Our lives are a mixture of different roles. Most of us are doing the best we can to find whatever the right balance is … For me, that balance is family, work, and service.
—Hillary Rodham Clinton (b.1947) American Head of State, Politician
There’s no secret to balance. You just have to feel the waves.
—Frank Herbert (1920–86) American Science Fiction Writer
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
I always try to balance the light with the heavy—a few tears of human spirit in with the sequins and the fringes.
—Bette Midler (b.1945) American Actress, Singer
What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter … a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.
—Henri Matisse (1869–1954) French Painter, Sculptor, Lithographer
Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. Just lie down.
—Natalie Goldberg (b.1948) American Author, Writing Teacher
The word “happiness” would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.
—Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) Swiss Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Philosopher
The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
Be careful. Journalism is more addictive than crack cocaine. Your life can get out of balance.
—Dan Rather (b.1931) American Newscaster, Author
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 Author, Essayist, Clergyman
All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.
—Havelock Ellis (1859–1939) British Essayist, Physician
I make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes.
—Sara Teasdale (1884–1933) American Poet
Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.
—Thomas Merton (1915–68) American Trappist Monk
A note of music gains significance from the silence on either side.
—Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906–2001) American Aviator, Author
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
A fortune is usually the greatest of misfortunes to children. It takes the muscles out of the limbs, the brain out of the head, and virtue out of the heart. In this world, it is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
The really idle man gets nowhere. The perpetually busy man does not get much further.
—William Heneage Ogilvie (1887–1971) British Surgeon, Medical Editor
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
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 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
Love your Enemies, for they tell you your Faults.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.
—Dolly Parton (b.1946) American Musician, Actress
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
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
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
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
The trick to juggling is determining which balls are made of rubber and which ones are made of glass.
—Anonymous
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 soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears.
—John Vance Cheney (1848–1922) American Poet, Essayist, Librarian
It is not Justice the servant of men, but accident, hazard, Fortune-the ally of patient Time-that holds an even and scrupulous balance.
—Mario Andretti (b.1940) Italian-American Racing Driver, Entrepreneur
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