Quotes to inspire and reflect

To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end in life.

While we may not be able to control all that happens to us, we can control what happens inside us.

He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.

I have found that the greatest help in meeting any problem with decency and self-respect and whatever courage is demanded, is to know where you yourself stand. That is, to have in words what you believe and are acting from.

The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring.

To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man's life.

Let no man turn aside, ever so slightly, from the broad path of honour, on the plausible pretence that he is justified by the goodness of his end. All good ends can be worked out by good means.

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.

The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.

It's always fun to do the impossible.

Life is no `brief candle' to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I've got to hold up for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know that man is here for the sake of other men.

There are two ways of exerting one's strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.

Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them; but do not let them master you. Let them teach you patience, sweetness, insight.

We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.

I live in the present. I only remember the past, and anticipate the future.

Do not be desirous of having things done quickly. Do not look at small advantages. Desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done thoroughly. Looking at small advantages prevents great affairs from being accomplished.

The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.

Shun no toil to make yourself remarkable by some talent or other; yet do not devote yourself to one branch exclusively. Strive to get clear notions about all. Give up no science entirely; for science is but one.

Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need.

The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity.

Every man, as to character, is the creature of the age in which he lives. Very few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of their times.

We are all motivated by a keen desire for praise, and the better a man is, the more he is inspired to glory.

He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.

It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.

If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you're a one-eyed man in a kingdom of the blind.

I studied the lives of great men and famous women, and I found that the men and women who got to the top were those who did the jobs they had in hand, with everything they had of energy and enthusiasm and hard work.

People who work sitting down get paid more than people who work standing up.

Do but take care to express yourself in a plain, easy Manner, in well-chosen, significant and decent Terms, and to give a harmonious and pleasing turn to your periods.

An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes, which can be made, in a very narrow field.

All men have an instinct for conflict: at least, all healthy men.

A fool learns from experience. A wise man learns from the experience of others.

Never tire yourself more than necessary, even if you have to found a culture on the fatigue of your bones.

Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.

A man can get a reputation from very small things.

Good order is the foundation of all things.

Income seldom exceeds Personal Development.

Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.

Some people regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Not enough people see it as a healthy horse, pulling a sturdy wagon.

You don't get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.

Few enterprises of great labor or hazard would be undertaken if we had not the power of magnifying the advantages we expect from them.

We get paid for bringing value to the market place.

Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward; they may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.

No institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or supermen to manage it. It must be organized in such a way as to be able to get along under a leadership composed of average human beings.

In every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong; honor that; try to imitate it, and your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes.

The world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of the heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.

A prudent question is one half of wisdom.

When the sea was calm all ships alike showed mastership in floating.