What I’m out for is good time. All the rest is propaganda.
—Unknown
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
If poetry should address itself to the same needs and aspirations, the same hopes and fears, to which the Bible addresses itself, it might rival it in distribution.
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) American Poet
Great hopes make great men.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
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
The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
When delicate and feeling souls are separated, there is not a feature in the sky, not a movement of the elements, not an aspiration of the breeze, but hints some cause for a lover’s apprehension.
—Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816) Irish-born British Playwright, Poet, Elected Rep
Ideally, advertising aims at the goal of a programmed harmony among all human impulses and aspirations and endeavors. Using handicraft methods, it stretches out toward the ultimate electronic goal of a collective consciousness.
—Marshall Mcluhan (1911–80) Canadian Writer, Thinker, Educator
We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
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
We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community… Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.
—Cesar Chavez (1927–93) American Labor Leader
The struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma is a struggle for life and dignity. It is a struggle that encompasses our political, social and economic aspirations.
—Aung San Suu Kyi (b.1945) Burmese Politician, Human Rights Activist
I am searching for that which every man seeks—peace and rest.
—Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) Italian Poet, Philosopher
The best of us still have our aspirations for the supreme goals of life, which is so often mocked by prosperous people who now control the world. We still believe that the world has a deeper meaning than what is apparent, and that therein the human s
—Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) Bengali Poet, Polymath
Faith is love taking the form of aspiration.
—William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) American Unitarian Theologian, Poet
To seek one’s goals and to drive toward it, stealing one’s heart, is most uplifting.
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) Norwegian Playwright
If you run after two hares, you will catch neither.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
For me, commerce is of trivial import; love, faith, truth of character, the aspiration of man, these are sacred; nor can I detach one duty, like you, from all other duties, and concentrate my forces mechanically on the payment of moneys
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
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
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
Let us live, while we are alive.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
If we would only give, just once, the same amount of reflection to what we want to get out of life that we give to the question of what to do with a two weeks’ vacation, we would be startled at our false standards and the aimless procession of our busy days.
—Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879–1958) American Novelist
We aim above the mark, to hit the mark. Every act hath some falsehood or exaggeration in it.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
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
Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Life is an end in itself, and the only question as to whether it is worth living is whether you have had enough of it.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841–1935) American Jurist, Author
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
A bull does not enjoy fame in two herds.
—African Proverb
Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a Heaven for?
—Robert Browning (1812–89) English Poet
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