I am a little deaf, a little blind, a little impotent, and on top of this are two or three abominable infirmities, but nothing destroys my hope.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
I’m tired of being treated like a second-class citizen.
—Rosa Parks (1913–2005) American Civil Rights Leader
Our judgments judge us, and nothing reveals us, exposes our weaknesses, more ingeniously than the attitude of pronouncing upon our fellows.
—Paul Valery (1871–1945) French Critic, Poet
The world does not have to change … The only thing that has to change is our attitude.
—Gerald Jampolsky (b.1925) American Psychiatrist
To this military attitude of the soul we give the name of Heroism… It is a self-trust which slights the restraints of prudence, in the plenitude of its energy and power to repair the harms it may suffer. The hero is a mind of such balance that no disturbances can shake his will…
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Impossible is a word only to be found in the dictionary of fools.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
Got no checkbooks, got no banks,
Still I’d like to express my thanks –
I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night.
—Irving Berlin (1888–1989) American Songwriter, Composer
If once the people become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
How we think shows through in how we act. Attitudes are mirrors of the mind. They reflect thinking.
—David J. Schwartz (1927–87) American Self-help Author
Agur said, “Give me neither poverty nor riches”; and this will ever be the prayer of the wise. Our incomes should be like our shoes: if too small, they will gall and pinch us, but if too large, they will cause us to stumble and to trip. But wealth, after all, is a relative thing, since he that has little, and wants less, is richer than he that has much, but wants more. True contentment depends not upon what we have; a tub was large enough for Diogenes, but a world was too little for Alexander.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
Attitudes are the forerunners of conditions.
—Eric Butterworth (1916–2003) American Spirituality Writer
Let no feeling of discouragement prey upon you, and in the end you are sure to succeed.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
The sun shines and warms and lights us and we have no curiosity to know why this is so; but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, and hunger, and mosquitoes and silly people.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
We go on fancying that each person is thinking of us, but they are not; they are like the rest of us—they are thinking of themselves.
—Charles Reade (1814–84) English Novelist, Playwright
Good nature is more agreeable in conversation than wit, and gives a certain air to the countenance which is more amiable than beauty.—It shows virtue in the fairest light; takes off, in some measure, from the deformity of vice; and makes even folly and impertinence supportable.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d druther not.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Surrounded by people who love life, you love it too; surrounded by people who don’t, you don’t.
—Mignon McLaughlin (1913–83) American Journalist, Author
A person will sometimes devote all his life to the development of one part of his body – the wishbone.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
—Herm Albright (1876–1944) German-american Painter, Lithographer, Columnist
Win as if you were used to it, lose as if you enjoyed it for a change.
—Anonymous
Happiness is not by chance, but by choice.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
—Thomas Paine (1737–1809) American Nationalist, Author, Pamphleteer, Radical, Inventor
Forgiveness is not an occasional act: it is an attitude.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
Don’t say, “If I could, I would”. Say, “If I can, I will”.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
The awakened sages call a person wise when all his undertakings are free from anxiety about results.
—The Bhagavad Gita Hindu Scripture
To be thrown upon one’s own resources is to be cast into the very lap of fortune, for our faculties then undergo a development and display an energy of which they were previously unsusceptible.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
The experiences of camp life show that a man does have a choice of action. There were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress. We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way. The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity—even in the most difficult circumstances—to add a deeper meaning to life.
—Viktor Frankl (1905–97) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist