You beat your Pate, and fancy Wit will come: Knock as you please, there’s no body at home.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
Clear writers, like clear fountains, do not seem so deep as they are; the turbid seem the most profound.
—Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864) English Writer, Poet
No leader can be too far ahead of his followers.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
Set Your Goals High Enough To Inspire You And Low Enough To Encourage You.
—Unknown
I was made a revolutionary in spite of myself… [A]ll creation presupposes as its origin a sort of appetite that is brought on by the foretaste of discovery. This foretaste of the creative art accompanies the intuitive grasp of an unknown entity that will not take definite shape except by the action of a constantly vigilant technique. This appetite that is aroused in me at the mere thought of putting in order musical elements that have attracted my attention is not at all a fortuitous thing like inspiration, but as habitual and periodic, if not constant, as a natural need… The very act of putting my work on paper, of, as we say, kneading the dough, is for me inseperable from the pleasure of creation. So far as I am concerned, I cannot seperate the spiritual effort from the psychological and physical effort; they confront me on the same level and do not present a hierarchy…What concerns us here is not imagination itself, but rather creative imagination: the facultyy that helps us to pass from the level of conception to the level of realization. In the course of my labors I suddenly stumble upon something unexpected. this unexpected element strikes me. I make note of it. At the proper time I put it to profitable use… The faculty of creating is never given to us all by itself. It always goes hand in hand with the gift of observation. And the true creator may be recognized by his ability always to find about him, in the commonest and humblest thing, items worthy of note… The least accident holds his interest and guides his operations. If his finger slips, he will notice it; on occasion, he may draw profit from something unforeseen that a momentary lapse reveals to him. One does not contrive an accident: one observes it to draw inspiration therefrom.
—Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) Russian-born American Composer, Musician
When you do not know what you are doing and what you are doing is the best—that is inspiration.
—Robert Bresson (1907–99) French Film Director
No man is great enough or wise enough for any of us to surrender our destiny to. The only way in which anyone can lead us is to restore to us the belief in our own guidance.
—Henry Miller (1891–1980) American Novelist
Every individual has a place to fill in the world, and is important in some respect, whether he chooses to be so or not.
—Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–64) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
A writer should get as much education as possible, but just going to chool is not enough; if it were, all owners of doctorates would be inspired writers.
—Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000) American Poet , Writer
We are motivated by a keen desire for praise, and the better a man is the more he is inspired by glory. The very philosophers themselves, even in those books which they write in contempt of glory, inscribe their names.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
Inspiration may be a form of super-consciousness, or perhaps of sub-consciousness—I wouldn’t know. But I am sure it is the antithesis of self-consciousness.
—Aaron Copland (1900–90) American Composer, Pianist, Conductor
Stung by the splendor of a sudden thought.
—Robert Browning (1812–89) English Poet
Obviously one must hold oneself responsible for the evil impulses of one’s dreams. In what other way can one deal with them? Unless the content of the dream rightly understood is inspired by alien spirits, it is part of my own being.
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychoanalytic
I learned that a great leader is a man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don’t want to do and like it.
—Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) American Head of State
The Past: Our cradle, not our prison; there s danger as well as appeal in its glamour. The past is for inspiration, not imitation, for continuation, not repetition.
—Israel Zangwill (1864–1926) English Playwright, Novelist, Zionist Activist
There is a deity within us who breathes that divine fire by which we are animated.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
Inspiration secures the perfect infallibility of the Scriptures in every part, as a record of fact and doctrine, both in thought and verbal expression; so that, although they come to us through the instrumentality of the minds, hearts, imaginations, consciences, and wills of men, they are nevertheless in the strictest sense the Word of God.
—Archibald Alexander Hodge (1823–86) American Presbyterian Theologian
The glow of inspiration warms us; it is a holy rapture.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
The best way to inspire fresh thoughts is to seal the envelope.
—Indian Proverb
In such a regime, I say, you died a good death if your life had inspired someone to ome forward and shoot your murderer in the chest—without asking to be paid.
—Chinua Achebe (1930–2013) Nigerian Novelist, Poet
The inspiration of the almighty gives man understanding.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
—Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American Inventor, Scientist, Entrepreneur
Great men are the guideposts and landmarks in the state.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
Mountaintops inspire leaders but valleys mature them.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Books are the best of things if well used; if abused, among the worst. They are good for nothing but to inspire. I had better never see a book than be warped by its attraction clean out of my own orbit, and made a satellite instead of a system.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Most of us who turn to any subject we love remember some morning or evening hour when we got on a high stool to reach down an untried volume, or sat with parted lips listening to a new talker, or for very lack of books began to listen to the voices within, as the first traceable beginning of our love.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
People are not lazy. They simply have impotent goals—that is, goals that do not inspire them.
—Tony Robbins (b.1960) American Self-Help Author, Entrepreneur
The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with his friendship.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future.
—Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American Head of State
The pleasure of love is in loving; we are happier in the passion we feel than in the passion we inspire
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars and keep your feet on the ground.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Explorer
It is amazingly empowering to have the support of a strong, motivated, and inspirational group of people.
—Susan Jeffers (1938–2012) American Psychologist, Self-Help Author
I didn’t have to think up so much as a comma or a semicolon; it was all given, straight from the celestial recording room. Weary, I would beg for a break, an intermission, time enough, let’s say, to go to the toilet or take a breath of fresh air on the balcony. Nothing doing!
—Henry Miller (1891–1980) American Novelist
In this and like communities public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed; consequently he who moulds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes and decisions. He makes statutes and decisions possible or impossible to be executed.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
First find the man in yourself if you will inspire manliness in others.
—Amos Bronson Alcott (1799–1888) American Teacher, Writer, Philosopher
I was very glad that Mr. Attlee described my speeches in the war as expressing the will not only of Parliament but of the whole nation. Their will was resolute and remorseless and, as it proved, unconquerable. It fell to me to express it, and if I found the right words you must remember that I have always earned my living by my pen and by my tongue. It was a nation and race dwelling all round the globe that had the lion heart. I had the luck to be called upon to give the roar.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Inspiration never arrived when you were searching for it.
—Lisa Alther (b.1944) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Poets are the hierophants of an unapprehended inspiration; the mirrors of the gigantic shadows which futurity casts upon the present.
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) English Poet, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist
Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration.
—Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American Inventor, Scientist, Entrepreneur
When I’m inspired, I get excited because I can’t wait to see what I’ll come up with next.
—Dolly Parton (b.1946) American Musician, Actress
There is new strength, repose of mind, and inspiration in fresh apparel.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) American Poet, Journalist
To the artist is sometimes granted a sudden, transient insight which serves in this matter for experience. A flash, and where previously the brain held a dead fact, the soul grasps a living truth! At moments we are all artists.
—Arnold Bennett (1867–1931) British Novelist, Playwright, Critic
A man is not as big as his belief in himself;
he is as big as the number of persons who believe in him.
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) American Head of State
Inspiration is needed in geometry, just as much as in poetry.
—Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837) Russian Poet
Nobody motivates today’s workers. If it doesn’t come from within, it doesn’t come. Fun helps remove the barriers that allow people to motivate themselves.
—Herman Cain (1945–2020) American Businessman
Example is not the main thing in influencing others—it’s the only thing.
—Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French Theologian, Musician, Philosopher, Physician
Invention flags, his brain goes muddy, and black despair succeeds brown study.
—William Congreve (1670–1729) English Playwright, Poet
Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
The artist is a receptacle for the emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.
—Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) Spanish Painter, Sculptor, Artist
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