Inspirational Quotations on Great

The greatest happiness that you can have is knowing that you do not necessarily require happiness.
—William Saroyan (1908–81) American Playwright, Novelist

You are already one with God; you want to become consciously aware of it.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author

What your heart thinks is great, is great. The soul’s emphasis is always right.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher

Great performers welcome pressure.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic

Bill Russell is one of the great names in basketball, an all-American… and the only athlete to ever win an NCAA Championship, an Olympic Gold Medal, and a professional championship all in the same year—1956…But Bill Russell had this one problem: He threw up before every game.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic

Every one will be something worth while, something rare, something perfect.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author

If you will make the necessary effort you can develop any talent.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author

Wisdom is the essential basis of greatness.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author

You must learn to see the world as being produced by evolution; as a something which is evolving and becoming, not as a finished work.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author

Until one acknowledges the genius within oneself, one will have great difficulty recognizing it in others.
—David R. Hawkins (1927–2012) American Physician, Author

Fear is an instructor of great sagacity and the herald of revolutions. One thing he teaches, that there is rottenness where he appears.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher

Because all things are necessary to man’s complete unfoldment, all things in human life are the work of God.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author

Resolve that you will now lay aside all else and concentrate upon the attainment of conscious unity with God.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author

The really great man is often considered selfish by a large group of people who are connected with him and who feel that he might bestow upon them more benefits than he does.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author

You still indulge in distrustful fears that things will go wrong, or that people will betray you, or mistreat you; get above all of them.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author

When you see yourself connected to something bigger than yourself, you no longer feel you must do it all alone. Your sense of power becomes highly magnified, and your fears are greatly diminished.
—Susan Jeffers (1938–2012) American Psychologist, Self-Help Author

Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre minds. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist

Any picture firmly held in any mind, in any form, is bound to come forth. That is the great, unchanging universal law that, when we cooperate with it intelligently, makes us absolute masters of the conditions and situations in our lives.
—Roger McDonald (b.1941) Australian Novelist, Poet, Screenwriter

We need to teach the highly educated man that it is not a disgrace to fail and that he must analyze every failure to find its cause. He must learn how to fail intelligently, for failing is one of the greatest arts in the world.
—Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American Inventor, Entrepreneur, Businessperson

When God lets loose a great thinker on this planet, then all things are at risk. There is not a piece of science but its flank may be turned tomorrow; nor any literary reputation or the so-called eternal names of fame that may not be refused and condemned.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher

My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State

Every man comes into the world with a predisposition to grow along certain lines, and growth is easier for him along those lines than in any other way.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author

There exists a special self which takes every event as if it were the very thing you wanted to happen. That self is the Supermind, which is never upset by anything. Your goal is to nourish it into greater strength. Then, every step is sunlit.
—Vernon Howard (1918–92) American Author, Philosopher

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

Great performers in all fields seem immune to what outsiders think about them. Their sense of themselves never depends on the feedback—positive or negative—they get from the environment.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic

Great performers are, by definition, abnormal; they strive throughout their entire careers to separate themselves from the pack.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.
—William Arthur Ward (1921–94) American Author

Do not try to convert others to your point of view, except by holding it and living accordingly.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author

Do not pay too much attention to the advice or suggestions of those around you.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author

Each of us in our own way can try to spread compassion into people’s hearts. Western civilizations these days place great importance on filling the human “brain” with knowledge, but no one seems to care about filling the human “heart” with compassion. This is what the real role of religion is.
—The 14th Dalai Lama (b.1935) Tibetan Buddhist Leader, Civil Rights Advocate, Author