A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.
—Richard Bach (b.1936) American Novelist, Aviator
There is only one way… to get anybody to do anything. And that is by making the other person want to do it.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
We talk on principle, but we act on interest.
—Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864) English Writer, Poet
What comes from the heart, goes to the heart.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.
—Leo Buscaglia (1924–98) American Motivational Speaker
We must treasure the achievers of our land because it’s they who raise the sights of all the others.
—Unknown
There are two levers for moving men—interest and fear.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
What makes life dreary is the want of a motive.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
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
One of the reasons it has seemed so difficult for a person to change his habits, his personality, or his way of life, has been that heretofore nearly all efforts at change have been directed to the circumference of the self, so to speak, rather than to the center.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
I’m slowly becoming a convert to the principle that you can’t motivate people to do things, you can only demotivate them. The primary job of the manager is not to empower but to remove obstacles.
—Scott Adams (b.1957) American Cartoonist
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) Irish Poet, Dramatist
Nobody motivates today’s workers. If it doesn’t come from within, it doesn’t come. Fun helps remove the barriers that allow people to motivate themselves.
—Herman Cain (1945–2020) American Businessman
If you tell people where to go, but not how to get there, you’ll be amazed at the results.
—George S. Patton (1885–1945) American Military Leader
Whatever touches the nerves of motive, whatever shifts man’s moral position, is mightier than steam, or caloric, or lightning.
—Edwin Hubbell Chapin (1814–80) American Preacher, Poet
Too great a preoccupation with motives (especially one’s own motive) is liable to lead to too little concern for consequences.
—Katharine Whitehorn (1928–2021) English Journalist, Writer, Columnist
To sink a six-foot putt with thirty million people looking over your shoulder, convince yourself that, if you miss it, you will be embarrassed and poor.
—Jack Nicklaus (b.1940) American Sportsperson
Necessity, who is the mother of our invention.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
One of the strongest characteristics of genius is the power of lighting its own fire.
—John W. Foster
Hunger, love, vanity, and fear. There are four great motives of human action.
—William Graham Sumner (1840–1910) American Polymath, Academic, Historian, Sociologist, Anthropologist
We talk on principal, but act on motivation.
—Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864) English Writer, Poet
All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every living organism to live beyond its income.
—Samuel Butler
I wish it, I command it. Let my will take the place of a reason.
—Juvenal (c.60–c.136 CE) Roman Poet
Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.
—Stephen Covey (1932–2012) American Self-help Author
There are only two forces that unite men—fear and interest.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
Hope is a vigorous principle; it is furnished with light and heat to advise and execute; it sets the head and heart to work, and animates a man to do his utmost. And thus, by perpetually pushing and assurance, it puts a difficulty out of countenance, and makes a seeming impossibility give way.
—Jeremy Collier (1650–1726) Anglican Church Historian, Clergyman
If you do not wish a man to do a thing, you had better get him to talk about it; for the more men talk, the more likely they are to do nothing else.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Instruction does much, but encouragement does everything.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Success stems from motivation, effort, and a commitment to excellence.
—Anonymous
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