Aim at perfection in everything, though in most things it is unattainable; however, they who aim at it, and persevere, will come much nearer to it, than those whose laziness and despondency make them give it up as unattainable.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I’ll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I’ll give you a stock clerk.
—James Cash Penney (1875–1971) American Entrepreneur
Hitch your wagon to a star. Let us not fag in paltry works which serve our pot and bag alone.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Your life can’t go according to plan if you have no plan.
—Unknown
Goals provide the energy source that powers our lives. One of the best ways we can get the most from the energy we have is to focus it. That is what goals can do for us; concentrate our energy.
—Denis Waitley (b.1933) American Motivational Speaker, Author
Ambition is but the evil shadow of aspiration.
—George MacDonald (1824–1905) Scottish Novelist, Lecturer, Poet
When we have passed beyond individualising, then we shall be real Persons. Ego was the helper; Ego is the bar.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
A distracted existence leads us to no goal.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
He who wants to do everything will never do anything.
—Andre Maurois (1885–1967) French Novelist, Biographer
When you catch what you’re after, it’s gone.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
If you raise your children to feel that they can accomplish any goal or task they decide upon, you will have succeeded as a parent and you will have given your children the greatest of all blessings.
—Brian Tracy (b.1944) American Author, Motivational Speaker
Nothing interferes with my concentration. You could put on an orgy in my office and I wouldn’t look up. Well, maybe once.
—Isaac Asimov (1920–92) Russian-born American Writer, Scientist
If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it; every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
He turns not back who is bound to a star.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
Our strength lies, not alone in our proving grounds and our stockpiles, but in our ideals, our goals, and their universal appeal to all men who are struggling to breathe free.
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–65) American Diplomat, Politician, Orator
The timid and fearful first failures dismay,
but the stout heart stays trying by night and by day.
He values his failures as lessons that teach
The one way to get to the goal he would reach.
—Edgar Guest (1881–1959) English-born American Poet, Radio Personality, TV Personality
Please don’t nag yourself with thoughts of failure. Do not set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. Simply do what you can do, in the best way you know, and the Lord will accept of your effort.
—Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) American Mormon Religious Leader
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
—Jack London (1876–1916) American Novelist
A useless life only is an early death.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Usually obstacles are the things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.
—Hannah More
Men, like nails, lose their usefulness when they lose direction and begin to bend.
—Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864) English Writer, Poet
Slight not what’s near through aiming at what’s far.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
Committing your goals to paper increases the likelihood of your achieving them by one-thousand percent!
—Brian Tracy (b.1944) American Author, Motivational Speaker
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
You can’t hit a target you cannot see, and you cannot see a target you do not have.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
The highest principles for our aspirations and judgements are given to us in the Jewish-Christian religious tradition. It is a very high goal which, with our weak powers, we can reach only very inadequately, but which gives a sure foundation to our aspirations and valuations.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
Your automatic creative mechanism is teleological. That is, it operates in terms of goals and end results. Once you give it a definite goal to achieve, you can depend upon its automatic guidance system to take you to that goal much better than “you” ever could by conscious thought. “You” supply the goal by thinking in terms of end results. Your automatic mechanism then supplies the means whereby.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
What by a straight path cannot be reached by crooked ways is never won.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Your goals are the road maps that guide you and show you what is possible for your life.
—Les Brown
Impossibility is only a sum of greater unrealised possibles. It veils an advanced stage and a yet unaccomplished journey.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet