The achievement of one goal should be the starting point of another.
—Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922) Scottish-born American Inventor, Engineer, Academic
He has achieved success who has worked well, laughed often, and loved much.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
The Way of Heaven does not compete, and yet it skillfully achieves victory. It does not speak, and yet it skillfully responds to things. It comes to you without your invitation.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
Your automatic creative mechanism is teleological. That is, it operates in terms of goals and end results. Once you give it a definite goal to achieve, you can depend upon its automatic guidance system to take you to that goal much better than “you” ever could by conscious thought. “You” supply the goal by thinking in terms of end results. Your automatic mechanism then supplies the means whereby.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
We are most nearly ourselves when we achieve the seriousness of the child at play.
—Heraclitus (535BCE–475BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Find the heart of it. Make the complex simple, and you can achieve mastery.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
Think of yourself as on the threshold of unparalleled success. A whole, clear, glorious life lies before you. Achieve! Achieve!
—Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) Scottish-American Industrialist
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
Happily achieve instead of achieving to be happy.
—Tony Robbins (b.1960) American Self-Help Author, Entrepreneur
It was an utterly phenomenal achievement.
—David McCullough (1933–2022) American Historian
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 object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
There is absolutely nothing that you desire that you cannot achieve.
—Esther & Jerry Hicks (b.1948) American Self-Help Author
Personal relationships are the fertile soil from which all advancement, all success, all achievement in real life grows.
—Ben Stein (b.1944) American Lawyer, Writer, Economist, Humorist
It does not matter that only a few in each generation will grasp and achieve the full reality of man’s proper stature—and the rest will betray it. It is those few that move the world and give life its meaning—and it is those few that I have always sought to address. The rest are no concern of mine; it is not me or “The Fountainhead” that they will betray: it is their own souls.
—Ayn Rand (1905–82) Russian-born American Novelist, Philosopher
Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
Overachievers don’t think reasonably, sensibly, or rationally.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
Jane Fonda, who divided her life into three acts, decided after her sixtieth birthday that she was now facing the final act, and came to the following conclusion: “I thought to myself, well if that’s the case and if what I’m scared of isn’t death, but getting to the end with regrets, then I’ve got to figure out what would be the things that I would regret when I got to the last act if I hadn’t done them or achieved them by then. And they were: having an intimate relationship and having made a difference”.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934–2021) Hungarian-American Psychologist
We tend to view confidence as a product of accomplishment rather than part of the process that leads there. But supremely confident people were confident long before they achieved anything.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
Success is achieved by development of our strengths, not by elimination of our weakness.
—Marilyn vos Savant (b.1946) American Columnist, Author, Lecture, Playwright
The individual who wants to reach the top in business must appreciate the might of the force of habit and must understand that practices are what create habits. He must be quick to break those habits that can break him and hasten to adopt those practices that will become the habits that help him achieve the success he desires.
—J. Paul Getty (1892–1976) American Business Person, Art Collector, Philanthropist
There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice.
—James Allen (1864–1912) British Philosophical Writer
Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
—Robert F. Kennedy (1925–68) American Politician, Civil Rights Activist
I do not believe great organizations have ever been built by trying to emulate another, any more than individual greatness is achieved by trying to copy another “great person”.
—Peter Senge (b.1947) American Management Consultant, Author, Scientist
What turns ordinary people into overachievers is the way they use their minds when they are called on to perform.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.
—James Lane Allen (1849–1925) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
The most effective way I know to begin with the end in mind is to develop a personal mission statement or philosophy or creed. It focused on what you want to be (character) and to do (contributions and achievements) and on the values or principles upon which being and doing are based.
—Stephen Covey (1932–2012) American Self-help Author
To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation.
—Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American Inventor, Entrepreneur, Businessperson
There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
Overachievement is aimed at people who want to maximize their potential. And to do that, I insist you throw caution to the wind, ignore the pleas of parents, coaches, spouses, and bosses to be “realistic”. Realistic people do not accomplish extraordinary things because the odds against success stymie them. The best performers ignore the odds. I will show you that instead of limiting themselves to what’s probable, the best will pursue the heart-pounding, exciting, really big, difference-making dreams—so long as catching them might be possible.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
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