Quotes to inspire and reflect

They are happy men whose natures sort with their vocations.

Man's real life is happy, chiefly because he is ever expecting that it soon will be so.

When someone does something good, applaud! You will make two people happy.

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.

Joy increases as you give it, and diminishes as you try to keep it for yourself. In giving it, you will accumulate a deposit of joy greater than you ever believed possible.

Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.

Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one's values.

What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience?

Big shots are only little shots who keep shooting.

Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her. But once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.

The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do, well.

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

We have to understand that the world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation. The hand is more important than the eye... The hand is the cutting edge of the mind.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.

If we did all the things that we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.

Man is the only creature that refuses to be what he is.

Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.

Old minds are like old horses; you must exercise them if you wish to keep them in working order.

He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.

Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness.

I don't think necessity is the mother of invention. ‘Invention’, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble.

One's real life is often the life that one does not lead.

The men who create power make an indispensable contribution to the Nation’s greatness, but the men who question power make a contribution just as indispensable, especially when that questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us.

Explore your higher latitudes . . . be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, open new channels, not of trade but of thought.

The secret of living is to find...the pivot of a concept on which you can make your stand.

The nearest way to glory is to strive to be what you wish to be thought to be.

The more you listen to the voice within you, the better you will hear what is sounding outside.

We can chart our future clearly and wisely only when we know the path which has led to the present.

Not what I have, but what I do is my kingdom.

The great law of culture: Let each become all that he was created capable of being.

Do what you can, with what you have, right where you are.

My importance to the world is relatively small. On the other hand, my importance to myself is tremendous. I am all I have to work with, to play with, to suffer and to enjoy. It is not the eyes of others that I am wary of, but of my own. I do not intend to let myself down more than I can possibly help, and I find that the fewer illusions I have about myself or the world around me, the better company I am for myself.

It is easy to perform a good action, but not easy to acquire a settled habit of performing such actions.

There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.

Duties are not performed for duties' sake, but because their neglect would make the man uncomfortable. A man performs but one duty, the duty of contenting his spirit, the duty of making himself agreeable to himself.

To be pleased with one's limits is a wretched state.

The improvement of understanding is for two ends: first, our own increase of knowledge; secondly, to enable us to deliver that knowledge to others.

Let everything you do be done as if it makes a difference.

The great and glorious masterpiece of man is to know how to live to purpose.

Decide on what you think is right, and stick to it.

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.

Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, "This is the real me." And then you have found that attitude, follow it.

There is only one journey. Going inside yourself.

It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end.

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.