Conflict is inevitable, but combat is optional.
—Max Lucado (b.1955) American Christian Author, Minister
At the center of our agency is our freedom to form a healthy attitude toward whatever circumstances we are placed in.
—Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) American Mormon Religious Leader
If you look at your life one way, there is always cause for alarm.
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973) Irish Novelist, Short-story Writer
Obstinacy is the strength of the weak. Firmness founded upon principle, upon truth and right, order and law, duty and generosity, is the obstinacy of sages.
—Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss Theologian, Poet
The how” thinker gets problems solved effectively because he wastes no time with futile “ifs” but goes right to work on the creative “how”.”
—Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American Clergyman, Self-Help Author
You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.
—James Anthony Froude (1818–94) British Historian, Novelist, Biographer, Editor
I happen to feel that the degree of a person’s intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting attitudes she can bring to bear on the same topic.
—Lisa Alther (b.1944) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitudes toward life. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it.
—Chuck Swindoll (b.1934) American Evangelical Christian Pastor, Author
It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.
—Walt Disney (1901–66) American Entrepreneur
The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it.
—C. P. Scott (1846–1932) British Journalist, Editor, Politician
We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.
—Joseph Campbell (1904–87) American Mythologist, Writer, Lecturer
People who soar are those who refuse to sit back, sigh and wish things would change. They neither complain of their lot nor passively dream of some distant ship coming in. Rather, they visualize in their minds that they are not quitters; they will not allow life’s circumstances to push them down and hold them under.
—Chuck Swindoll (b.1934) American Evangelical Christian Pastor, Author
The block of granite which was an obstacle in the pathway of the weak becomes a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the The Past education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.
—Chuck Swindoll (b.1934) American Evangelical Christian Pastor, Author
Happy the man who has learned the cause of things and has put under his feet all fear, inexorable fate, and the noisy strife of the hell of greed.
—Virgil (70–19 BCE) Roman Poet
It has been said that our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength.
—Charles Spurgeon (1834–92) English Baptist Preacher
Say you are well, or all is well with you,
And God shall hear your words and make them true.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) American Poet, Journalist
The fountain of content must spring up in the mind; and he who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition, will waste his life in fruitless efforts, and multiply the griefs which he proposes to remove.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
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
I am more and more convinced that our happiness or our unhappiness depends far more on the way we meet the events of life than on the nature of those events themselves.
—Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835) German Philosopher, Linguist, Statesman
When you begin your transcendental training, focusing your best efforts, without attachment to outcomes, you will understand the peaceful warrior’s way.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.
—Rosa Parks (1913–2005) American Civil Rights Leader
Little things affect little minds.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one’s self to destiny.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
When I hear somebody sigh that “Life is hard,” I am always tempted to ask, “Compared to what?”
—Sydney J. Harris (1917–86) American Essayist, Drama Critic
How things look on the outside of us depends on how things are on the inside of us. Stay close to the heart of nature and forget this troubled world. Remember, there is nothing wrong with nature; the trouble is in ourselves.
—Parks Cousins
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
We can be negative and cynical or we can be charged and hot wored to find a way through it, over it, around it under it.
—Laura Schlessinger (b.1947) American Radio Talk-Show Host, Author
Each of us makes his own weather, determines the color of the skies in the emotional universe which he inhabits.
—Fulton J. Sheen (1895–1979) American Catholic Religious Leader, Theologian
Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it.
—Ernest Holmes (1887–1960) American New Thought Writer, Teacher
The greatest discovery of our generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. As you think, so shall you be.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
I think luck is the sense to recognize an opportunity and the ability to take advantage of it. Everyone has bad breaks, but everyone also has opportunities. The man who can smile at his breaks and grab his chances gets on.
—Samuel Goldwyn (1879–1974) Polish-born American Film Producer, Businessperson
Doubts and jealousies often beget the facts they fear.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
You cannot climb the ladder of success dressed in the costume of failure.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
High expectations are the key to everything.
—Sam Walton (1918–92) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson
If things are not going well with you, begin your effort at correcting the situation by carefully examining the service you are rendering, and especially the spirit in which you are rendering it.
—Roger Babson (1875–1967) American Economist
Corporations will take 90% less ability for 10% more attitude every day of the week.
—Mark Horstman
Misery is a communicable disease.
—Martha Graham (1894–1991) American Choreographer
Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Character is the result of two things: mental attitude and the way we spend our time.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
Nothing in life is so hard that you can’t make it easier by the way you take it.
—Ellen Glasgow (1873–1945) American Novelist
It’s not the load that breaks you down—it’s the way you carry it.
—Lou Holtz (1893–1980) American Stage Performer
If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you’ll be fired with enthusiasm.
—Vince Lombardi (1913–70) American Football Coach
I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Some of the world’s greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.
—Doug Larson (1926–2017) American Columnist
Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is…The only problem in your life is your mind’s resistance to life as it unfolds.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.
—Unknown
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
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
The surest way to corrupt a young man is to teach him to esteem more highly those who think alike than those who think differently.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.
—Booker T. Washington (1856–1915) African-American Educationist
You really can change the world if you care enough.
—Marian Wright Edelman (b.1939) American Civil Regrets Advocate, Humanitarian, Lawyer
In all the work we do, our most valuable asset can be the attitude of self-examination. It is forgivable to make mistakes, but to stand fast behind a wall of self-righteousness and make the same mistake twice is not forgivable.
—Dale Turner (1917–2006) American Priest, Columnist, Epigrammist
Events will take their course, it is no good of being angry at them; he is happiest who wisely turns them to the best account.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn’t learn something from him.
—Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) Italian Astronomer, Physicist, Mathematician
These then are my last words to you. Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
Be as an cup, and the universe flows into you. Be as an arrow, and the universe retreats from you.
—Zen Proverb Japanese School of Mahayana Buddhism
What happens is not as important as how you react to what happens.
—Thaddeus Golas (1924–97) American New Age Writer
I’m tired of being treated like a second-class citizen.
—Rosa Parks (1913–2005) American Civil Rights Leader
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
Without constancy there is neither love, friendship, nor virtue in the world.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
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
Continue to make the demands of the day your immediate concern, and take occasion to test the purity of your hearts and the steadfastness of your spirits. When you then take a deep breath and rise above the cares of this world and in an hour of leisure, you will surely win the proper frame of mind to face devoutly what is above us, with reverence, seeing in all events the manifestation of a higher guidance.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
A stumbling block to the pessimist is a stepping-stone to the optimist.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
Our attitude toward life determines life’s attitude towards us.
—Earl Nightingale (1921–89) American Motivational Speaker, Author
What comes out of your mouth is determined by what goes into your mind.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.
—Harold S. Geneen (1910–1997) British-American Businessman
Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
I got a simple rule about everybody. If you don’t treat me right — shame on you!
—Louis Armstrong (1901–71) American Musician
For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to earth.
—Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973) American Novelist, Human Rights Activist
When you believe you can-you can.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of your state of mind.
—Wayne Dyer (b.1940) American Motivational Writer, Author, Motivational Speaker
We hardly ever realize that we can cut anything out of our lives, anytime, in the blink of an eye.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
I’ve never run into a guy who could win at the top level in anything today and didn’t have the right attitude, didn’t give it everything he had, at least while he was doing it; wasn’t prepared and didn’t have the whole program worked out.
—Ted Turner (b.1938) American Businessperson, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist
Win as if you were used to it, lose as if you enjoyed it for a change.
—Anonymous
To be wronged or robbed is nothing unless you continue to remember it.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.
—Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) French Sculptor
Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.
—Anthony J. D’Angelo
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
Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
You got to sing like you don’t need the money; Love like you’ll never get hurt; You got to dance like nobody’s watchin’; It’s gotta come from the heart if you want it to work.
—Susanna Clark
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes, in seeing the universe with the eyes of another, of hundreds of others, in seeing the hundreds of universes that each of them sees.
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922) French Novelist
We awaken in others the same attitude of mind we hold toward them.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
—Robert Brault
Your mind will be like its habitual thoughts; for the soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts. Soak it then in such trains of thoughts as, for example: Where life is possible at all, a right life is possible.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
I not only bow to the inevitable; I am fortified by it.
—Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) American Novelist, Playwright
The excursion is the same when you go looking for your sorrow as when you go looking for your joy.
—Eudora Welty (1909–2001) American Short Story Writer, Novelist
When you have vision it affects your attitude. Your attitude is optimistic rather than pessimistic.
—Chuck Swindoll (b.1934) American Evangelical Christian Pastor, Author
There are in life as many aspects as attitudes towards it; and aspects change with attitudes… Could we change our attitude, we should not only see life differently, but life itself would come to be different. Life would undergo a change of appearance because we ourselves had undergone a change in attitude.
—Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923) New Zealand-born British Author
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
I would rather be first in a little Iberian village than second in Rome.
—Julius Caesar (c.100–44BCE) Roman Statesman, Military General
We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.
—Anais Nin (1903–77) French-American Essayist
Of all the “attitudes” we can acquire, surely the attitude of gratitude is the most important and by far the most life-changing.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
If you can’t change your fate, change your attitude.
—Amy Tan (b.1952) Chinese-American Novelist
We all need a daily check up from the neck up to avoid stinkin’ thinkin’ which ultimately leads to hardening of the attitudes.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
Up to a point a man’s life is shaped by environment, heredity, and the movements and changes in the world around him. Then there comes a time when it lies within his grasp to shape the clay of his life into the sort of thing he wishes to be. Only the weak blame parents, their race, their times, lack of good fortune, or the quirks of fate. Everyone has it within his power to say, ‘This I am today; that I will be tomorrow.’ The wish, however, must be implemented by deeds.
—Louis L’Amour (1908–88) American Novelist, Short-story Writer
Between the optimist and the pessimist, the difference is droll. The optimist sees the doughnut; the pessimist the hole!
—McLandburgh Wilson
So our human life but dies down to its root, and still puts forth its green blade to eternity.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
For my part I believe in the forgiveness of sin and the redemption of ignorance.
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–65) American Diplomat, Politician, Orator
Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Thought is the fountain of action, life and manifestation; make the fountain pure, and all will be pure.
—James Allen (1864–1912) British Philosophical Writer
If you think you can, you can.
And if you think you can’t, you’re right.
—Mary Kay Ash (1918–2001) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson
Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
He who binds to himself a joy
Doth the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in Eternity’s sunrise.
—William Blake (1757–1827) English Poet, Painter, Printmaker
We are injured and hurt emotionally, Not so much by other people or what they say and don’t say, But by our own attitude and our own response.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
I don’t think of all the misery, but of all the beauty that still remains.
—Anne Frank (1929–45) Holocaust Victim
You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.
—Brian Tracy (b.1944) American Author, Motivational Speaker
Something happens inside of us when we are courteous and deferential toward others. It is all part of a refining process, which if persisted in, will change our very natures.
—Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) American Mormon Religious Leader
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts about reality.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Explorer
Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
—Anonymous
You cannot tailor-make the situations in life but you can tailor-make the attitudes to fit those situations.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
We all live under the same sky, but we don’t all have the same horizon.
—Konrad Adenauer (1876–1967) German Statesman
It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet, I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever-approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.
—Anne Frank (1929–45) Holocaust Victim
Whatever is expressed is impressed. Whatever you say to yourself, with emotion, generates thoughts, ideas and behaviors consistent with those words.
—Brian Tracy (b.1944) American Author, Motivational Speaker
Eagles come in all shapes and sizes, but you will recognize them chiefly by their attitudes.
—C. P. Scott (1846–1932) British Journalist, Editor, Politician
Civilization is a method of living, an attitude of equal respect for all men.
—Jane Addams (1860–1935) American Social Reformer, Feminist
There is nothing so easy but that it becomes difficult when you do it reluctantly.
—Terence (c.195–159 BCE) Roman Comic Dramatist
The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be.
—Robert Fulghum (b.1937) American Unitarian Universalist Author, Essayist, Clergyman
Nurture your mind with great thoughts; to believe in the heroic makes heroes.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
Anywhere you go liking everyone, everyone will be likeable.
—Mignon McLaughlin (1913–83) American Journalist, Author
Die when I may, I want it said of me by those who know me best, that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower when I thought a flower would grow.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
For myself, I am an optimist — it does not seem to be much use being anything else.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Our personal dispositions are as windowpanes through which we see the world either as rosy or dull. The way we color the glasses we wear is the way the world seems to us.
—Fulton J. Sheen (1895–1979) American Catholic Religious Leader, Theologian
Nothing is interesting if you’re not interested.
—Helen MacInnes (1907–85) Scottish-born American Novelist
We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.
—Laura Schlessinger (b.1947) American Radio Talk-Show Host, Author
Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.
—Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) Bengali Poet, Polymath
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
“Only fools have no doubts;” “Are you sure?”; “I have no doubts!”
—Luciano De Crescenzo (b.1928) Italian Writer, Film Actor, Director, Engineer
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is.
—Unknown
Of course all life is a process of breaking down, but the blows that do the dramatic side of the work – the big sudden blows that come, or seem to come, from outside – the ones you remember and blame things on and, in moments of weakness, tell your friends about, don’t show their effect all at once. There is another sort of blow that comes from within – that you don’t feel until it’s too late to do anything about it, until you realize with finality that in some regard you will never be as good a man again. The first sort of breakage seems to happen quick – the second kind happens almost without your knowing it but is realized suddenly indeed. Before I go on with this short history, let me make a general observation – the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) American Novelist
Getting used to our blessings is one of the most important nonevil generators of human evil, tragedy and suffering.
—Abraham Maslow (1908–70) American Psychologist, Academic, Humanist
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
—Buddhist Teaching
I felt sorry for myself because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.
—Hebrew Proverb
There are no menial jobs, only menial attitudes.
—William Bennett (b.1943) American Politician, Political Theorist, Government Official
If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.
—Colin Powell (b.1937) American Military Leader
Never elated when someone’s oppressed, never dejected when another one’s blessed.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action.
I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.
—Michelangelo (1475–1564) Italian Painter, Sculptor, Architect, Poet, Engineer
As the physically weak man can make himself strong by careful and patient training, so the man of weak thoughts can make them strong by exercising himself in right thinking.
—James Allen (1864–1912) British Philosophical Writer
An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
Positive anything is better than negative nothing.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.
—Chinese Proverb
There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach for another is to risk involvement.
To expose your feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To believe is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live.
Chained by their attitudes they are slaves; they have forfeited their freedom.
Only a person who risks is free.
—Anonymous
Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.
—Lou Holtz (1893–1980) American Stage Performer
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
I am still determined to be cheerful and happy,
in whatever situation I may be; for I have also
learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness
or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.
—Martha Washington (1731–1802) American First Lady
The more you express gratitude for what you have the more you will have to express gratitude for.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
We talk to ourselves incessantly about our world. In fact we maintain our world with our internal talk. And whenever we finish talking to ourselves about ourselves and our world, the world is always as it should be. We renew it, we rekindle it with life, we uphold it with our internal talk. Not only that, but we also choose our paths as we talk to ourselves. Thus we repeat the same choices over and over until the day we die, because we keep on repeating the same internal talk over and over until the day we die. A warrior is aware of this and strives to stop his internal talk.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out.
—Art Linkletter (1912–2010) Canadian-born American Radio Personality, TV Personality
You should not say it is not good. You should say you do not like it; and then, you know, you’re perfectly safe.
—James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) American Painter, Etcher
Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I shall have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it, even if I may not have it at the beginning.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
You can do what you think you can do and you cannot do what you think you cannot.
—Ben Stein (b.1944) American Lawyer, Writer, Economist, Humorist
In the depth of winter I finally learned there was inside me an invincible summer.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
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
The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
A man without a smiling face must not open a shop.
—Chinese Proverb
The world does not have to change … The only thing that has to change is our attitude.
—Gerald Jampolsky (b.1925) American Psychiatrist
“It’s snowing still,” said Eeyore gloomily. “So it is”. “And freezing”. “Is it?” “Yes,” said Eeyore. “However,” he said, brightening up a little, “we haven’t had an earthquake lately”.
—A. A. Milne (1882–1956) British Humorist, Playwright, Children’s Writer
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
Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.
—W. W. Ziege
Expect nothing, live frugally on surprise.
—Alice Walker (b.1944) American Novelist, Activist
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to treat everything as if it were a nail.
—Abraham Maslow (1908–70) American Psychologist, Academic, Humanist
In the final analysis, the questions of why bad things happen to good people transmutes itself into some very different questions, no longer asking why something happened, but asking how we will respond, what we intend to do now that it happened.
—Harold Kushner (b.1935) American Jewish Religious Leader, Priest
Combinations of wickedness would overwhelm the world, by the advantage which licentious principles afford, did not those who have long practised perfidy grow faithless to each other.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Man’s mind stretched by a new idea, never goes back to its original dimensions.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
Look at everything as though you were seeing it for the first time or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory.
—Betty Smith
I have learned to use the word impossible with the greatest caution.
—Wernher von Braun (1912–77) German-born American Engineer, Scientist
It is easy enough to be pleasant, When life flows by like a song. But the man worthwhile is the one who can smile, when everything goes dead wrong. For the test of the heart is troubled, And it always comes with the years. And the smiles that is worth the praises of earth is the smile that shines through tears.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) American Poet, Journalist
A great attitude does much more than turn on the lights in our worlds; it seems to magically connect us to all sorts of serendipitous opportunities that were somehow absent before the change.
—Earl Nightingale (1921–89) American Motivational Speaker, Author
Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come.
—Chinese Proverb
The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances. We carry the seeds of the one or the other about with us in our minds wherever we go.
—Martha Washington (1731–1802) American First Lady
Life at any time can become difficult: life at any time can become easy. It all depends upon how one adjusts oneself to life.
—Morarji Desai (1896–1995) Indian Statesman, Nationalist Leader
She would rather light candles than curse the darkness and her glow has warmed the world.
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–65) American Diplomat, Politician, Orator