Remember that you are an actor in a drama, of such a part as it may please the master to assign you, for a long time or for a little as he may choose. And if he will you to take the part of a poor man, or a cripple, or a ruler, or a private citizen, then may you act that part with grace! For to act well the part that is allotted to us, that indeed is ours to do, but to choose it is another s.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
We need to teach the next generation of children from day one that they are responsible for their lives. Mankind’s greatest gift, also its greatest curse, is that we have free choice. We can make our choices built from love or from fear.
—Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (1926-2004) American Psychiatrist
There are two paths people can take. They can either play now and pay later, or pay now and play later. Regardless of the choice, one thing is certain. Life will demand a payment.
—John C. Maxwell (b.1947) American Christian Professional Speaker, Author, Clergyman
You have the power to think what you want. No matter what the circumstance.
—Unknown
Living from the Creator Orientation is actually more challenging. In the Victim Orientation, I didn’t have to exercise conscious choice; I just reacted to my circumstances.
—David Emerald
We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
Every person, all the events of your life, are there because you have drawn them there. What you choose to do with them is up to you.
—Richard Bach (b.1936) American Novelist, Aviator
Life is a constant oscillation between the sharp horns of dilemmas.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
That which you call your soul or spirit is your conciousness, and that which you call ‘free will’ is your mind’s freedom to think or not, the only will you have, your only freedom, the choice that controls all the choices you make and determines your life and your character.
—Ayn Rand (1905–82) Russian-born American Novelist, Philosopher
Every moment of our lives we are either growing or dying—and it’s largely a choice, not fate. Throughout its life cycle, every one of the body’s trillions of cells is driven to grow and improve its ability to use more of its innate yet untapped capacity. Research biologist Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, who was twice awarded the Nobel Prize, called this syntropy, which he defined as the “innate drive in living matter to perfect itself”. It turns conventional thinking upside down…As living cells—or as people—there is no staying the same. If we aim for some middle ground or status quo, it’s an illusion—beneath the surface what’s actually happening is we’re dying, not growing. And the goal of a lifetime is continued growth, not adulthood. As Rene Dubos put it, “Genius is childhood recaptured”. For this to happen, studies show that we must recapture—or prevent the loss of—such child-like traits as the ability to learn, to love, to laugh about small things, to leap, to wonder, and to explore. It’s time to rescue ourselves from our grown-up ways before it’s too late.
—Robert Cooper (b.1947) British Diplomat
Nobody ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices.
—Alfred A. Montapert (1906–97) American Engineer, Philosopher
Of all earthly creatures, humans alone have the power to choose.
—Indian Proverb
Suppose someone asserts of his lustful appetite that, when the desired object and the opportunity are present, it is quite irresistible. Ask him if a gallows were erected before the house where he finds this opportunity, in order that he should be hanged thereon immediately after the gratification of his lust, whether he could not then control his passion; we need not be long in doubt what he would reply. Ask him, however, if his sovereign ordered him, on the pain of the same immediate execution, to bear false witness against an honourable man, whom the prince might wish to destroy under a plausible pretext, would he consider it possible in that case to overcome his love of life, however great it may be. He would perhaps not venture to affirm whether he would do so or not, but he would unhesitatingly admit that it is possible to do so. He judges, therefore, that he can do a certain thing because he is conscious that he ought, and he recognizes that he is free—a fact which but for the moral law he would never have known.
—Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) Prussian German Philosopher, Logician
Heaven on Earth is a choice you must make, not a place you must find.
—Wayne Dyer (1940–2015) American Self-Help Author
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
Saying no to loud people gives you the resources to say yes to important opportunities.
—Seth Godin (b.1960) American Entrepreneur
When you can’t have what you choose, you just choose what you have.
—Owen Wister (1860–1938) American Novelist
There has never been another you. With no effort on your part you were born to be something very special and set apart. What you are going to do in appreciation of that gift is a decision only you can make.
—Dan Zadra
The more decisions that you are forced to make alone, the more you are aware of your freedom to choose.
—Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) American Novelist, Playwright
We choose what attitudes we have right now. And it’s a continuing choice.
—John C. Maxwell (b.1947) American Christian Professional Speaker, Author, Clergyman
Choice means saying no to one thing so you can say yes to another.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
On this narrow planet, we have only the choice between two unknown worlds. One of them tempts us—ah! what a dream, to live in that!—the other stifles us at the first breath.
—Colette (1873–1954) French Novelist, Performer
Liberty is the right to choose. Freedom is the result of the right choice.
—Anonymous
If there are things you don’t like in the world you grew up in, make your own life different.
—R. David Thomas (1932–2002) American Entrepreneur, Philanthropist
We can change our lives. We can do, have, and be exactly what we wish.
—Tony Robbins (b.1960) American Self-Help Author, Entrepreneur
I never really look for anything. What God throws my way comes. I wake up in the morning and whichever way God turns my feet, I go.
—Pearl Bailey (1918–1990) American Jazz Singer, Actress, Writer
No one ever went broke by saying no too often.
—Harvey Mackay (b.1932) American Businessman, Columnist, Author
I believe that uncertainty is really my spirit’s way of whispering, I’m in flux. I can’t decide for you. Something is off-balance here.”
—Oprah Winfrey (b.1954) American TV Personality
Who gets to decide what you want?
—Seth Godin (b.1960) American Entrepreneur
What we call the secret of happiness is no more a secret than our willingness to choose life.
—Leo Buscaglia (1924–98) American Motivational Speaker