost.
—J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973) British Scholar, Author
Men cannot for long live hopefully unless they are embarked upon some great unifying enterprise, one for which they may pledge their lives, their fortunes and their honor.
—C. A. Dykstra (1883–1950) American Government Administrator
Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated; you can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.
—David Lloyd George (1863–1945) British Liberal Statesman
Usually obstacles are the things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.
—Hannah More
The first essential, of course, is to know what you want.
—Robert Collier (1885–1950) American Self-Help Author
The ultimate reason for setting goals is to entice you to become the person it takes to achieve them.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
Use your health, even to the point of wearing it out. That is what it is for. Spend all you have before you die; do not outlive yourself.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.
—Bruce Feirstein (b.1956) American Screenwriter, Humorist
The more specific and measurable your goal, the more quickly you will be able to identify, locate, create, and implement the use of the necessary resources for its achievement.
—Charles J. Givens (1941–98) American Self-Help Writer
Great minds have purposes; others have wishes.
—Washington Irving (1783–1859) American Essayist, Biographer, Historian
You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things—to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.
—Edmund Hillary (1919–2008) New Zealander Explorer, Humanitarian
Success isn’t a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.
—Arnold Glasow (1905–98) American Businessman
They are the guiding oracles which man has found out for himself in that great business of ours, of learning how to be, to do, to do without, and to depart.
—John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn (1838–1923) British Political Leader, Writer, Editor, Journalist
It is necessary to try to surpass one’s self always; this occupation ought to last as long as life.
—Christina, Queen of Sweden (1626–89) Swedish Monarch
Concentrate on finding your goal, then concentrate on reaching it.
—Michael Friedsam (1858–1931) American Philanthropist
The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his.
—George S. Patton (1885–1945) American Military Leader
It is the paradox of life that the way to miss pleasure is to seek it first. The very first condition of lasting happiness is that a life should be full of purpose, aiming at something outside self. As a matter of experience, we find that true happiness comes in seeking other things, in the manifold activities of life, in the healthful outgoing of all human powers.
—Hugo Black (1886–1971) American Politician, Jurist
Pleasure is the object, duty and the goal of all rational creatures.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
As long as I can conceive something better than myself I cannot be easy unless I am striving to bring it into existence or clearing the way for it.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
I care not what your education is, elaborate or nothing, what your mental calibre is, great or small, that man who concentrates all his energies of body, mind and soul in one direction is a tremendous man.
—Thomas De Witt Talmage (1832–1902) American Presbyterian Clergyman, Religious Leader
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it.
—Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922) Scottish-born American Inventor, Engineer, Academic
He who every morning plans the transactions of the day and follows out that plan carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life. The orderly arrangement of his time is a like a ray of life which darts itself through all his occupations. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incident, chaos will soon reign.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
—Jack London (1876–1916) American Novelist
Transform the divided individual into the world-personality; let all thyself be the divine. This is thy goal.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
Without a goal to work toward, we will not get there.
—Natasha Josefowitz
Nothing is too high for a man to reach, but he must climb with care and confidence.
—Hans Christian Andersen (1805–75) Danish Author, Poet, Short Story Writer
Your automatic creative mechanism is teleological. That is, it operates in terms of goals and end results. Once you give it a definite goal to achieve, you can depend upon its automatic guidance system to take you to that goal much better than “you” ever could by conscious thought. “You” supply the goal by thinking in terms of end results. Your automatic mechanism then supplies the means whereby.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
Make the most of today. Translate your good intentions into actual deeds. Know that you can do what ought to be done. Improve your plans. Keep a definite goal of achievement constantly in view. Realize that work well and worthily done makes life truly worth living.
—Grenville Kleiser (1868–1935) Canadian Author
All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.
—T. E. Lawrence (1888–1935) British Soldier, Scholar, Writer
Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.
—Ralph Vaull Starr
As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
An aspiration is a joy forever, a possession as solid as a landed estate, a fortune which we can never exhaust and which gives us year by year a revenue of pleasurable activity.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
The value of the goal lies in the goal itself; and therefore the goal cannot be attained unless it is pursued for its own sake.
—Arnold J. Toynbee (1889–1975) British Historian
It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It is not a disaster to be unable to capture your ideal, but it is a disaster to have no ideal to capture. It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for. Not failure, but low aim is a sin.
—Benjamin Mays (1894–1984) American Minister, Educator, Scholar, Social Activist
All you have to do is know where you’re going. The answers will come to you of their own accord.
—Earl Nightingale (1921–89) American Motivational Speaker, Author
The object of living is work, experience, and happiness. There is joy in work. All that money can do is buy us someone else’s work in exchange for our own. There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all.
—Stephen Hawking (1942–2018) English Theoretical Physicist, Cosmologist, Academic
It is never too late to be what you might have been.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
Some men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; while others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before.
—Polybius (c.200–c.118 BCE) Greek Historian
Since we must all die sooner or later, let us enjoy life while we can.
—Otomo no Tabito
Map out your future, but do it in pencil.
—Jon Bon Jovi (b.1962) American Musician, Songwriter, Singer, Philosopher
No one rises so high as he who knows not whither he is going.
—Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) British Head of State, Military Leader
I finally figured out the only reason to be alive is to enjoy it.
—Rita Mae Brown (b.1944) American Writer, Feminist
Fortunate is the person who has developed the self-control to steer a straight course toward his objective in life, without being swayed from his purpose by either commendation or condemnation.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
Ambition is but the evil shadow of aspiration.
—George MacDonald (1824–1905) Scottish Novelist, Lecturer, Poet
An aim in life is the only fortune worth finding; and it is not to be found in foreign lands, but in the heart itself.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible—and achieve it, generation after generation.
—Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973) American Novelist, Human Rights Activist
Aim at the sun, and you may not reach it; but your arrow will fly far higher than if aimed at an object on a level with yourself.
—Joel Hawes
Those indeed who attain any excellence commonly spend life in one pursuit, for excellence is not often gained upon easier terms.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
He who moves not forward goes backward.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
What I cannot do now is the sign of what I shall do hereafter. The sense of impossibility is the beginning of all possibilities. Because this temporal universe was a paradox and an impossibility, therefore the Eternal created it out of His being.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.
—Louisa May Alcott (1832–88) American Novelist
If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
One of the most important factors, not only in military matters but in life as a whole, is . . the ability to direct one’s whole energies towards the fulfillment of a particular task.
—Erwin Rommel (1891–1944) German Military Leader
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined! As you simplify your life, the laws of the Universe will be simpler, solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
There is no sudden leap into the stratosphere. There is only advancing step by step, slowly and tortuously, up the pyramid towards your goals.
—Ben Stein (b.1944) American Lawyer, Writer, Economist, Humorist
You, too, can determine what you want. You can decide on your major objectives, targets, aims and destination.
—W. Clement Stone (1902–2002) American Self-help Guru, Entrepreneur
I am searching for that which every man seeks—peace and rest.
—Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) Italian Poet, Philosopher
We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about.
—Charles Kingsley (1819–75) English Clergyman, Academic, Historian, Novelist
Success with money, family, relationships, health, and careers is the ability to reach your personal objectives in the shortest time, with the least effort and with the fewest mistakes. The goals you set for yourself and the strategies you choose become your blueprint or plan. Strategies are like recipes: choose the right ingredients, mix them in the correct proportions, and you will always produce the same predictable results: in this case financial success. The success strategies for managing money and building wealth are called Money Strategies. By learning to use money strategies as a part of your day-to-day life, financial frustration and failure will become a thing of the past.
—Charles J. Givens (1941–98) American Self-Help Writer
Transform reason into ordered intuition; let all thyself be light. This is thy goal.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
Whatever course you have chosen for yourself, it will not be a chore but an adventure if you bring to it a sense of the glory of striving, if your sights are set far above the merely secure and mediocre.
—David Sarnoff (1891–1972) American Broadcaster, Businessman
Transform the Animal into the Driver of the herds; let all thyself be Krishna. This is thy goal.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Courage has genius, power, and magic in it. Only engage, and then the mind grows heated. Begin it and the work is completed.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) American Poet, Journalist
Impossibility is only a sum of greater unrealised possibles. It veils an advanced stage and a yet unaccomplished journey.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
To solve a problem or to reach a goal, you don’t need to know all the answers in advance. But you must have a clear idea of the problem or the goal you want to reach.
—W. Clement Stone (1902–2002) American Self-help Guru, Entrepreneur
Every true man, sir, who is a little above the level of the beasts and plants does not live for the sake of living, without knowing how to live; but he lives so as to give a meaning and a value of his own to life.
—Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936) Italian Dramatist, Novelist, Short Story Writer, Author
Never try to catch two frogs with one hand.
—Chinese Proverb
Most of us serve our ideals by fits and starts. The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly. That is dedication.
—Cecil B. DeMille (1881–1959) American Film Producer, Film Director, Screenwriter, Actor
The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss, but that our aim is too low and we reach it.
—Michelangelo (1475–1564) Italian Painter, Sculptor, Architect, Poet, Engineer
There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.
—Beverly Sills (1929–2007) American Singer, Musician
Go as far as you can see, and when you get there you will see farther.
—Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
Ambition means longing and striving to attain some purpose. Therefore, there are as many brands of ambition as there are human aspirations.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
Destiny is an absolutely definite and inexorable ruler. Physical ability and moral determination count for nothing. It is impossible to perform the simplest act when the gods say “no.” I have no idea how they bring pressure to bear on such occasions; I only know that it is irresistible.
—Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) English Occultist, Mystic, Magician
When you develop a game plan to get what you want, you will develop a belief that you can get it.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it; every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
The main obligation is to amuse yourself.
—S. J. Perelman (1904–79) American Humorist, Author, Screenwriter
The great and glorious masterpiece of man is to know how to live to purpose; all other things, to reign, to lay up treasure, to build, are at the most but mere appendixes and little props.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
You need to overcome the tug of people against you as you reach for high goals.
—George S. Patton (1885–1945) American Military Leader
There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.
—Logan Pearsall Smith (1865–1946) American-British Essayist, Bibliophile
Our strength lies, not alone in our proving grounds and our stockpiles, but in our ideals, our goals, and their universal appeal to all men who are struggling to breathe free.
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–65) American Diplomat, Politician, Orator
He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Transform enjoying into an even and objectless ecstasy; let all thyself be bliss. This is thy goal.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it.
—Arnold J. Toynbee (1889–1975) British Historian
Having once decided to achieve a certain task, achieve it at all costs of tedium and distaste. The gain in self-confidence of having accomplished a tiresome labor is immense.
—Arnold Bennett (1867–1931) British Novelist, Playwright, Critic
To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
If you want to accomplish the goals of your life, you have to begin with the spirit.
—Oprah Winfrey (b.1954) American TV Personality
If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.
—Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) (1832–98) British Anglican Author, Mathematician, Clergyman, Photographer, Logician
The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
If you want to reach a goal, you must ‘see the reaching’ in your own mind before you actually arrive at your goal.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
A dream is your creative vision for your life in the future. A goal is what specifically you intend to make happen. Dreams and goals should be just out of your present reach but not out of sight. Dreams and goals are coming attractions in your life.
—Joseph Campbell (1904–87) American Mythologist, Writer, Lecturer
What by a straight path cannot be reached by crooked ways is never won.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
To seek one’s goals and to drive toward it, stealing one’s heart, is most uplifting.
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) Norwegian Playwright
The fishing is best where the fewest go, and the collective insecurity of the world makes it easy for people to hit home runs while everyone else is aiming for base hits. There is just less competition for bigger goals.
—Tim Ferriss (b.1977) American Self-help Author
Again and again I therefore admonish my students in Europe and America: Don’t aim at success — the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run — in the long-run, I say! — success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it.
—Viktor Frankl (1905–97) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist
Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition… I have no other so great as that of being truely esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Do not let the future be held hostage by the past.
—Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) American Mormon Religious Leader
When we have passed beyond enjoyings, then we shall have Bliss. Desire was the helper; Desire is the bar.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
We can do whatever we wish to do provided our wish is strong enough. But the tremendous effort needed – one doesn’t always want to make it – does one? … But what else can be done? What’s the alternative? What do you want most to do? That’s what I have to keep asking myself, in the face of difficulties.
—Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923) New Zealand-born British Author
From a certain point onward there is no longer any turning back. That is the point that must be reached.
—Franz Kafka (1883–1924) Austrian Novelist, Short Story Writer
Who walks the fastest, but walks astray, is only furthest from his way.
—Matthew Prior (1664–1721) English Poet, Diplomat
When we have passed beyond knowings, then we shall have Knowledge. Reason was the helper; Reason is the bar.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
It is for us to pray not for tasks equal to our powers, but for powers equal to our tasks, to go forward with a great desire forever beating at the door of our hearts as we travel toward our distant goal.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
Goals. There’s no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There’s no telling what you can do when you believe in them. There’s no telling what will happen when you act upon them.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
The big thing is that you know what you want.
—Earl Nightingale (1921–89) American Motivational Speaker, Author
A life that hasn’t a definite plan is likely to become driftwood.
—David Sarnoff (1891–1972) American Broadcaster, Businessman
The world stands aside to let anyone pass who knows where he is going.
—David Starr Jordan (1851–1931) American Zoologist, Educator, Peace Activist
Nothing is more terrible than activity without insight.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
There is nothing quite so useless, as doing with great efficiency, something that should not be done at all.
—Peter Drucker (1909–2005) Austrian-born Management Consultant
Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.
—W. W. Ziege
Avoid fragmentation: Find your focus and seek simplicity. Purposeful living calls for elegant efficiency and economy of effort—expanding the minimum time and energy necessary to achieve desired goals.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can’t be done. If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
If it came true, it wasn’t much of a dream.
—Mignon McLaughlin (1913–83) American Journalist, Author
When we have passed beyond willings, then we shall have Power. Effort was the helper; Effort is the bar.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
The fact is, nothing comes; at least, nothing good. All has to be fetched.
—Charles Buxton (1823–71) British Politician, Writer
When we have passed beyond individualising, then we shall be real Persons. Ego was the helper; Ego is the bar.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
A man has to have goals- for a day, for a lifetime- that was mine, to have people say, “There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.”
—Ted Williams (1918–2002) American Sportsperson
When something does not insist on being noticed, when we aren’t grabbed by the collar or struck on the skull by a presence or an event, we take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.
—Cynthia Ozick (b.1928) American Novelist, Short-story Writer, Essayist
When we have passed beyond humanity, then we shall be the Man. The Animal was the helper; the Animal is the bar.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
The greatest dreams are always unrealistic.
—Will Smith (b.1968) American Actor, TV Personality, Film Producer
When a man has not a good reason for doing a thing, he has one good reason for letting it alone.
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
The achievement of one goal should be the starting point of another.
—Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922) Scottish-born American Inventor, Engineer, Academic
Motivation is when your dreams put on work clothes.
—Unknown
The important thing is to strive towards a goal which is not immediately visible. That goal is not the concern of the mind, but of the spirit.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900–44) French Novelist, Aviator
Some of the world’s greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.
—Doug Larson (1926–2017) American Columnist
One ship sails east and another sails west
With the self-same winds that blow.
Tis the set of the sail and not the gale
Which determines the way they go.
As the winds of the sea are the ways of fate
As we voyage along through life,
Tis the act of the soul that determines the goal,
And not the calm or the strife.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) American Poet, Journalist
Transform effort into an easy and sovereign overflowing of the soul-strength; let all thyself be conscious force. This is thy goal.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
He turns not back who is bound to a star.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
No one can go back and make a brand new start, my friend, but anyone can start from here and make a brand new end.
—Dan Zadra
We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.
—Anne Frank (1929–45) Holocaust Victim
It is when things go hardest, when life becomes most trying, that there is greatest need for having a fixed goal. When few comforts come from without, it is all the more necessary to have a fount to draw from within.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it.
—J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) Scottish Novelist, Dramatist
I am not sending messages with my feet. All I ever wanted was not to come up empty. I did it for the dough and the old applause.
—Fred Astaire (1899–1987) American Actor, Film Personality, Theater Personality, Choreographer
The thirst after happiness is never extinguished in the heart of a man.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose.
—John Mason Brown (1900–69) American Columnist, Journalist, Author
The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.
—Michelangelo (1475–1564) Italian Painter, Sculptor, Architect, Poet, Engineer
Life exists for the love of music or beautiful things.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
People have many different kinds of pleasure. The real one is that for which they will forsake the others.
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922) French Novelist
The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want.
—Ben Stein (b.1944) American Lawyer, Writer, Economist, Humorist
We all live under the same sky, but we don’t all have the same horizon.
—Konrad Adenauer (1876–1967) German Head of State, Politician, Lawyer
A goal is created three times. First as a mental picture. Second, when written down to add clarity and dimension. And third, when you take action towards its achievement.
—Gary Ryan Blair
Purpose is what gives life a meaning.
—Charles Henry Parkhurst (1842–1933) American Clergyman, Civic Reformer
Desires must be simple and definite. They defeat their own purpose should they be too many, too confusing, or beyond a man’s training to accomplish.
—George Samuel Clason (1874–1957) American Businessperson, Author
A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.
—Larry Bird (b.1956) American Basketball Player
In life, the first thing you must do is decide what you really want. Weigh the costs and the results. Are the results worthy of the costs? Then make up your mind completely and go after your goal with all your might.
—Alfred A. Montapert (1906–97) American Engineer, Philosopher
People who say that life is not worthwhile are really saying that they themselves have no personal goals which are worthwhile. Get yourself a goal worth working for. Better still, get yourself a project. Always have something ahead of you to “look forward to” — to work for and hope for.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
A good goal is like a strenuous exercise—it makes you stretch.
—Mary Kay Ash (1918–2001) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson
No wind favors him who has no destined port.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
You can’t hit a target you cannot see, and you cannot see a target you do not have.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
There is only one meaning of life, the act of living itself.
—Erich Fromm (1900–80) German-American Psychoanalyst, Social Philosopher
The American people can have anything they want; the trouble is they don’t know what they want.
—Eugene V. Debs (1855–1926) American Socialist, Union Leader
Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Believe Big. The size of your success is determined by the size of your belief. Think little goals and expect little achievements. Think big goals and win big success. Remember this, too! Big ideas and big plans are often easier—certainly no more difficult—than small ideas and small plans.
—David J. Schwartz (1927–87) American Self-help Author
The person who has the will to undergo all labor may win any goal.
—Menander (c.343–c.291 BCE) Greek Comic Dramatist, Poet
Laboring toward distant aims set the mind in a higher key and puts us at our best.
—Charles Henry Parkhurst (1842–1933) American Clergyman, Civic Reformer
Don’t say you don’t have enough time.
You have exactly the same number of hours per day
that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur,
Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci,
Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.
—H. Jackson Brown, Jr. (b.1940) American Self-Help Author
The whole world yearns after freedom, yet each creature is in love with his chains; this is the first paradox and inextricable knot of our nature.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
Those who cannot tell what they desire or expect, still sigh and struggle with indefinite thoughts and vast wishes.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
One cannot manage too many affairs: like pumpkins in the water, one pops up while you try to hold down the other.
—Chinese Proverb
In the blood of the martyrs to intolerance are the seeds of unbelief.
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974) American Journalist, Political Commentator, Writer
The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you but perceive an Ideal and strive to reach it.
—James Allen (1864–1912) British Philosophical Writer