Quotes to inspire and reflect

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

Circumstances do not make the man; they merely reveal him to himself.

Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?

Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no one is to blame.

If you don't like what you're doing, then don't do it.

What one great thing would you dare to dream if you knew you could not fail? The easiest person to deceive is one's own self.

We must ask where we are and whither we are tending.

Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered either by themselves or by others.

Never for the sake of peace and quiet deny your own experience or convictions.

Real, constructive mental power lies in the creative thought that shapes your destiny, and your hour by hour mental conduct produces power for change in your life. Develop a train of thought on which to ride. The nobility of your life as well as your happiness depends upon the direction in which that train of thought is going.

The action required to sustain human life is primarily intellectual, everything man needs has to be discovered by his mind and produced by his effort.

I have resolved that from this day on, I will do all the business I can honestly, have all the fun I can reasonably, do all the good I can willingly, and save my digestion by thinking pleasantly.