The more you struggle to live, the less you live. Give up the notion that you must be sure of what you are doing. Instead, surrender to what is real within you, for that alone is sure. As stars high above earth, you are above everything distressing. But you must awaken to it. Wake up!
—Baruch Spinoza (1632–77) Dutch Philosopher, Theologian
I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others… I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent.
—Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American Inventor, Scientist, Entrepreneur
I believe that traditional wisdom is incomplete. A composer can have all the talent of Mozart and a passionate desire to succeed, but if he believes he cannot compose music, he will come to nothing. He will not try hard enough. He will give up too soon when the elusive right melody takes too long to materialize.
—Martin Seligman (b.1942) American Psychologist, Author
I believe that the very purpose of life is to be happy. From the very core of our being, we desire contentment. In my own limited experience I have found that the more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being. Cultivating a close, warmhearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. It helps remove whatever fears or insecurities we may have and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles we encounter. It is the principal source of success in life. Since we are not solely material creatures, it is a mistake to place all our hopes for happiness on external development alone. The key is to develop inner peace.
—The 14th Dalai Lama (b.1935) Tibetan Buddhist Leader, Civil Rights Advocate, Author
When we wake up to the potential power within, our impulse is to grab it all “quick”. The more we grab, the more it seems to elude us. There is no quick. There are quick—and wonderful—seminars, workshops, books, and audios that give you tools, but they are not quick tools. They are to be used and mastered throughout a lifetime.
—Susan Jeffers (1938–2012) American Psychologist, Self-Help Author
We automatically give to each person we meet, but we choose what we give. Our words, our actions, must consciously set the stage for the life we wish to lead.
—Marlo Morgan (1937–98) American Novelist, Author
If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.
—Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie (1837–1919) English Novelist, Biographer
If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank.
—Woody Allen (b.1935) American Film Actor, Director
Nature gives all, without reservation, and loses nothing; man or woman, grasping all, loses everything.
—James Allen (1864–1912) British Philosophical Writer
I would not give a fig for the simplicity on this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.
—Unknown
The power of hiding ourselves from one other is mercifully given, for men are wild beasts, and would devour one another but for this protection.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
The experiences of camp life show that a man does have a choice of action. There were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress. We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way. The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity—even in the most difficult circumstances—to add a deeper meaning to life.
—Viktor Frankl (1905–97) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist
When you give your subconscious the message “I can’t,” your subconscious really believes you and registers on its computer: WEAK… WEAK… WEAK…
—Susan Jeffers (1938–2012) American Psychologist, Self-Help Author
To give one’s heart is to give all.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
There is absolutely nothing that you desire that you cannot achieve.
—Esther & Jerry Hicks (b.1948) American Self-Help Author
When you give of your possessions, you give but little; it is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-American Philosopher, Poet, Sculptor
Do you want a sign that you’re asleep? Here it is: you’re suffering. Suffering is a sign that you’re out of touch with the truth. Suffering is given to you that you might open your eyes to the truth, that you might understand that there’s falsehood somewhere, just as physical pain is given to you so you will understand that there is disease or illness somewhere. Suffering occurs when you clash with reality. When your illusions clash with reality, when your falsehoods clash with truth, then you have suffering. Otherwise there is no suffering.
—Anthony de Mello (1931–87) Indian-born American Theologian
Instead of wanting to throttle your loved ones when they give you a hard time, it is better to look at them as mirrors of what you still need to work on in terms of our personal growth.
—Susan Jeffers (1938–2012) American Psychologist, Self-Help Author
Your progress depends upon your degree of sustained intensity in a given direction.
—Roger McDonald (b.1941) Australian Novelist, Poet, Screenwriter
People are smarter than you think. Give them a chance to prove themselves.
—Tim Ferriss (b.1977) American Self-help Author
You get from the world what you give to the world.
—Oprah Winfrey (b.1954) American TV Personality
Faith—not a faith in one’s self or in one’s own powers but faith in principle; in the Something Great which upholds right, and which may be relied upon to give us the victory in due time. Without this faith it is not possible for any one to rise to real greatness.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author
As long as you don’t forgive, who and whatever it is will occupy rent-free space in your mind.
—Isabelle Holland (1920–2002) American Novelist
A friend is a gift you give yourself.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
Nothing outside you can ever give you what you’re looking for.
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
When you are not willing to fully receive, you are training the universe not to give to you! It’s simple: if you aren’t willing to receive your share, it will go to someone else who is.
—T. Harv Eker (b.1954) American Motivational Speaker, Lecturer, Author
Love cures people—both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it.
—Karl Menninger (1893–1990) American Psychiatrist
Some individuals have developed such strong internal standards that they no longer need the opinion of others to judge whether they have performed a task well or not. The ability to give objective feedback to oneself is in fact the mark of the expert.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934–2021) Hungarian-American Psychologist
Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor… let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eye, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.
—Mother Teresa (1910–97) Roman Catholic Missionary, Nun
If you are not willing to receive, then you are “ripping off” those who want to give to you.
—T. Harv Eker (b.1954) American Motivational Speaker, Lecturer, Author
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