Happiness…that’s something you can’t achieve by taking the easy way out. Earning happiness means doing good and working, not speculating and being lazy. Laziness may look inviting, but only work gives you true satisfaction.
—Anne Frank (1929–45) Holocaust Victim
It is better by a noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half of the evils we anticipate, than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what may happen.
—Herodotus (c.485–425 BCE) Ancient Greek Historian
Blessed are the single-hearted, for they shall enjoy much peace. If you refuse to be hurried and pressed, if you stay your soul on God, nothing can keep you from that clearness of spirit which is life and peace. In that stillness you will know what His will is.
—Amy Carmichael (1867–1951) British Protestant Missionary
Without knowing what I am and why I am here, life is impossible.
—Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) Russian Novelist
I know of no such unquestionable badge and ensign of a sovereign mind as that of tenacity of purpose…
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Winners are people with definite purpose in life.
—Denis Waitley (b.1933) American Motivational Speaker, Author
When you can live forever what do you live for?
—Stephenie Meyer (b.1973) American Novelist
A warrior chooses a path with heart, any path with heart, and follows it; and then he rejoices and laughs. He knows because he sees that his life will be over altogether too soon. He sees that nothing is more important than anything else.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
Looking good and dressing well is a necessity. Having a purpose in life is not.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
The secret of man’s being is not only to live but to have something to live for.
—Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–81) Russian Novelist, Essayist, Writer
You see, it’s never the environment; it’s never the events of our lives, but the meaning we attach to the events—how we interpret them—that shapes who we are today and who we’ll become tomorrow.
—Tony Robbins (b.1960) American Self-Help Author, Entrepreneur
He is not only idle who does nothing, but he is idle who might be better employed.
—Socrates (469BCE–399BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
What men want is not talent, it is purpose; in other words, not the power to achieve, but will to labor. I believe that labor judiciously and continuously applied becomes genius.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
You will not grow if you sit in a beautiful flower garden, but you will grow if you are sick, if you are in pain, if you experience losses, and if you do not put your head in the sand, but take the pain and learn to accept it, not as a curse or punishment but as a gift to you with a very, very specific purpose.
—Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (1926-2004) American Psychiatrist
Your sole purpose in life is to attain God-realization. All else is useless and worthless.
—Sivananda Saraswati (1887–1963) Indian Hindu Spiritual Teacher
Happiness comes when you believe in what you are doing, know what you are doing, and live what you are doing.
—Brian Tracy (b.1944) American Author, Motivational Speaker
He had always wanted to write Music and he could give no other identity to the thing he sought. If you want to know what it is, he told himself, listen to the first phrases of Tchaikowsky’s First Concerto, or the last movement of Rachmaninoff’s Second. Men have not found the words for it nor the deed nor the thought, but they have found the Music. Let me see that in one single act of man on earth. Let me see it made real. Let me see the answer to the promise of that Music. Not servants nor those served; not altars and immolations; but the final, the fulfilled, innocent of pain. Don’t help me or serve me, but let me see it once, because I need it. Don’t work for my happiness, my brothers – Show me yours – show me that it is possible – show me your achievement – and the knowledge will give me courage for mine.
—Ayn Rand (1905–82) Russian-born American Novelist, Philosopher
A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the “why” for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any “how”.
—Viktor Frankl (1905–97) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist
Happiness and high performance come to you when you choose to live your life consistent with your highest values and your deepest convictions.
—Brian Tracy (b.1944) American Author, Motivational Speaker
We know there is intention and purpose in the universe, because there is intention and purpose in us.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
We are at our very best, and we are happiest, when we are fully engaged in work we enjoy on the journey toward the goal we’ve established for ourselves. It gives meaning to our time off and comfort to our sleep. It makes everything else in life so wonderful, so worthwhile.
—Earl Nightingale (1921–89) American Motivational Speaker, Author
Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Thoughts are things! And powerful things at that, when mixed with definiteness of purpose, and burning desire, can be translated into riches. Use auto-suggestion, have faith, imagination and overcome fear and time is your opposite player as in checkerboard.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
I love the valiant; but it is not enough to wield a broadsword, one must also know against whom.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
As poet-philosopher Rabindranath Tagore reminds us, “We cannot cross the sea merely by staring at the water”. Simplicity has power. And living on purpose comes to this: Just do it. How much simpler can we get?
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
We should all be obliged to appear before a board every five years, and justify our existence… on pain of liquidation.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: if you’re alive, it isn’t.
—Richard Bach (b.1936) American Novelist, Aviator
What is the quality of your intent?
—Thurgood Marshall (1908–93) American Jurist
Many people flounder about in life because they do not have a purpose, an objective toward which to work.
—George Halas
If Heaven made him—earth can find some use for him.
—Chinese Proverb
Everything in the universe has a purpose. Indeed, the invisible intelligence that flows through everything in a purposeful fashion is also flowing through you.
—Wayne Dyer (b.1940) American Motivational Writer, Author, Motivational Speaker
Be above it! Make the world serve your purpose, but do not serve it.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Persecutors fear loss of control. Rescuers fear loss of purpose. Rescuers need Victims—someone to protect or fix—to bolster their self-esteem.
—David Emerald
Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time.
—Marian Wright Edelman (b.1939) American Civil Regrets Advocate, Humanitarian, Lawyer
I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.
—Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French Theologian, Musician, Philosopher, Physician
The Three Armies can be deprived of their commanding officer, but even a common man cannot be deprived of his purpose.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
Some believe there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world’s ills—against misery, against ignorance, or injustice and violence. Yet many of the world’s great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant reformation, a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the World, and 32 year old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men are created equal. ‘Give me a place to stand,’ said Archimedes, ‘and I will move the world.’ These men moved the world, and so can we all.
—Robert F. Kennedy (1925–68) American Politician, Civil Rights Activist
The purpose of life is not to win. The purpose of life is to grow and to share. When you come to look back on all that you have done in life, you will get more satisfaction from the pleasure you have brought into other people’s lives that you will from the times that you outdid and defeated them.
—Harold Kushner (b.1935) American Jewish Religious Leader, Priest
To be accounted trustworthy, a person must be predictable. When you manage your life and all the little decisions by one guideline—the Golden Rule—you create an ethical predictability in your life. People will have confidence in you, knowing that you consistently do the right thing.
—John C. Maxwell (b.1947) American Christian Professional Speaker, Author, Clergyman
If you would find happiness and joy, lose your life in some noble cause. A worthy purpose must be at the center of every worthy life.
—Jack H. Goaslind (1928–2011) American Mormon Leader
The first principle of ethical power is purpose. By purpose, I don’t mean your objective or intention-something toward which you are always striving. Purpose is something bigger. It is the picture you have of yourself-the kind of person you want to be or the kind of life you want to lead.
—Ken Blanchard (b.1939) American Author, Management Consultant
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Make your work to be in keeping with your purpose.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself, and know that everything in life has purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from.
—Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (1926-2004) American Psychiatrist
The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started.
—Norman Cousins (1915–90) American Journalist, Author, Academic, Activist
There is no meaning to life except the meaning man gives his life by unfolding of his powers.
—Erich Fromm (1900–80) German-American Psychoanalyst, Social Philosopher
Fear God and work hard.
—David Livingstone (1813–73) Scottish Missionary, Explorer
In a gentle way, you can shake the world.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
The only way you can be successful on a post or win at it is to be at cause over it.
—L. Ron Hubbard (1911–86) American Scientologist Religious Leader, Novelist, Author
An “unemployed” existence is a worse negation of life than death itself.
—Jose Ortega y. Gasset (1883–1955) Spanish Critic, Journalist, Philosopher
What allows us, as human beings, to psychologically survive life on earth, with all of its pain, drama, and challenges, is a sense of purpose and meaning
—Barbara De Angelis (b.1951) American Lecturer, Author, TV Personality, Motivational Speaker