The spiritual journey does not consist in arriving at a new destination where a person gains what he did not have, or becomes what he is not. It consists in the dissipation of one’s own ignorance concerning one’s self and life, and the gradual growth of that understanding which begins the spiritual awakening. The finding of God is a coming to one’s self.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist
Life doesn’t do anything to you. It only reveals your spirit.
—John C. Maxwell (b.1947) American Christian Professional Speaker, Author, Clergyman
The acorn becomes an oak by means of automatic growth; no commitment is necessary. The kitten similarly becomes a cat on the basis of instinct. Nature and being are identical in creatures like them. But a man or woman becomes fully human only by his or her choices and his or her commitment to them. People attain worth and dignity by the multitude of decisions they make from day by day. These decisions require courage.
—Rollo May (1909–94) American Philosopher
All men’s gains are the fruit of venturing.
—Herodotus (c.485–425 BCE) Ancient Greek Historian
I don’t think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter’s evening. Some of us let these dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; nurse them through bad days till they bring them to the sunshine and light which comes always to those who hope that their dreams will come true.
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) American Head of State
Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
—Chinese Proverb
I am a frayed and nibbled survivor in a fallen world, and I am getting along. I am aging and eaten and have done my share of eating too. I am not washed and beautiful, in control of a shining world in which everything fits, but instead am wondering awed about on a splintered wreck I’ve come to care for, whose gnawed trees breathe a delicate air, whose bloodied and scarred creatures are my dearest companions, and whose beauty bats and shines not in its imperfections but overwhelmingly in spite of them…
—Annie Dillard (b.1945) Essayist, Novelist, Poet, Naturalist, Mystic
You are built not to shrink down to less but to blossom into more.
—Oprah Winfrey (b.1954) American TV Personality
As we grow as unique persons, we learn to respect the uniqueness of others.
—Robert H. Schuller (1926–2015) American Christian Televangelist, Author
Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
In the end, it is the person you become, not the things you have achieved, that is the most important.
—Les Brown
A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.
—John C. Maxwell (b.1947) American Christian Professional Speaker, Author, Clergyman
There is no growth without discontent.
—Unknown
This discipline and rough treatment are a furnace to extract the silver from the dross. This testing purifies the gold by boiling the scum away.
—Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207–73) Persian Muslim Mystic
All that is human must retrograde if it does not advance.
—Edward Gibbon (1737–94) English Historian, Politician
Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get.
—H. Jackson Brown, Jr. (b.1940) American Self-Help Author
When a difficult situation comes into your life, it is possible to tune in to your mind and say, “Okay, choose”. Are you going to make yourself miserable or content? Are you going to visualize scarcity or abundance? Are you going to put yourself down for getting angry with your husband or are you simply going to notice what insecurity you were feeling at the time and discuss it with him? The choice is definitely yours. Pick the one that contributes most to your aliveness and growth.
—Susan Jeffers (1938–2012) American Psychologist, Self-Help Author
If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?
—Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207–73) Persian Muslim Mystic
Good timber does not grow with ease:
The stronger wind, the stronger trees.
—Douglas Malloch (1877–1938) American Poet, Short-story Writer
Climb mountains to see lowlands.
—Chinese Proverb
If his spirit is distorted he should simply fix it—purge it, make it perfect—because there is no other task in our entire lives which is more worthwhile … To seek the perfection of the warrior’s spirit is the only task worthy of our temporariness, our manhood.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
You don’t learn to hold your own in the world by standing on guard, but by attacking, and getting well-hammered yourself.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Everything will change. The only question is growing up or decaying.
—Nikki Giovanni (b.1943) American Poet, Writer, Activist, Educator
The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.
—Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan (1916–2004) British Sufi Mystic, Religious Leader, Psychologist
It takes courage to push yourself to places that you have never been before… to test your limits… to break through barriers. And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
—Anais Nin (1903–77) French-American Essayist
It is easier to appear worthy of a position one does not hold, than of the office which one fills.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
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
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