The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
All that a man does outwardly is but the expression and completion of his inward thought. To work effectually, he must think clearly; to act nobly, he must think nobly. Intellectual force is a principal element of the soul’s life, and should be proposed by every man as the principal end of his being.
—William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) American Unitarian Theologian, Poet
A thought-form held in thinking substance is a reality; it is a real thing, whether it has yet become visible to mortal eye or not.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author
A state of expectancy is a great assetl; a state of uncertainty—one moment thinking “perhaps” and the next moment thinking “I don’t know”—will never get desired results.
—Ernest Holmes (1887–1960) American New Thought Writer, Teacher
Start thinking about yourself as a lifetime student at a large university. Your curriculum is your total relationship with the world you live in, from the moment you’re born to the moment you die.
—Susan Jeffers (1938–2012) American Psychologist, Self-Help Author
Perfect love is to feeling what perfect white is to color. Many think that white is the absence of color. It is not. It is the inclusion of all color. White is every other color that exists, combined. So, too, is love not the absence of an emotion (hatred, anger, lust, jealousy, covetousness), but the summation of all feeling. It is the sum total. The aggregate amount. The everything.
—Neale Donald Walsch (b.1943) American Spiritual Writer
How would you feel if you had no fear? Feel like that. How would you behave toward other people if you realized their powerlessness to hurt you? Behave like that. How would your react to so-called misfortune if you saw its inability to bother you? React like that. How would you think toward yourself if you knew you were really all right? Think like that.
—Vernon Howard (1918–92) American Spiritual Teacher, Philosopher
In the blood of the martyrs to intolerance are the seeds of unbelief.
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974) American Journalist, Political Commentator, Writer
What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
If you really want to break from the pack, you have to risk being perceived to be as eccentric as these people. You have to think exception-ally—a LOT!
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
No one can tell you what is right for you except yourself. So start telling yourself what to do. If you blunder for ten years while thinking for yourself, that is rich treasure when compared with living these ten years under the mental domination of another.
—Vernon Howard (1918–92) American Spiritual Teacher, Philosopher
No one is immune to pain, and it shouldn’t be denied when it exists. The key is to know that you can lead a productive and meaningful life no matter what the external circumstances are. What positive thinking does is offer a power boost to help you handle whatever life throws at you. Your “bad breaks” do not dominate your life; your indomitable strength does. And when you feel that indomitable strength, you really can handle any of your fears from a position of power—the kind of power that really can make good things happen.
—Susan Jeffers (1938–2012) American Psychologist, Self-Help Author
Let your advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
On some nights, he has nowhere to sleep, on others he suffers from insomnia. “That’s just how it is,” thinks the warrior. “I was the one who chose to walk this path”.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
There is only one purpose for all of life, and that is for you and all that lives to experience fullest glory…everything else you say, think, or do is attendant to that function. There is nothing else for your soul to do, and nothing else your soul wants to do.
—Neale Donald Walsch (b.1943) American Spiritual Writer
If you think you’re too small to make an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.
—Anita Roddick (1942–2007) English Businessperson, Activist, Environmentalist
Remember, every great leader (or visionary or brave thinker) was initially laughed at. Now they are revered.
—Robin Sharma (b.1964) Canadian Writer, Motivational Speaker
Roark: “I don’t make comparisons. I never think of myself in relation to anyone else. I just refuse to measure myself as part of anything. I’m an utter egotist.
—Ayn Rand (1905–82) Russian-born American Novelist, Philosopher
What we think or what we know or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
Do not merely think that you are great; think that you are great now. Do not think that you will begin to act in a great way at some future time; begin now.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author
You can be anything you want to be, if you only believe with sufficient conviction and act in accordance with your faith; for whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
Go first to your highest thought about yourself. Imagine the you that you would be if you lived that thought every day. Imagine what you would think, do, and say, and how you would respond to what others would do and say… Do you see any difference between that projection and what you think, do, and say now?
—Neale Donald Walsch (b.1943) American Spiritual Writer
Everyone thinks that the principal thing to the tree is the fruit, but in point of fact the principal thing to it is the seed.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Rich people think long-term. They balance their spending on enjoyment today with investing for freedom tomorrow.
—T. Harv Eker (b.1954) American Motivational Speaker, Lecturer, Author
Extraordinary things like this occur frequently to most of us, but we disregard them, because of our lack of understanding, and we think they are mere coincidences.
—Roger McDonald (b.1941) Australian Novelist, Poet, Screenwriter, Writer
When you do The Work, you see who you are by seeing who you think other people are. Eventually you come to see that everything outside you is a reflection of your own thinking. You are the storyteller, the projector of all stories, and the world is the projected image of your thoughts.
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
But when you think you’re supposed to do something with it and imagine that you’re the doer, that’s pure delusion. Just follow your passion. Do what you love. Inquire, and have a happy life while you’re doing it.
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
In reality, there is no such thing as a “should” or a “shouldn’t”. These are only thoughts that we impose onto reality. The mind is like a carpenter’s level. When the bubble is off to one side—“It shouldn’t be raining”—we can know that the mind is caught in its thinking. When the bubble is right in the middle—“It’s raining”—we can know that the surface level and the mind is accepting reality as it is. Without the “should” and “shouldn’t,” we can see reality as it is, and this leaves us free to act efficiently, clearly, and sanely. Asking “What’s the reality of it?” can help bring the mind out of its story, back into the real world.
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
To think that I know what’s best for anyone else is to be out of my business. Even in the name of love, it is pure arrogance, and the result is tension, anxiety, and fear. Do I know what’s right for me? That is my only business. Let me work with that before I try to solve problems for you.
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author