You work the first eight hours of each day for survival. Anything after that is an investment.
—Thomas J. Watson, Sr. (1874–1956) American Business Executive
We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
If you live among wolves you have to howl like a wolf.
—Russian Proverb
The sum of the whole matter is this, that our civilization cannot survive materially unless it be redeemed spiritually
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) American Head of State
A population weakened and exhausted by battling against so many obstacles—whose needs are never satisfied and desires never fulfilled—is vulnerable to manipulation and regimentation. The struggle for survival is, above all, an exercise that is hugely time-consuming, absorbing and debilitating. If you create these “anti-conditions,” your rule is guaranteed for a hundred years.
—Ryszard Kapuscinski (1932–2007) Polish Journalist
Once one determines that he or she has a mission in life, that’s it’s not going to be accomplished without a great deal of pain, and that the rewards in the end may not outweigh the pain—if you recognize historically that always happens, then when it comes, you survive it.
—Richard Nixon (1913–94) American Head of State, Lawyer
One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
Fear is an emotion indispensable for survival.
—Hannah Arendt (1906–75) German-American Philosopher, Political Theorist
The consciousness of being deemed dead, is next to the presumable unpleasantness of being so in reality. One feels like his own ghost unlawfully tenanting a defunct carcass.
—Herman Melville (1819–91) American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Essayist, Poet
It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.
—W. Edwards Deming (1900–93) American Engineer, Statistician
Survival, with honor, that outmoded and all-important word, is as difficult as ever and as all-important to a writer. Those who do not last are always more beloved since no one has to see them in their long, dull, unrelenting, no-quarter-given-and-no-quarter-received, fights that they make to do something as they believe it should be done before they die. Those who die or quit early and easy and with every good reason are preferred because they are understandable and human. Failure and well-disguised cowardice are more human and more beloved.
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American Author, Journalist, Short Story Writer
The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.
—Unknown
The rhythm of life is intricate but orderly, tenacious but fragile. To keep that in mind is to build the key to survival.
—Shirley Hufstedler (1925–2016) American Lawyer, Jurist
To survive it is often necessary to fight and to fight you have to dirty yourself.
—George Orwell (1903–50) English Novelist, Journalist
Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.
—The 14th Dalai Lama (b.1935) Tibetan Buddhist Religious Leader, Civil Rights Leader, Philosopher, Author
Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create). It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.
—C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) Irish-born British Academic, Author, Literary Scholar
Self-preservation, nature’s first great law, all the creatures, except man, doth awe.
—Andrew Marvell (1621–78) English Metaphysical Poet
Nobody is stronger, nobody is weaker than someone who came back. There is nothing you can do to such a person because whatever you could do is less than what has already been done to him. We have already paid the price.
—Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) Romanian-born American Writer, Professor, Political Activist
Good history is a question of survival. Without any past, we will deprive ourselves of the defining impression of our being.
—Ken Burns (b.1953) American Historical Documentary Filmmaker
Nature is indifferent to the survival of the human species, including Americans.
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–65) American Diplomat, Politician, Orator
Change is difficult but often essential to survival.
—Les Brown
I believe that all the survivors are mad. One time or another their madness will explode. You cannot absorb that much madness and not be influenced by it. That is why the children of survivors are so tragic. I see them in school. They don’t know how
—Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) Romanian-born American Writer, Professor, Political Activist
Our pleasures were simple-they included survival.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader
And while the law of ‘competition’ may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department.
—Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) Scottish-American Industrialist
Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.
—Bill Cosby (b.1937) American Actor, Comedian, Activist, Producer, Author
It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value.
—Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008) British Scientist, Science-fiction Writer
The notion that one will not survive a particular catastrophe is, in general terms, a comfort since it is equivalent to abolishing the catastrophe.
—Iris Murdoch (1919–99) British Novelist, Playwright, Philosopher
Hunger, love, pain, fear are some of those inner forces which rule the individual’s instinct for self preservation.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
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