Quotes by Subject: Inspiration
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You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. | * | ||
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a national where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. | |||
The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a common-place thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes Awww! | |||
Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful. | |||
Plan your progress carefully; hour-by hour, day-by-day, month-by- month. Organized activity and maintained enthusiasm are the wellsprings of your power. | |||
Develop the winning edge; small differences in your performance can lead to large differences in your results. | |||
I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. | * | ||
Nothing happens unless first a dream. | |||
Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourself a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. | |||
Sprinkle joy. | |||
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. | |||
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. | * | ||
Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead. | |||
Dwell in possibility. | |||
Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourself a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. | |||
Keep true to the dreams of thy youth. | |||
First say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do. | * | ||
Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your objective. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. | * | ||
A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one. | |||
I never wear a watch, because I always know it's now -- and now is when you should do it. | |||
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. | |||
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. | |||
Life's blows cannot break a person whose spirit is warmed at the fire of enthusiasm. | |||
Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements. | * | ||
The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning. | |||
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail. | |||
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. | * | ||
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars. | |||
The means by which we live have outdistenced the end for which we live. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missles and misguided men. | * | ||
I suppose I should be pissed off about what happened to me. But it's hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world. (American Beauty, screenplay, 1999) | |||
There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right in America. | |||
It is one of the beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. | * | ||
We have flown in the air like birds, and swum in the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking on the earth like brothers. | |||
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. | * | ||
It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are realy good at heart. | |||
We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone. | |||
Somehow I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secret of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in the four c's. They are curiosity, confidence, courage and constancy, and the greatest of these is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestioningly. | |||
Inspirations never go in for long engagements; they demand immediate marriage to action. | |||
Desperation is sometimes as powerful an inspirer as genius. | |||
Pay attention to what's good about your life. Rather than worrying about what you don't have, seek to make the best of all the good things you do have. There are a lot of things right with your life. Give your attention to them and they will grow. | |||
Hope is the thing with feathers -- that perches in the soul -- and sings the tune without words -- and never stops, at all. | |||
Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving. | |||
Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it. | * | ||
Goodness is the only investment that never fails. | |||
Often the test of courage is not to die but to live. | |||
Sometimes I think we're alone. Sometimes I think we're not. In either case, the thought is staggering. | |||
Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength. | |||
More and more I come to value charity and love of one's fellow being above everything else... All our lauded technological progress--our very civilization--is like the axe in the hand of the pathological criminal. | |||
Curiousity is the thirst of the soul. | |||
I do not consider it an insult, but rather a compliment to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure--that is all that agnosticism means. | |||
We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action. | |||
Being born in a duck yard does not matter, if only you are hatched from a swan's egg. | |||
Most of us end up with no more than five or six people who remember us. Teachers have thousands of people who remember them for the rest of their lives. | |||
This is a Test Quote | |||
And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. | |||
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. | * | ||
Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty. Think big. | * | ||
Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up. | |||
*indicates a past Quote of The Week
