Wisdom in few words: best motivational quotes

Throughout last couple of years I’ve been collecting my personal favorite quotations from various inspirational people in my Evernote. As a result I got quite a long list of sayings which I personally consider to be one of the smartest, wittiest, daring and positive at the same time.

So, I thought why not to share them with you? Assuming I have a lot in common with my readers, you might enjoy them too. If you don’t then you might just skip the post and excuse me for wasting your time. Otherwise, here is the collection:

• “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

• “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

• “There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded.” ~ Mark Twain

• “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” ~ Michelangelo Buonarroti

• “Money is like gasoline during a road trip. You don’t want to run out of gas on your trip, but you’re not doing a tour of gas stations. You have to pay attention to money, but it shouldn’t be about the money.” ~ Tim O’Reilly

• “Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.” ~ Frank Tyger

• “In the end, it’s not going to matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away.“ ~ Shing Xiong

• “We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.” ~ Albert Einstein

• “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” ~ Albert Einstein

• Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.” ~ Albert Einstein

• “Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.” ~ Albert Einstein

• “Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.” ~ Albert Einstein

• “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.” ~ Albert Einstein

• “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” ~ Albert Einstein

• “I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.” ~ Socrates

• “People, who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” ~ Apple Inc.

• “You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want something, go get it. Period.” ~ Pursuit of Happyness

• “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom”. ~ Viktor Frankl

• “Whether you think you can or think you can’t – you are right.” ~ Henry Ford

• “Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” ~ Buddha
• “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”  ~ Buddha

• “There is no failure except in no longer trying.” ~ Elbert Hubbard

• “I haven’t failed. I’ve found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” ~ Thomas Edison

• “But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!” ~ Rocky Balbo

• “Don’t let the noise of others opinions drown out your inner voice.” ~ Steve Jobs

• “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” ~ Peter F. Drucker

• “Interviews I conducted with more than 70 CEOs and other leaders point to 5 essentials for success — qualities that most of those C.E.O.’s share and look for in people they hire. They all shared five qualities: Passionate curiosity. Battle-hardened confidence. Team smarts. A simple mind-set. Fearlessness.” ~ New York Times

• “Management is the most noble of professions if it’s practiced well. No other occupation offers as many ways to help others learn and grow, take responsibility and be recognized for achievement, and contribute to the success of a team.” ~ Clayton Christensen

• “Pause now to ask yourself the following question: “Am I dreaming or awake, right now?” Be serious, really try to answer the question to the best of your ability and be ready to justify your answer.” ~ Stephen Laberge

• “It is not what we get. But who we become, what we contribute… that gives meaning to our lives.” ~ Anthony Robbins

• “Those three things—autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward—are, most people agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying.“ ~ Malcolm Gladwell

• “Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.” ~ Malcolm Gladwell

• “One man has enthusiasm for 30 minutes, another for 30 days, but it is the man who has it for 30 years who makes a success of his life.” ~ Edward B. Butler

• “A great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.” ~ Walter Gagehot

• ”Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.” ~ Oscar Wilde

• “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” ~ Ayn Rand

• “Three ingredients of luxury lifestyle design are time, income, and mobility.” ~ Tim Ferriss

• “Doing the unrealistic is easier than doing the realistic.” ~ Tim Ferriss

• The question you should be asking isn’t, “What do I want?” or “What are my goals?” but “What would excite me?” ~ Tim Ferriss

• “Tomorrow becomes never. No matter how small the task, take the first step now.” ~ Tim Ferriss

• “The most important actions are never comfortable.” ~ Tim Ferriss

• “Slow down and remember this: Most things make no difference.” ~ Tim Ferriss

• “Lack of time is actually lack of priorities.” ~ Tim Ferriss

• “It isn’t enough to think outside the box. Thinking is passive. Get used to acting outside the box.” ~ Tim Ferriss

• “Being able to quit things that don’t work is integral to being a winner.” ~ Tim Ferriss

• “Slowing down doesn’t mean accomplishing less; it means cutting out counterproductive distractions and the perception of being rushed.” ~ Tim Ferriss

• “Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” ~ Will Smith

• “Avoid losers. If you hear someone use the words ‘impossible’, ‘never’, ‘too difficult’ too often, drop him or her from your social network.  ~ Nassim Nicholas Taleb

• “The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary.” ~ Nassim Taleb

• “I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” ~ Ralph Nader
• “So the only way on earth to influence other people is to talk about what they want and show them how to get it.” ~ Dale Carnegie

• “People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome.” ~ George Orwell

• “Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning. Once it does, it becomes the kind of thing that makes you grab your wife around the waist and dance a jig.” ~ Malcolm Gladwell

• “The key to your happiness is to own your slippers, own who you are, own how you look, own your family, own the talents you have, and own the ones you don’t. If you keep saying your slippers aren’t yours, then you’ll die searching, you’ll die bitter, always feeling you were promised more. Not only our actions, but also our omissions, become our destiny.” ~ Abraham Verghese

• “Envision, create & believe in your own universe, and the universe will form around you.” ~ Tony Hsieh, Delivering Happiness

• “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” ~ R. Buckminster Fuller

• “It doesn’t matter how one was brought up. What determines the way one does anything is personal power.” ~ Carlos Castaneda

• “Don’t Believe Everything You Think.” ~ Thomas Kida

• “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt

• “Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence, is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and the result of your loyalty to the achievement of your values.” ~ Ayn Rand

• “God, grant me the serenity To accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference.”~ Reinhold Niebuhr

• “Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.”~ Ayn Rand

• “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” ~ Robert A. Heinlein

• “Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they lead to actions. Watch your actions, they create habits. Watch your habits, they build your character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” ~ Upanishads

• “Think about what it feels like when you interact with someone who makes you notice what’s good about yourself (raising your status), who is clear with his expectations of you (increasing certainty), who lets you make decisions (increasing autonomy), who connects with you on a human level (increasing relatedness), and who treats you fairly.” ~ David Rock

• “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” ~ Muhammad Ali
• “Become one who is happy with that which you are and with that which you have – while at the same time being eager for more. That is the optimal creative vantage point. To stand on the brink of what is coming, feeling eager, optimistic anticipation – with no feeling of impatience, doubt, or unworthiness hindering the receiving of it.” ~ Ask and It Is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks.
• “Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.” ~ Arthur Schopenhauer

Song of the day:

Both of Us - B.o.B. Feat. Taylor Swift

Lyrics:

[Chorus: Taylor Swift]
I wish I was strong enough to lift not one but both of us
Some day I will be strong enough to lift not one but both of us


[B.o.B:]
Ever thought about losing it
When your money's all gone and you lose your whip
You might lose your grip when the landlord tell ya that you're due for rent
And the grass so green on the other side
Make a nigga wanna run straight through the fence
Open up the fridge bout twenty times
But still can't find no food in it
That's foolishness
And sometimes I wonder, why we care so much about the way we look,
And the way we talk and the way we act and the clothes we bought, how much that cost?
Does it even really matter?
Cause if life is an uphill battle
We all tryna climb with the same ol' ladder
In the same boat, with the same ol' paddle
Why so shallow? I'm just asking
What's the pattern for the madness
Everybody ain't a number one draft pick
Most of us ain't hollywood actors
But if it's all for one, and one for all
Then maybe one day, we all can ball
Do it one time for the underdogs
Sincerely yours, from one of y'all


[Chorus: Taylor Swift]
I wish I was strong enough to lift not one but both of us
Some day I will be strong enough to lift not one but both of us


[B.o.B:]
I can feel your pain, I can feel your struggle
You just wanna live, but everything so low
That you could drown in a puddle
That's why I gotta hold us up, yeah hold us up
For all the times no one's ever spoke for us
To every single time that they play this song
You can say that that's what Bobby Ray wrote for us
When the tides get too high
And the sea up underneath get so deep
And you feel like you're just another person
Getting lost in the crowd, way up high in the nosebleeds
Uh, because we won't be near yet, both of us
But we still stand tall with our shoulders up
And even though we always against the odds
These are the things that've molded us
And if life hadn't chosen us
Sometimes I wonder where I would've wound up
Cause if it was up to me, I'd make a new blueprint
Than build it from the ground up, hey
But if it's all for one, and one for all
Then maybe one day, we all can ball
Do it one time for the underdogs
From Bobby Ray, to all of y'all


[Chorus: Taylor Swift]
I wish I was strong enough to lift not one but both of us
Some day I will be strong enough to lift not one but both of us

25 Great Motivational Quotes You’ve Never Heard Of

As I was trawling some quotes the other day it struck me how many amazing ones there were that I’d never heard before and I thought it would be cool to collate the best for your perusal.

Now of course I realize that you may well have heard of one or two, but I genuinely hadn’t (except one), so please don’t give me a hard time or point out that you knew 18 out of 20 and thus I’m a philistine and deserve a damn good thrashing.

1. “A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him” – David Brinkley

Too many people when coming under attack crumble when instead they could view that attack/criticism as a way to grow and mature and come back  stronger. Brinkley nails this aspect.

2. “Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure” – George Edward Woodberry

You know that, right? Trying and failing sucks, but never trying because you were scared of failure sucks about a gazillion times more. Don’t fear failure.

3. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There’s no point in being a damn fool about it” – W. C. Fields

This may almost seem anti-motivational, but it really isn’t. Sometimes we have to accept that we are on the wrong path and no amount of forging forward will help. Sometimes we just have bad ideas that need dumping.

3b. “Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts” – Arnold Bennett

Yes, yes and thrice I say yes. That’s why this blog was originally called The Discomfort Zone, because it’s almost impossible to change without going through some discomfort. Embrace change, embrace discomfort because if you don’t, you’re screwed.

4. “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude” – Maya Angelou

Sheer brilliance because when you think about it, those are the only two sensible options open to you. Sulking is not a sensible option.

5. “All men of action are dreamers” – James Huneker

I suspect things have changed somewhat these days, but this quote is aimed directly at parents and teachers who tell thier kids to stop day dreaming. Don’t! In fact encourage them to let their imaginations run wild.

6. “If we were to select the most intelligent, imaginative, energetic, and emotionally stable third of mankind, all races would be present” – Franz Boas

Amazing huh? I was under the impression from media and the like that there were entire countries of slack-jawed morons unable to tie their shoe laces without falling over. Nice to know that’s not the case.

7. “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are” – John Wooden.

I think this quote is  more relevant now than it’s ever been with the explosion of Social Media. It seems to me that too many people spend too long, trying to live up to, or create a reputation, rather than being themselves.

8. “You grow up the day you have your first real laugh–at yourself ” — Ethel Barrymore

If you can’t laugh (without being snide) at yourself, then don’t laugh at others.

10. “There is nothing stronger in the world than gentleness” – Han Suyin

Reminds me somewhat of the Dalia Lama quote “Be kind whenever possible. It’s always possible” And guess what? It is, so be kind!

11. “Truth becomes untruth if uttered by your enemy” – George Orwell

One of my literary heroes and it perfectly sums up the us and them mentality that so many people adopt, especially cross-culturally. Listen with an open-mind.

12. “I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate” – George Burns

I was successful in sales and I pretty much hated it. Financially speaking I am nothing like as successful as a Life Coach, but I love it. George was right.

13. “Everyone who’s ever taken a shower has an idea. It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes a difference” – Nolan Bushnell

How cool is this? What did you do with your last great idea?

14. “The purpose of life is a life of purpose” – Robert Byrne

Dare I mention values? Yes I dare, and this quote is rooted in the importance of you knowing your own values and then acting on them.

15. “Unbeing dead isn’t being alive” – E. E. Cummings

I just had a flashback to Bauhaus singing Bela Lugosis’s dead, but maybe that’s just me. Existing is not the same as living and you were put here to live, not exist.

16. “Our entire life – consists ultimately in accepting ourselves as we are” – Jean Anouilh

Any other approach to life is going to fail. There is only one you and you have to accept yourself with all your human frailties if you want to be happy.

17. “No man is a failure who is enjoying life” -William Feather

I had to use this one seeing as my definition of success is somebody who is happy. What better yardstick can there be?

18. “A man who trusts nobody is apt to be the kind of man nobody trusts” – Harold MacMillan

I have had a few opportunities to become cynical with people and I refuse to accept them and so should you.

19. “I always trust my gut reaction; it’s always right” – Kiana Tom

Not sure if anybody can say their gut is always right, but I like the general idea and you’re gut is way smarter than you think.

20. “I believe fundamental honesty is the keystone of business” – Harvey S. Firestone

If only every business adopted that policy, how amazing would things be? Fortunately a few new companies are getting the idea that being honest and treating their customers with respect is actually good business as well as the right thing to do.

So what’s your favorite unknown quote? Let us know in the comments!

21. “I have to trust what I do and then do it” – Ednita Nazario

Yes! Even if you’re not sure what you’re doing, even if the plan is hazy, you can still trust yourself (and your intuition) and things will by and large turn out for the best.

22. “Don’t look any further than your own reflection for a hero” – Allyson Partridge

Tis true. You are the hero of your life’s story, so start acting like it!

My strength did not come from lifting weights. My strength came from lifting myself up when I was knocked down” – Bob Moore Weightlifting Champion

23. ” The ‘good life’ begins when you stop wanting a better one” – Nkosiphambili E. Molapis

I think it’s called being content with life.

24. “I am not in this world to live up to other people’s expectations, nor do l feel that the world must live up to mine” – Fritz Perl

Fritz was definitely a bit on the edge at times with his Gestalt Therapy, but he nails this one.

25. I will come again & conquer you because as a mountain you can’t grow, but as a human, I can”-  Sir Edmund Hillary

Great quote from the first man to lead a team that conquered Everest. Of course he could have given up after the first attempt, but fortunately he didn’t and neither should you.

Song of the Day:

Requiem on Water - Imperial Mammoth

Lyrics:

Slowly paddle through the lakeStraight to the very centerOf the darkest waterWhere we can embrace the shadows on the surfaceThe eyes that look up lifelessFrom our twins below
And though your arms and legs are underLove will be the echo in yourEars when all is lost in plunderMy love will be there still
True its chilling to beholdUp close we stumble backwards
Laughing in our boats tillThe image sinks away to someplace far for certainA land of new suspensionWhere someday we must go
And though your arms and legs are underLove will be the echo in yourEars when all is lost is plunderMy love will be there still
And though your arms and legs are underLove will be the echo in yourEars when all is lost is plunderMy love will be there still

Ten Rules for Being Human

1.	You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it's yours to keep for the entire period.
2.	You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, "life."
3.	There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately "work."
4.	Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
5.	Learning lessons does not end. There's no part of life that doesn't contain its lessons. If you're alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.
6.	"There" is no better a place than "here." When your "there" has become a "here", you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here."
7.	Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
8.	What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9.	Your answers lie within you. The answers to life's questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.
10.	You will forget all this. Song Of The Day: Even If It Breaks Your Heart - Eli Young Band Lyrics: Way back on the radio dialA fire got lit inside a bright eyed childEvery note just wrapped around his soulFrom steel guitars to Memphis all the way to rock n rollOhh ohhI can hear em playingI can hear the ringing of a beat up old guitarOhh ohhI can hear em singingKeep on dreaming even if it breaks your heartDowntown is where I used to wonderOld enough to get there but too young to get insideSo I would stand out on the sidewalkListen to the music playing every Friday nightOhh ohhI can hear em playinI can hear the ringing of a beat up old guitarOhh ohhI can hear em singingKeep on dreaming even if it breaks your heartSome dreams stay with you foreverDrag you round and bring you back to where you wereSome dreams keep on getting betterGotta keep believing if you wanna know for sureOhh ohhI can hear em playinI can hear the ringing of a beat up old guitarohh ohhI can hear em singingKeep on dreaming even if it breaks your heart(x2)Keep on dreaming even if it breaks your heartOh oh ohKeep on dreamingOh oh ohDon't let it break your heart