So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact. And remember that life’s A Great Balancing Act.
—Theodor Seuss Geisel (‘Dr. Seuss’) (1904–91) American Children’s Books Writer, Writer, Cartoonist, Animator
All extremes are error. The reverse of error is not truth but error still. Truth lies between these extremes.
—Richard Cecil
Something in human nature causes us to start slacking off at our moment of greatest accomplishment. As you become successful, you will need a great deal of self-discipline not to lose your sense of balance, humility, and commitment.
—Ross Perot (1930–2019) American Businessman
Without a sense of proportion there can be neither good taste nor genuine intelligence, nor perhaps moral integrity.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
Life is like riding a bicycle. You don’t fall off unless you stop pedaling.
—Claude Pepper (1900–89) American Politician
Words and pictures are yin and yang. Married, they produce a progeny more interesting than either parent.
—Theodor Seuss Geisel (‘Dr. Seuss’) (1904–91) American Children’s Books Writer, Writer, Cartoonist, Animator
Only in silence the word,
only in dark the light,
only in dying life:
bright the hawk’s flight
on the empty sky.
—Ursula K. Le Guin (b.1929) American Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer
A novel is balanced between a few true impressions and a multitude of false ones that make up most of what we call life.
—Saul Bellow (1915–2005) Canadian-American Novelist
Quiet minds can’t be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
A note of music gains significance from the silence on either side.
—Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906–2001) American Aviator, Author
When we become isolated, we are prone to being damaged; our minds lose their flexibility and natural kindness; we become vulnerable to fear and negativity. The sense of belonging keeps you in balance amidst the inner and outer immensities. The ancient and eternal values of human life – truth, unity, goodness, justice, beauty, and love are all statements of belonging; they are also the secret intention and dream of human longing.
—John O’Donohue (1956–2008) Irish Priest, Hegelian Philosopher
No man tastes pleasures truly, who does not earn them by previous business; and few people do business well, who do nothing else.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life.
—William Arthur Ward (1921–94) American Author
For everything you have missed, you have gained something else; and for everything you gain, you lose something else.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The key to keeping your balance is knowing when you’ve lost it.
—Unknown
If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.
—Dolly Parton (b.1946) American Musician, Actress
Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it.
—George Santayana (1863–1952) Spanish-American Poet, Philosopher
Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life—learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
—Robert Fulghum (b.1937) American Unitarian Universalist Author, Essayist, Clergyman
There should be balance in all our actions; to be either extreme or lukewarm is equally bad.
—Pir Hazrat Vilayat Khan (1882–1927) Indian Sufi Mystic, Musician
Poor people choose now. Rich people choose balance.
—T. Harv Eker (b.1954) American Motivational Speaker, Lecturer, Author
We may pass violets looking for roses. We may pass contentment looking for victory.
—Bert Williams (1876–1922) American Entertainer, Actor
Remember that poise and power are inseparably associated. The calm and balanced mind is the strong and great mind; the hurried and agitated mind is the weak one.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author
Rich people think long-term. They balance their spending on enjoyment today with investing for freedom tomorrow.
—T. Harv Eker (b.1954) American Motivational Speaker, Lecturer, Author
You might as well fall flat on your face as lean over too far backward.
—James Thurber
One should strive to maintain good health by taking balanced diet and exercising regularly.
—The Vedas Sacred Books of Hinduism
All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.
—Havelock Ellis (1859–1939) British Sexologist, Physician, Social Reformer
Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony.
—Thomas Merton (1915–68) American Trappist Monk
The world acquires value only through its extremes and endures only through moderation; extremists make the world great, the moderates give it stability.
—Paul Valery (1871–1945) French Critic, Poet
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
—Henry Stanley Haskins
Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.
—Thomas Merton (1915–68) American Trappist Monk