We must not inquire too curiously into motives. They are apt to become feeble in the utterance: the aroma is mixed with the grosser air. We must keep the germinating grain away from the light.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
Motivation is the fuel necessary to keep the human engine running.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Florentine Political Philosopher
Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader
There are only two forces that unite men—fear and interest.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
To have a grievance is to have a purpose in life.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
Hope is the anchor of the soul the stimulus to action and the incentive to achievement.
—Unknown
The virtues and vices are all put in motion by interest.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
The desire of reward is one of the strongest incentives of human conduct; … the best security for the fidelity of mankind is to make their interest coincide with their duty.
—Alexander Hamilton (c.1757–1804) American Federalist Politician, Statesman
It is for the superfluous things of life that men sweat.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Acting was a way out at first. A way out of not knowing what to do, a way of focusing ambitions. And the ambition wasn’t for fame. The ambition was to do an interesting job.
—Harrison Ford (b.1942) American Actor
Great men undertake great things because they are great; and fools because they think them easy.
—Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues (1715–47) French Moralist, Essayist, Writer
One of the reasons it has seemed so difficult for a person to change his habits, his personality, or his way of life, has been that heretofore nearly all efforts at change have been directed to the circumference of the self, so to speak, rather than to the center.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
The momentum of continuous action fuels motivation, while procrastination kills motivation.
—Steve Pavlina (b.1971) American Motivational Speaker
A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
We can do whatever we wish to do provided our wish is strong enough. But the tremendous effort needed – one doesn’t always want to make it – does one? … But what else can be done? What’s the alternative? What do you want most to do? That’s what I have to keep asking myself, in the face of difficulties.
—Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923) New Zealand-born British Author
We are motivated by a keen desire for praise, and the better a man is the more he is inspired by glory. The very philosophers themselves, even in those books which they write in contempt of glory, inscribe their names.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
One of the strongest characteristics of genius is the power of lighting its own fire.
—John W. Foster
I usually need a can of beer to prime me.
—Norman Mailer (1923–2007) American Novelist Essayist
No one does anything from a single motive.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
We should often have reason to be ashamed of our most brilliant actions if the world could see the motives from which they spring.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
The greatest efforts of the race have always been traceable to the love of praise, as the greatest catastrophes to the love of pleasure.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
Poverty, frost, famine, rain, disease, are the beadles and guardsmen that hold us to common sense.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Wealth … and poverty: the one is the parent of luxury and indolence, and the other of meanness and viciousness, and both of discontent.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
To sink a six-foot putt with thirty million people looking over your shoulder, convince yourself that, if you miss it, you will be embarrassed and poor.
—Jack Nicklaus (b.1940) American Sportsperson
Necessity is the mother of taking chances.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
What comes from the heart, goes to the heart.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
The best morale exists when you never hear the word mentioned. When you hear a lot of talk about it, it’s usually lousy.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader
We know nothing about motivation. All we can do is write books about it.
—Peter Drucker (1909–2005) Austrian-born Management Consultant
There is nothing that fear and hope does not permit men to do.
—Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues (1715–47) French Moralist, Essayist, Writer