Man can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as… from a lack of bread.
—Richard Wright (1908–1960) American Novelist, Short-Story Writer
Personality, too, is destiny.
—Erik Erikson (1902–94) German-born American Developmental Psychologist
What makes life dreary is the want of a motive.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
I’ll walk where my own nature would be leading; it vexes me to choose another guide.
—Emily Bronte (1818–48) English Novelist, Poet
We only do well the things we like doing.
—Colette (1873–1954) French Novelist, Performer
Follow your bliss. Find where it is and don’t be afraid to follow it.
—Joseph Campbell (1904–87) American Author, Mythologist
Abasement, degradation is simply the manner of life of the man who has refused to be what it is his duty to be.
—Jose Ortega y. Gasset (1883–1955) Spanish Critic, Journalist, Philosopher
What one man does, another fails to do; what’s fit for me may not be fit for you.
—Unknown
Different people have different duties assigned to them by Nature; Nature has given one the power or the desire to do this, the other that. Each bird must sing with his own throat.
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) Norwegian Playwright
We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess, but we excel in those which can also make use of our defects.
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–59) French Historian, Political Scientist
Bloom where you are planted.
—Mary Engelbreit (b.1952) American Artist, Illustrator
Let them know a real man, who lives as he was meant to live.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
Do you know that disease and death must needs overtake us, no matter what we are doing? … What do you wish to be doing when it overtakes you? If you have anything better to be doing when you are so overtaken, get to work on that.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
There is just one life for each of us: our own.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
In my clinical experience, the greatest block to a person’s development is his having to take on a way of life which is not rooted in his own powers.
—Rollo May (1909–94) American Philosopher
Those who love a cause are those who love the life which has to be led in order to serve it.
—Simone Weil (1909–1943) French Philosopher, Political Activist
To feel that one has a place in life solves half the problem of contentment.
—George Edward Woodberry (1855–1930) American Literary Critic, Poet
Everyone has a right to his own course of action.
—Moliere (1622–73) French Playwright
If a man has a talent and cannot use it, he has failed. If he has a talent and uses only half of it, he has partly failed. If he has a talent and learns somehow to use the whole of it, he has gloriously succeeded, and won a satisfaction and a triumph few men ever know.
—Thomas Wolfe (1900–38) American Novelist
All I would tell people is to hold on to what was individual about themselves, not to allow their ambition for success to cause them to try to imitate the success of others. You’ve got to find in on your own terms.
—Harrison Ford (b.1942) American Actor
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
Don’t take anyone else’s definition of success as your own. (This is easier said than done.)
—Jacqueline Briskin (b.1927) American Novelist, Writer
To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
For me, writing is the only thing that passes the three tests of metier: (1) when I’m doing it, I don’t feel that I should be doing something else instead; (2) it produces a sense of accomplishment and, once in a while, pride; and (3) it’s frightening.
—Gloria Steinem (b.1934) American Feminist, Journalist, Activist, Political Advocate
Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
—Sylvester Stallone (b.1946) American Actor, Screenwriter, Director
We can’t all be heroes, because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
Nothing is good for everyone, but only relatively to some people.
—Andre Gide (1869–1951) French Novelist
If Heaven made him—earth can find some use for him.
—Chinese Proverb
Every true man, sir, who is a little above the level of the beasts and plants does not live for the sake of living, without knowing how to live; but he lives so as to give a meaning and a value of his own to life.
—Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936) Italian Dramatist, Novelist, Short Story Writer
Leave a Reply