The more you struggle to live, the less you live. Give up the notion that you must be sure of what you are doing. Instead, surrender to what is real within you, for that alone is sure. As stars high above earth, you are above everything distressing. But you must awaken to it. Wake up!
—Baruch Spinoza (1632–77) Dutch Philosopher, Theologian
To do is to be.
—Socrates (469BCE–399BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
After you’ve been doing inquiry for a while, if you have the thought “She doesn’t love me,” you just get the immediate turnaround with a smile: “Oh, I’m not loving myself in this moment”.
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
A cheery relaxation is man’s natural state, just as nature itself is relaxed. A waterfall is concerned only with being itself, not with doing something it considers waterfall-like.
—Vernon Howard (1918–92) American Author, Philosopher
When you’re operating on uninvestigated theories of what’s going on and you aren’t even aware of it, you’re in what I call “the dream”. Often the dream becomes troubling; sometimes it even turns into a nightmare. At times like these, you may want to test the truth of your theories by doing The Work on them. The Work always leaves you with less of your uncomfortable story. Who would you be without it? How much of your world is made up of unexamined stories? You’ll never know until you inquire.
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
To be is to do.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
An acre of performance is worth the whole world of promise.
—Jeremiah Brown Howell
If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
Contrary to what most of us believe, happiness does not simply happen to us. It’s something that we make happen, and it results from doing our best. Feeling fulfilled when we live up to our potentialities is what motivates differentiation and leads to evolution.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934–2021) Hungarian-American Psychologist
Men do less than they ought, unless they do all that they can.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
In utter loneliness a writer tries to explain the inexplainable… The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true.
—John Steinbeck (1902–68) American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Journalist
Cast out pride and vanity; have no thought of trying to rule over others or of outdoing them.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author
Well done is better than well said.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
This work somehow awakened my dormant powers of will and I began to practice self-control. At first my resolutions faded like snow in April, but in a little while I conquered my weakness and felt a pleasure I never knew before—that of doing as I willed.
—Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) Serbian-American Electrical Engineer, Inventor
Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it…that is the quickest and surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
Do to others as you would have others do to you, inspires all men with that other maxim of natural goodness a great deal less perfect, but perhaps more useful: Do good to yourself with as little prejudice as you can to others.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
No man needs sympathy because he has to work. Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Historian, Political Leader, Explorer
What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.
—Tim Ferriss (b.1977) American Self-help Author
Believe it or not, it is not only possible to accomplish more by doing less, it is mandatory. Enter the world of elimination.
—Tim Ferriss (b.1977) American Self-help Author
Success follows doing what you want to do. There is no other way to be successful.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
It takes less time to do a thing right, than it does to explain why you did it wrong.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
The most effective way I know to begin with the end in mind is to develop a personal mission statement or philosophy or creed. It focused on what you want to be (character) and to do (contributions and achievements) and on the values or principles upon which being and doing are based.
—Stephen Covey (1932–2012) American Self-help Author
I think every person should be able to enjoy life. Try to decide what you most enjoy doing, and then look around to see if there is a job for which you could prepare yourself that would enable you to continue having this sort of joy.
—Linus Pauling (1901–94) American Scientist, Peace Activist
Taking responsibility means never blaming anyone else for anything you are being, doing, having, or feeling.
—Susan Jeffers (1938–2012) American Psychologist, Self-Help Author
Anything that we have to learn we learn by the actual doing of it… we become just by performing just acts, temperate by performing temperate ones, brave by performing brave ones.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Where you are is of no moment, but only what you are doing there. It is not the place that ennobles you, but you the place; and this only by doing that which is great and noble.
—Petrarch (1304–74) Italian Scholar, Poet, Humanist
Do as you would be done by, is the surest method of pleasing.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
To excel means to reach beyond the best you have ever given because doing so matters to you personally, for its own sake. It means to run your own race—as an individual, team, or organization. To excel is to know your greatest strengths and passions, and to emphasize them while honestly admitting and managing your weaknesses.
—Robert K. Cooper (b.1957) American Author, Psychologist
The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time.
—Richard Cecil
I’ve always believed in magic. When I wasn’t doing anything in this town, I’d go up every night, sit on Mulholland Drive, look out at the city, stretch out my arms, and say, “Everybody wants to work with me. I’m a really good actor. I have all kinds of great movie offers”. I’d just repeat these things over and over, literally convincing myself that I had a couple movies lined up. I’d drive down that hill, ready to take the world on, going, “Movie offers are out there for me, I just don’t hear them yet”. It was like total affirmations, antidotes to the stuff that stems from my family background.
—Jim Carrey (b.1962) Canadian Actor, Comedian, Producer
Leave a Reply