Purpose is what gives life a meaning.
—Charles Henry Parkhurst (1842–1933) American Clergyman, Social Reformer
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
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
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
Map out your future, but do it in pencil.
—Jon Bon Jovi (b.1962) American Musician, Songwriter, Singer, Philosopher
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
Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State, Lawyer, Politician
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
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
Laboring toward distant aims set the mind in a higher key and puts us at our best.
—Charles Henry Parkhurst (1842–1933) American Clergyman, Social Reformer
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
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
As regards obstacles, the shortest distance between two points can be a curve.
—Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) German Poet, Playwright, Theater Personality
The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers. But above all, the world needs dreamers who do.
—Sarah Ban Breathnach
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 Sportsperson
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
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
A life that hasn’t a definite plan is likely to become driftwood.
—David Sarnoff (1891–1971) American Sportsperson, Businessperson
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
The greatest dreams are always unrealistic.
—Will Smith (b.1968) American Actor, TV Personality, Film Producer
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, Critic, Political Activist, Educator
It’s easier to go down a hill than up it but the view is much better at the top.
—Arnold Bennett (1867–1931) British Novelist
You can’t hit a target you cannot see, and you cannot see a target you do not have.
—Zig Ziglar (b.1926) American Author, Motivational Speaker, Author
The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose.
—John Mason Brown (1900–69) American Columnist, Journalist, Author
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
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, Poet, Playwright, Essayist
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
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
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
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
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
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, Philanthropist, Mountaineer
To seek one’s goals and to drive toward it, stealing one’s heart, is most uplifting.
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) Norwegian Playwright, Poet, Theater Personality
All men dream, but unequally. Those that dream at night in the dusty recesses of their minds awake the next day to find that their dreams were just vanity. But those who dream during the day with their eyes wide open are dangerous men; they act out their dreams to make them reality.
—T. E. Lawrence (1888–1935) British Military Leader
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 (b.1942) English Theoretical Physicist, Cosmologist, Academic
Since we must all die sooner or later, let us enjoy life while we can.
—Otoma no Tabito
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
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
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, Poet, Short Story Writer, Author
The main obligation is to amuse yourself.
—S. J. Perelman (1904–79) American Humorist, Author, Screenwriter
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
The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
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
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 Zealander Short story
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
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
We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.
—Anne Frank (1929–45) German Holocaust Victim
The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.
—Bruce Feirstein
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 (1891–1971) American Sportsperson, Businessperson
He who moves not forward goes backward.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet, Novelist, Playwright, Philosopher
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
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
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Dramatist, Short Story Writer, Journalist, Writer
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
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
There is only one meaning of life, the act of living itself.
—Erich Fromm (1900–80) German Psychologist, Psychoanalyst, Philosopher
The big thing is that you know what you want.
—Earl Nightingale (1921–89) American Motivational Speaker, Author
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
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
Nothing is more terrible than activity without insight.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Writer, Essayist, Historian
No one rises so high as he who knows not whither he is going.
—Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) British Head of State, Military Leader
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
A good goal is like a strenuous exercise—it makes you stretch.
—Mary Kay Ash (1918–2001) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson
What by a straight path cannot be reached by crooked ways is never won.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet, Novelist, Playwright, Philosopher
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
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 (b.1926) American Author, Motivational Speaker, Author
If you want to accomplish the goals of your life, you have to begin with the spirit.
—Oprah Winfrey (b.1954) American TV Personality, Businessperson, Actor