What turns ordinary people into overachievers is the way they use their minds when they are called on to perform.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
—Robert F. Kennedy (1925–68) American Politician, Civil Rights Activist
It was an utterly phenomenal achievement.
—David McCullough (1933–2022) American Historian
I do not believe great organizations have ever been built by trying to emulate another, any more than individual greatness is achieved by trying to copy another “great person”.
—Peter Senge (b.1947) American Management Consultant, Author, Scientist
There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
If you can dream it, you can achieve it.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
Overachievers don’t think reasonably, sensibly, or rationally.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
Think of yourself as on the threshold of unparalleled success. A whole, clear, glorious life lies before you. Achieve! Achieve!
—Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) Scottish-American Industrialist
The most effective way I know to begin with the end in mind is to develop a personal mission statement or philosophy or creed. It focused on what you want to be (character) and to do (contributions and achievements) and on the values or principles upon which being and doing are based.
—Stephen Covey (1932–2012) American Self-help Author
The Way of Heaven does not compete, and yet it skillfully achieves victory. It does not speak, and yet it skillfully responds to things. It comes to you without your invitation.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
Your automatic creative mechanism is teleological. That is, it operates in terms of goals and end results. Once you give it a definite goal to achieve, you can depend upon its automatic guidance system to take you to that goal much better than “you” ever could by conscious thought. “You” supply the goal by thinking in terms of end results. Your automatic mechanism then supplies the means whereby.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
Success is achieved by development of our strengths, not by elimination of our weakness.
—Marilyn vos Savant (b.1946) American Columnist, Author, Lecture, Playwright
Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
The rewards are profound. Shadow-work enables us to alter our self-sabotaging behavior so that we can achieve a more self-directed life.
—Connie Zweig (b.1949) American Minister, Columnist, Psychotherapist
To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
There is absolutely nothing that you desire that you cannot achieve.
—Abraham Hicks
We are most nearly ourselves when we achieve the seriousness of the child at play.
—Heraclitus (535BCE–475BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Jane Fonda, who divided her life into three acts, decided after her sixtieth birthday that she was now facing the final act, and came to the following conclusion: “I thought to myself, well if that’s the case and if what I’m scared of isn’t death, but getting to the end with regrets, then I’ve got to figure out what would be the things that I would regret when I got to the last act if I hadn’t done them or achieved them by then. And they were: having an intimate relationship and having made a difference”.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934–2021) Hungarian-American Psychologist
The people who have achieved more than you, in any area, are only a half step ahead of you in time. Bless them and praise their gifts, and bless and praise your own. The world would be less rich without their contributions, and it would be less rich without yours. There’s more than room for everyone; in fact, there’s a need for everyone.
—Marianne Williamson (b.1952) American Activist, Author, Lecturer
It does not matter that only a few in each generation will grasp and achieve the full reality of man’s proper stature—and the rest will betray it. It is those few that move the world and give life its meaning—and it is those few that I have always sought to address. The rest are no concern of mine; it is not me or “The Fountainhead” that they will betray: it is their own souls.
—Ayn Rand (1905–82) Russian-born American Novelist, Philosopher
The individual who wants to reach the top in business must appreciate the might of the force of habit and must understand that practices are what create habits. He must be quick to break those habits that can break him and hasten to adopt those practices that will become the habits that help him achieve the success he desires.
—J. Paul Getty (1892–1976) American Business Person, Art Collector, Philanthropist
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Explorer
There is only one way by which you can achieve prosperity. It is to take charge of your mind.
—Eric Butterworth (1916–2003) American Spirituality Writer
You know you’ve achieved perfection in design, not when you have nothing more to add, but when you have nothing more to take away.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900–44) French Novelist, Aviator
The achievement of one goal should be the starting point of another.
—Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922) Scottish-born American Inventor, Engineer, Academic
There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice.
—James Allen (1864–1912) British Philosophical Writer
He has achieved success who has worked well, laughed often, and loved much.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
The goal should not be to make money or acquire things, but to achieve the consciousness through which the substance will flow forth when and as you need it.
—Eric Butterworth (1916–2003) American Spirituality Writer
The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.
—James Lane Allen (1849–1925) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
High achievers dwell on what they do well and spend very little time evaluating themselves and their performances.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic