If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.
—Margaret Mead (1901–78) American Anthropologist, Social Psychologist
You have to know what is right for you and go after it regardless of what others say.
—Les Brown
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
The main facts in human life are five: birth, food, sleep, love and death.
—E. M. Forster (1879–1970) English Novelist, Short Story Writer, Essayist
When you can live forever what do you live for?
—Stephenie Meyer (b.1973) American Novelist
The secret to success is constancy to purpose.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Make your work to be in keeping with your purpose.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
What is the quality of your intent?
—Thurgood Marshall (1908–93) American Jurist
What we determine we often break. Purpose is but the slave to memory.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
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 Self-Help Author
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
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 (1935–2023) American Rabbi, Author
When you inhabit any of these three roles, you’re reacting to fear of victimhood, loss of control, or loss of purpose. You’re always looking outside yourself, to the people and circumstances of life, for a sense of safety, security, and sanity.
—David Emerald
The soul which has no fixed purpose in life is lost; to be everywhere, is to be nowhere.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
An “unemployed” existence is a worse negation of life than death itself.
—Jose Ortega y. Gasset (1883–1955) Spanish Critic, Journalist, Philosopher
Happiness depends, as Nature shows, less on exterior things than most suppose.
—William Cowper (1731–1800) English Anglican Poet, Hymn writer
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
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
A purpose you impart is no longer your own.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Happiness is like a kiss… you must share it to enjoy it.
—Bernard Meltzer (1916–98) American Radio Personality
When two or more people coordinate in a spirit of harmony and work toward a definite objective or purpose, they place themselves in a position, through the alliance, to absorb the power directly from the great storehouse of Infinite Intelligence.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
The whole life is but a point of time; let us enjoy it, therefore, while it lasts, and not spend it to no purpose.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
You can come to understand your purpose in life by slowing down and feeling your heart’s desires.
—Marcia Wieder
Ever more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for.
—Viktor Frankl (1905–97) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist
That’s the purpose of stress. It’s a friend. It’s an alarm clock, built in to let you know that it’s time to do The Work.
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
What is my life if I am no longer useful to others?
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
A man’s life may stagnate as literally as water may stagnate, and just as motion and direction are the remedy for one, so purpose and activity are the remedy for the other.
—John Burroughs (1837–1921) American Naturalist, Writer
Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force.
—James Lane Allen (1849–1925) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
The greatest events occur without intention playing any part in them; chance makes good mistakes and undoes the most carefully planned undertaking. The world’s greatest events are not produced, they happen.
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–99) German Philosopher, Physicist
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
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