Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties, passing from one step of success to another, forming new wishes and seeing them gratified. He that labors in any great or laudable undertaking has his fatigues first supported by hope and afterward rewarded by joy.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Here is the basic rule for winning success. Let’s mark it in the mind and remember it. The rule is: Success depends on the support of other people. The only hurdle between you and what you want to be is the support of other people.
—David J. Schwartz (1927–87) American Self-help Author
This world belongs to the energetic.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
You have to sow excellent seeds to have an excellent life. You must start with sowing excellent thoughts.
—John C. Maxwell (b.1947) American Christian Professional Speaker, Author, Clergyman
Despite the success cult, men are most deeply moved not by the reaching of the goal but by the grandness of the effort involved in getting there—or failing to get there.
—Max Lerner (1902–92) Russian-born American Journalist
One might think that the money value of an invention constitutes its reward to the man who loves his work. But speaking for myself, I can honestly say this is not so… I continue to find my greatest pleasure, and so my reward, in the work that precedes what the world calls success.
—Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American Inventor, Scientist, Entrepreneur
Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.
—Arthur Ashe (1943–93) American Tennis Player
Every germ of goodness will at last struggle into bloom and fruitage… true success follows every right step.
—Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
We only do well the things we like doing.
—Colette (1873–1954) French Novelist, Performer
There’s always something about your success that displeases even your best friends.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
To succeed it is necessary to accept the world as it is and rise above it.
—Michael Korda (b.1933) English-born Writer, Novelist
It is better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret.
—Jackie Joyner-Kersee (b.1962) American Athlete
It is not enough to aim, you must hit.
—Italian Proverb
We do not know, in most cases, how far social failure and success are due to heredity, and how far to environment. But environment is the easier of the two to improve.
—J. B. S. Haldane (1892–1964) British Biologist, Geneticist
Again and again I therefore admonish my students in Europe and America: Don’t aim at success—the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run—in the long-run, I say!—success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it.
—Viktor Frankl (1905–97) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist
Work, every hour, paid or unpaid; see only that thou work and thou canst not escape thy reward. Whether thy work be fine or coarse, planting corn, or writing epics, so only it be honest work, done to thine own approbation, it shall earn a reward to the senses, as well as to the thought. The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Success means that we go to sleep at night knowing that our talents and abilities were used in a way that served others.
—Marianne Williamson (b.1952) American Activist, Author, Lecturer
Success often comes to those who have the aptitude to see way down the road.
—J. Laing Burns, Jr.
Becoming rich isn’t as much about getting rich financially as about whom you become, in character and mind, to get rich. I want to share a secret with you that few people know: the fastest way to get rich and stay rich is to work on developing you! The idea is to grow yourself into a successful person. Again, your outer world is merely a reflection of your inner world. You are the root; your results are the fruits.
—T. Harv Eker (b.1954) American Motivational Speaker, Lecturer, Author
Success is not something you get out of what you do.
—Wayne Dyer (b.1940) American Motivational Writer, Author, Motivational Speaker
You don’t ‘pay the price’ for success-you enjoy the benefits of success.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
Being frustrated is disagreeable, but the real disasters of life begin when you get what you want.
—Irving Kristol (1920–2009) American Political Writer, Publisher
Everybody’s a self-made man; but only the successful ones are ever willing to admit it.
—Unknown
Success rarely brings satisfaction.
—Baltasar Gracian (1601–58) Spanish Scholar, Prose Writer
Faith that the thing can be done is essential to any great achievement.
—Thomas N. Carruthers
In our course we teach that “no thought lives in your head rent-free”. Each thought you have will either be an investment or a cost. It will either move you toward happiness and success or away from it. It will either empower you or disempower you. That’s why it is imperative you choose your thoughts and beliefs wisely.
—T. Harv Eker (b.1954) American Motivational Speaker, Lecturer, Author
In war there is no second prize for the runner-up.
—Omar Bradley (1893–1981) American Military Leader
Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
A successful man is one who lays a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him.
—Swami Chinmayananda (1916–93) Indian Hindu Spiritual Teacher
Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
It takes time to be a success.
—Unknown
Successful leaders have the courage to take action while others hesitate.
—John C. Maxwell (b.1947) American Christian Professional Speaker, Author, Clergyman
Experience shows that success is due less to ability than to zeal. The winner is he who gives himself to his work, body and soul.
—Charles Buxton (1823–71) British Politician, Writer
You can have everything in life you want if you’ll just help enough other people get what they want.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
You can succeed in anything if you give somebody else the credit for doing it.
—Common Proverb
Do not let yourselves be discouraged or embittered by the smallness of the success you are likely to achieve in trying to make life better. You certainly would not be able, in a single generation, to create an earthly paradise. Who could expect that? But, if you make life ever so little better, you will have done splendidly, and your lives will have been worthwhile.
—Arnold J. Toynbee (1889–1975) British Historian
The men who have done big things are those who were not afraid to attempt big things, who were not afraid to risk failure in order to gain success.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart.
—Thomas J. Watson, Sr. (1874–1956) American Business Executive
Often a certain abdication of prudence and foresight is an element of success.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Success is like a liberation, or the first phase of a love affair.
—Jeanne Moreau (1928–2017) French Stage, Screen Actor, Singer
His head was turned by too great success.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm.
—Charles M. Schwab (1862–1939) American Businessperson
Failure is success if we learn from it.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
We can accomplish almost anything within our ability if we but think that we can! Every great achievement in this world was first carefully thought out… Think-but to a purpose. Think constructively. Think as you read. Think as you listen. Think as you travel and your eyes reveal new situations. Think as you work daily at your desk, or in the field, or while strolling. Think to rise and improve your place in life. There can be no advancement or success without serious thought.
—George Matthew Adams (1878–1962) American Columnist, Journalist
Success means only doing what you do well, letting someone else do the rest.
—Unknown
Success is blocked by concentrating on it and planning for it … Success is shy – it won’t come out while you’re watching.
—Tennessee Williams (1911–83) American Playwright
The very first step towards success in any occupation is to become interested in it.
—William Osler (1849–1919) Canadian Physician
The success of most things depends upon knowing how long it will take to succeed.
—Montesquieu (1689–1755) French Political Philosopher, Jurist
The secret of success is to realize that the crisis on our planet is much larger than just deciding what to do with your own life, and if the system under which we live the structure of western civilization begins to collapse because of our selfishness and greed, then it will make no difference whether you have $1 million dollars when the crash comes or just $1.00. The only work that will ultimately bring any good to any of us is the work of contributing to the healing of the world.
—Marianne Williamson (b.1952) American Activist, Author, Lecturer