The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
You cannot demonstrate an emotion or prove an aspiration.
—John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn (1838–1923) British Political Leader, Writer, Editor, Journalist
The world stands aside to let anyone pass who knows where he is going.
—David Starr Jordan (1851–1931) American Zoologist, Educator, Peace Activist
Pleasure is the object, duty and the goal of all rational creatures.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Ambition means longing and striving to attain some purpose. Therefore, there are as many brands of ambition as there are human aspirations.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss, but that our aim is too low and we reach it.
—Michelangelo (1475–1564) Italian Painter, Sculptor, Architect, Poet, Engineer
It is the paradox of life that the way to miss pleasure is to seek it first. The very first condition of lasting happiness is that a life should be full of purpose, aiming at something outside self. As a matter of experience, we find that true happiness comes in seeking other things, in the manifold activities of life, in the healthful outgoing of all human powers.
—Hugo Black (1886–1971) American Politician, Jurist
Respectable men and women content with good and easy living are missing some of the most important things in life. Unless you give yourself to some great cause you haven’t even begun to live.
—William P. Merrill (1867–1954) American Presbyterian Clergyman, Pacifist, Hymn Writer
We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about.
—Charles Kingsley (1819–75) English Clergyman, Academic, Historian, Novelist
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.
—Louisa May Alcott (1832–88) American Novelist
To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
He turns not back who is bound to a star.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
People are more inclined to be drawn in if their leader has a compelling vision. Great leaders help people get in touch with their own aspirations and then will help them forge those aspirations into a personal vision.
—John Kotter (b.1947) American Management Consultant
Those indeed who attain any excellence commonly spend life in one pursuit, for excellence is not often gained upon easier terms.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Men cannot for long live hopefully unless they are embarked upon some great unifying enterprise, one for which they may pledge their lives, their fortunes and their honor.
—C. A. Dykstra (1883–1950) American Government Administrator
An aim in life is the only fortune worth finding; and it is not to be found in foreign lands, but in the heart itself.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
Concentrate on finding your goal, then concentrate on reaching it.
—Michael Friedsam (1858–1931) American Philanthropist
The nineteenth century was completely lacking in logic, it had cosmic terms and hopes, and aspirations, and discoveries, and ideals but it had no logic.
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) American Writer
He who every morning plans the transactions of the day and follows out that plan carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life. The orderly arrangement of his time is a like a ray of life which darts itself through all his occupations. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incident, chaos will soon reign.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
A life that hasn’t a definite plan is likely to become driftwood.
—David Sarnoff (1891–1972) American Broadcaster, Businessman
Humor is something that thrives between man’s aspirations and his limitations. There is more logic in humor than in anything else. Because, you see, humor is truth.
—Victor Borge (1909–2000) Danish-American Comedian, Musician
Hope — of all ills that men endure, the only cheap and universal cure; the captive’s freedom, and the sick man s health, the lover’s victory, and the beggar’s wealth.
—Abraham Cowley (1618–67) English Poet, Essayist
Just as you have the instinctive natural desire to be happy and overcome suffering, so do all sentient beings; just as you have the right to fulfill this innate aspiration, so do all sentient beings. So on what exact grounds do you discriminate?
—The 14th Dalai Lama (b.1935) Tibetan Buddhist Religious Leader, Civil Rights Leader, Philosopher, Author
The grand essentials of happiness in this life are: Something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
—George Washington Burnap (1802–59) American Unitarian Priest
The main obligation is to amuse yourself.
—S. J. Perelman (1904–79) American Humorist, Author, Screenwriter
Every man, through fear, mugs his aspirations a dozen times a day.
—Brendan Behan (1923–64) Irish Poet, Novelist, Playwright
The real tragedy of the poor is the poverty of their aspirations.
—George Goodman (b.1930) American Economist, Author
Never try to catch two frogs with one hand.
—Chinese Proverb
I finally figured out the only reason to be alive is to enjoy it.
—Rita Mae Brown (b.1944) American Writer, Feminist
Man needs, for his happiness, not only the enjoyment of this or that, but hope and enterprise and change.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
Lord save us all from… a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
It is when things go hardest, when life becomes most trying, that there is greatest need for having a fixed goal. When few comforts come from without, it is all the more necessary to have a fount to draw from within.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
The great and glorious masterpiece of man is to know how to live to purpose; all other things, to reign, to lay up treasure, to build, are at the most but mere appendixes and little props.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
To eat bread without hope is still slowly to starve to death.
—Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973) American Novelist, Human Rights Activist
America has been a land of dreams. A land where the aspirations of people from countries cluttered with rich, cumbersome, aristocratic, ideological pasts can reach for what once seemed unattainable. Here they have tried to make dreams come true. Yet now… we are threatened by a new and particularly American menace. It is not the menace of class war, of ideology, of poverty, of disease, of illiteracy, or demagoguery, or of tyranny, though these now plague most of the world. It is the menace of unreality.
—Daniel J. Boorstin (1914–2004) American Historian, Academic, Attorney, Writer
Life exists for the love of music or beautiful things.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
The object of living is work, experience, and happiness. There is joy in work. All that money can do is buy us someone else’s work in exchange for our own. There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
Nothing is more terrible than activity without insight.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
What all men are really after is some form, or perhaps only some formula, of peace.
—Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) Polish-born British Novelist
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
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.
—Louisa May Alcott (1832–88) American Novelist
Selfishness is the only real atheism; unselfishness the only real religion.
—Israel Zangwill (1864–1926) English Playwright, Novelist, Zionist Activist
What can we know?. What are we all?. Poor silly half-brained things peering out at the infinite, with the aspirations of angels and the instincts of beasts.
—Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) Scottish Writer
Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
An aspiration is a joy forever, a possession as solid as a landed estate, a fortune which we can never exhaust and which gives us year by year a revenue of pleasurable activity.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
I am searching for that which every man seeks—peace and rest.
—Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) Italian Poet, Philosopher
Hope is the major weapon against the suicide impulse.
—Karl Menninger (1893–1990) American Psychiatrist
Laboring toward distant aims set the mind in a higher key and puts us at our best.
—Charles Henry Parkhurst (1842–1933) American Clergyman, Civic Reformer
There is only one meaning of life, the act of living itself.
—Erich Fromm (1900–80) German-American Psychoanalyst, Social Philosopher
One of the most important factors, not only in military matters but in life as a whole, is . . the ability to direct one’s whole energies towards the fulfillment of a particular task.
—Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) German Soldier
They are the guiding oracles which man has found out for himself in that great business of ours, of learning how to be, to do, to do without, and to depart.
—John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn (1838–1923) British Political Leader, Writer, Editor, Journalist
Fortunate is the person who has developed the self-control to steer a straight course toward his objective in life, without being swayed from his purpose by either commendation or condemnation.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
Happy is said to be the family which can eat onions together. They are, for the time being, separate, from the world, and have a harmony of aspiration.
—Charles Dudley Warner (1829–1900) American Essayist, Novelist
He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will one day realize it. Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your Ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.
—James Allen (1864–1912) British Philosophical Writer
He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It is not a disaster to be unable to capture your ideal, but it is a disaster to have no ideal to capture. It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for. Not failure, but low aim is a sin.
—Benjamin Mays (1894–1984) American Minister, Educator, Scholar, Social Activist
Don’t let young people tell you their aspirations; when they drop them they will drop you.
—Logan Pearsall Smith (1865–1946) American-British Essayist, Bibliophile
Freedom to many means immediate betterment, as if by magic. Unless I can meet at least some of these aspirations, my support will wane and my head will roll just as surely as the tickbird follows the rhino.
—Julius Nyerere (1922–99) Tanzanian Statesman
One cannot manage too many affairs: like pumpkins in the water, one pops up while you try to hold down the other.
—Chinese Proverb
People have many different kinds of pleasure. The real one is that for which they will forsake the others.
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922) French Novelist
Man tells his aspiration in his God; but in his demon he shows his depth of experience.
—Margaret Fuller (1810–50) American Feminist, Writer, Revolutionary
When something does not insist on being noticed, when we aren’t grabbed by the collar or struck on the skull by a presence or an event, we take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.
—Cynthia Ozick (b.1928) American Novelist, Short-story Writer, Essayist
To have no heroes is to have no aspiration, to live on the momentum of the past, to be thrown back upon routine, sensuality, and the narrow self.
—Charles Cooley (1864–1929) American Sociologist
The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
—Jack London (1876–1916) American Novelist
We’re pursuing a strategy of freedom around the world, because I understand free nations will reject terror. Free nations will answer the hopes and aspirations of their people.
—George W. Bush (b.1946) American Head of State, Businessperson
I care not what your education is, elaborate or nothing, what your mental calibre is, great or small, that man who concentrates all his energies of body, mind and soul in one direction is a tremendous man.
—Thomas De Witt Talmage (1832–1902) American Presbyterian Clergyman, Religious Leader
I am not sending messages with my feet. All I ever wanted was not to come up empty. I did it for the dough and the old applause.
—Fred Astaire (1899–1987) American Actor, Dancer, Singer
Aim at the sun, and you may not reach it; but your arrow will fly far higher than if aimed at an object on a level with yourself.
—Joel Hawes
Whatever course you have chosen for yourself, it will not be a chore but an adventure if you bring to it a sense of the glory of striving, if your sights are set far above the merely secure and mediocre.
—David Sarnoff (1891–1972) American Broadcaster, Businessman
His purity was too great, his aspiration too high for this poor, miserable world! His great soul is now only enjoying that for which it was worthy!
—Queen Victoria (1819–1901) British Royal
We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.
—Anne Frank (1929–45) Holocaust Victim
Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition… I have no other so great as that of being truely esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
We can do whatever we wish to do provided our wish is strong enough. But the tremendous effort needed – one doesn’t always want to make it – does one? … But what else can be done? What’s the alternative? What do you want most to do? That’s what I have to keep asking myself, in the face of difficulties.
—Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923) New Zealand-born British Author
Purpose is what gives life a meaning.
—Charles Henry Parkhurst (1842–1933) American Clergyman, Civic Reformer
Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.
—Ralph Vaull Starr
We must have hope or starve to death.
—Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973) American Novelist, Human Rights Activist
It takes a certain level of aspiration before one can take advantage of opportunities that are clearly offered.
—Michael Harrington (1928–89) American Socialist, Writer, Political Activist, Academic
The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose.
—John Mason Brown (1900–69) American Columnist, Journalist, Author
Usually obstacles are the things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.
—Hannah More
Great minds have purposes; others have wishes.
—Washington Irving (1783–1859) American Essayist, Biographer, Historian
If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it; every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
Since we must all die sooner or later, let us enjoy life while we can.
—Otomo no Tabito
The young have aspirations that never come to pass, the old have reminiscences of what never happened. It’s only the middle-aged who are really conscious of their limitations–that is why one should be so patient with them.
—Saki (Hector Hugh Munro) (1870–1916) British Short Story Writer, Satirist, Historian
Every true man, sir, who is a little above the level of the beasts and plants does not live for the sake of living, without knowing how to live; but he lives so as to give a meaning and a value of his own to life.
—Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936) Italian Dramatist, Novelist, Short Story Writer, Author
Everybody, my friend, everybody lives for something better to come. That’s why we want to be considerate of every man—Who knows what’s in him, why he was born and what he can do?
—Maxim Gorky (1868–1936) Russian Writer, Dramatist, Political Activist, Novelist
The goal of all civilization, all religious thought, and all that sort of thing is simply to have a good time. But man gets so solemn over the process that he forgets the end.
—Don Marquis (1878–1937) American Humorist, Journalist, Author
The American people can have anything they want; the trouble is they don’t know what they want.
—Eugene V. Debs (1855–1926) American Socialist, Union Leader
To seek one’s goals and to drive toward it, stealing one’s heart, is most uplifting.
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) Norwegian Playwright
The hallmark of our age is the tension between aspirations and sluggish institutions.
—John W. Gardner (1912–2002) American Government Official, Political leader
Use your health, even to the point of wearing it out. That is what it is for. Spend all you have before you die; do not outlive yourself.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright