Everything—a horse, a vine—is created for some duty…For what task, then, were you yourself created? A man’s true delight is to do the things he was made for.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is.
—Unknown
In life so wretched? Isn’t it rather your hands which are too small, your vision which is muddied? You are the one who must grow up.
—Dag Hammarskjold (1905–61) Swedish Statesman, UN Diplomat
Seeing is not always believing.
—Anonymous
When you have vision it affects your attitude. Your attitude is optimistic rather than pessimistic.
—Chuck Swindoll (b.1934) American Evangelical Christian Pastor, Author
I have seen gleams in the face and eyes of the man that have let you look into a higher country.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
The vision is really about empowering workers, giving them all the information about what’s going on so they can do a lot more than they’ve done in the past.
—Bill Gates (b.1955) American Businessperson, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Author
Relatively few of us will find the time—or take it—to live an ever enlarging life.
—Marilyn vos Savant (b.1946) American Columnist, Author, Lecture, Playwright
You have to see the pattern, understand the order and experience the vision.
—Michael E. Gerber
I learned the most important lesson of my life: that the extraordinary is not the birthright of a chosen and privileged few, but of all people, even the humblest. That is my one certainty: we are all the manifestation of the divinity of God.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
The soul never thinks without a mental picture.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Leaders must invoke an alchemy of great vision.
—Henry Kissinger (b.1923) American Diplomat, Academician
I stake to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.
—Wayne Gretzky (b.1961) Canadian Sportsperson
The engineering is secondary to the vision.
—Cynthia Ozick (b.1928) American Novelist, Short-story Writer, Essayist
Give to us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for—because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything.
—Peter Marshall
This is the true joy in life: Being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
The question is not what you look at, but what you see.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Learn to see, and then you’ll know that there is no end to the new worlds of our vision.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
Most people take the limits of their vision to be the limits of the world. A few do not. Join them.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher
If you see in your wine the reflection of a person not in your range of vision, don’t drink it.
—Chinese Proverb
Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find his right road.
—Dag Hammarskjold (1905–61) Swedish Statesman, UN Diplomat
Our grand business undoubtedly is, not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
When each of these three elements of vision—concern for excellence, for people and for the wider environment—are present, business is transformed from a tool for making profits into a creative, humane experiment for improving life.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934–2021) Hungarian-American Psychologist
Our life is frittered away by detail… Simplify, simplify, simplify! … Simplicity of life and elevation of purpose.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Celtic spirituality is awakening so powerfully now because it illuminates the fact that the visible is only one little edge of things. The visible is only the shoreline of the magnificent ocean of the invisible.
—John O’Donohue (1956–2008) Irish Priest, Hegelian Philosopher
Lycurgus, Numa, Moses, Jesus Christ, Mohammed, all these great rogues, all these great thought-tyrants, knew how to associate the divinities they fabricated with their own boundless ambition.
—Marquis de Sade (1740–1814) French Political leader, Revolutionary, Novelist, Poet, Critic
How far would Moses have gone if he had taken a poll in Egypt? What would Jesus Christ have preached if he had taken a poll in the land of Israel? What would have happened to the Reformation if Martin Luther had taken a poll? It isn’t polls or public opinion of the moment that counts. It’s right and wrong and leadership.
—Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) American Head of State
When I care to be powerful—to use my strength in the service of my vision—then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.
—Audre Lorde (1934–92) American Poet, Activist
A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Aim for the highest.
—Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) Scottish-American Industrialist