Quotes to inspire and reflect

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

Income seldom exceeds Personal Development.

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.

We get paid for bringing value to the market place.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Work banishes those three great evils: boredom, vice and poverty.

There is real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment.

A little twist to the usual, ‘Everything comes to he who waits’. Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.

The business schools reward difficult complex behaviour more than simple behaviour, but simple behaviour is more effective.

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.

Wealth is the product of man's ability to think.

Every man's work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself.

Time is our most valuable asset, yet we tend to waste it, kill it, and spend it rather than invest it.

Never react emotionally to criticism. Analyze yourself to determine whether it is justified. If it is, correct yourself. Otherwise, go on about your business.

Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.