As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.
—Brendan Behan (1923–64) Irish Poet, Novelist, Playwright
He who cannot do what he wants must make do with what he can.
—Terence (c.195–159 BCE) Roman Comic Dramatist
We would have to settle for the elegant goal of becoming ourselves.
—William Styron (1925–2006) American Novelist, Essayist, Writer
The willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life is the source from which self-respect springs.
—Joan Didion (1934–2021) American Essayist, Novelist, Memoirist
We do not write as we want, but as we can.
—W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) British Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Playwright
Each of us has a day … when he has to accept, finally, the fact that he is a man.
—Jean Anouilh (1910–87) French Dramatist
The man who insists upon seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides. Accept life, and you must accept regret.
—Henri Frederic Amiel (1821–81) Swiss Moral Philosopher, Poet, Critic
One must not attempt to justify them, but rather to sense their nature simply and clearly.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
We set up harsh and unkind rules against ourselves. No one is born without faults. That man is best who has fewest.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
You can’t tight the desert… you have to ride with it.
—Louis L’Amour (1908–88) American Novelist, Short-story Writer
Better to accept whatever happens.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
The terror of the atom age is not the violence of the new power but the speed of man’s adjustment to it—the speed of his acceptance.
—E. B. White (1985–99) American Essayist, Humorist
Good is not good, when better is expected.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
Often the prudent, far from making their destinies, succumb to them.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
May God … let me strive for attainable things.
—Pindar (c.518–c.438 BCE) Greek Lyric Poet
Man is a pliant animal—a being who gets accustomed to anything.
—Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–81) Russian Novelist, Essayist, Writer
To act with common sense according to the moment, is the best wisdom I know; and the best philosophy is to do one’s duties, take the world as it comes, submit respectfully to one’s lot; bless the goodness that has given us so much happiness with it, whatever it is; and despise affectation.
—Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (1717–97) English Art Historian, Man of Letters, Politician
I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do. That is character.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Explorer
I am somebody. I am me. I like being me. And I need nobody to make me somebody.
—Louis L’Amour (1908–88) American Novelist, Short-story Writer
The unknown is what it is. And to be frightened of it is what sends everybody scurrying around chasing dreams, illusions, wars peace, love, hate, all that. Unknown is what it is. Accept that it’s unknown, and it’s plain sailing.
—John Lennon (1940–80) British Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Activist
Life holds so much—so much to be happy about always. Most people ask for happiness on conditions. Happiness can be felt only if you don’t set conditions.
—Arthur Rubinstein (1888–1982) Polish-born American Pianist
Misfortunes come to all men.
—Chinese Proverb
To oppose something is to maintain it…You must go somewhere else; you must have another goal; then you walk a different road.
—Ursula K. Le Guin (b.1929) American Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer
Ask not that events should happen as you will, but let your will be that events should happen as they do, and you shall have peace.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Your problem is you’re … too busy holding onto your unworthiness.
—Ram Dass (1931–2019) American Hindu, New Age Pioneer
Better is the enemy of good.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
When people screw up, give them a second chance.
—Richard Branson (b.1950) British Entrepreneur
Spirituality is … the awareness that survival is the savage fight between you and yourself.
—Unknown
A man must live in the world and make the best of it, such as it is.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
What you think about yourself is much more important than what others think of you.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
If you are wise, live as you can; if you cannot, live as you would.
—Baltasar Gracian (1601–58) Spanish Scholar, Prose Writer
Never deny a diagnosis, but do deny the negative verdict that may go with it.
—Norman Cousins (1915–90) American Journalist, Author, Academic, Activist
A man should not strive to eliminate his complexes but to get into accord with them, for they are legitimately what directs his conduct in the world.
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychoanalytic
Life is 10 percent what you make it and 90 percent how you take it.
—Irving Berlin (1888–1989) American Songwriter, Composer
Peace of mind is that mental condition in which you have accepted the worst.
—Lin Yutang (1895–1976) Chinese Author, Philologist
Interest in the lives of others, the high evaluation of these lives, what are they but the overflow of the interest a man finds in himself, the value he attributes to his own being?
—Sherwood Anderson (1876–1941) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
God asks no man whether he will accept life. That is not the choice. You must take it. The only question is how.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
What you can’t get out of, get into wholeheartedly.
—Mignon McLaughlin (1913–83) American Journalist, Author
Sometimes it is more important to discover what one cannot do, than what one can.
—Lin Yutang (1895–1976) Chinese Author, Philologist
How base a thing it is when a man will struggle with necessity! We have to die.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
A body shouldn’t heed what might be. He’s got to do with what is.
—Louis L’Amour (1908–88) American Novelist, Short-story Writer
It isn’t important to come out on top, what matters is to be the one who comes out alive.
—Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) German Poet, Playwright, Theater Personality
Healthy personalities accept themselves not in any self-idolizing way, but in the sense that they see themselves as persons who are worth giving to another and worthy to receive from another.
—William Glasser (b.1925) American Psychiatrist, Writer
If we cannot do what we will, we must will what we can.
—Yiddish Proverb
Accept that all of us can be hurt, that all of us can — and surely will at times — fail. Other vulnerabilities, like being embarrassed or risking love, can be terrifying, too. I think we should follow a simple rule: if we can take the worst, take the risk.
—Joyce Brothers (1927–2013) American Psychologist, Advice Columnist
I care not so much what I am in the opinion of others as what I am in my own; I would be rich of myself and not by borrowing.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist