We love to expect, and when expectation is either disappointed or gratified, we want to be again expecting.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
If you don’t see yourself as a winner, then you cannot perform as a winner.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
To expect defeat is nine-tenths of defeat itself.
—Francis Marion Crawford (1854–1909) Italian-born American Novelist, Writer
Life is largely a matter of expectation.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy.
—Brian Tracy (b.1944) American Author, Motivational Speaker
A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations.
—Patricia Neal (1926–2010) American Stage, Movie Actress
If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.
—Michael Jordan (b.1963) American Sportsperson, Businessperson
It is generally known, that he who expects much will be often disappointed; yet disappointment seldom cures us of expectation, or has any effect other than that of producing a moral sentence or peevish exclamation.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
You begin by always expecting good things to happen.
—Tom Hopkins (b.1944) American Sales Coach
Letters are expectation packaged in an envelope.
—Shana Alexander (1925–2005) American Journalist, Editor, Author
Even if it is to be, what end do you serve by running to distress?
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
You can’t base your life on other people’s expectations.
—Stevie Wonder (b.1950) American Singer, Songwriter
We could hardly believe that after so many ordeals, after all the trials of modern skepticism, there was still so much left in our souls to destroy.
—Alexander Herzen (1812–70) Russian Revolutionary, Writer
What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expected generally happens.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
Rarely do the followers exceed the expectations of the leaders.
—Indian Proverb
We find what we expect to find, and we receive what we ask for.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
Don’t cross the bridge till you come to it.
—Common Proverb
When one’s expectations are reduced to zero, one really appreciates everything one does have.
—Stephen Hawking (1942–2018) English Theoretical Physicist, Cosmologist, Academic
We should expect the best and the worst of mankind, as from the weather.
—Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues (1715–47) French Moralist, Essayist, Writer
Good is not good, when better is expected.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
In order to win, you must expect to win.
—Richard Bach (b.1936) American Novelist, Aviator
People expect a certain reaction from a business and when you pleasantly exceed those expectations, you’ve somehow passed an important psychological threshold.
—Richard Thalheimer (b.1948) American Entrepreneur
Life’s under no obligation to give us what we expect.
—Margaret Mitchell (1900–49) American Novelist, Journalist
You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
How much of human life is lost in waiting.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
If you paint in your mind a picture of bright & happy expectations, you put yourself into a condition conducive to your goal.
—Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American Clergyman, Self-Help Author
High expectations are the key to everything.
—Sam Walton (1918–92) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson
Employees tend to live up to their managers expectations of them. If a managers expectations are high, productivity is likely to be excellent.
—Unknown
Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.
—Aesop (620–564 BCE) Greek Fabulist
Few enterprises of great labor or hazard would be undertaken if we had not the power of magnifying the advantages we expect from them.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist