There are two levers for moving men—interest and fear.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
I usually need a can of beer to prime me.
—Norman Mailer (1923–2007) American Novelist Essayist
I have always been pushed by the negative. The apparent failure of a play sends me back to my typewriter that very night, before the reviews are out. I am more compelled to get back to work than if I had a success.
—Tennessee Williams (1911–83) American Playwright
Whatever touches the nerves of motive, whatever shifts man’s moral position, is mightier than steam, or caloric, or lightning.
—Edwin Hubbell Chapin (1814–80) American Preacher, Poet
You cannot raise a man up by calling him down.
—William J. H. Boetcker (1873–1962) American Presbyterian Minister
People often say motivation doesn’t last. Neither does bathing—that’s why we recommend it daily.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
It’s not my job to motivate players. They bring extraordinary motivation to our program. It’s my job not to de-motivate them.
—Lou Holtz (1893–1980) American Stage Performer
It is not the horse that draws the cart, but the oats.
—Russian Proverb
If you do not wish a man to do a thing, you had better get him to talk about it; for the more men talk, the more likely they are to do nothing else.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results.
—Anonymous
You must rouse into people’s consciousness their own prudence and strength, if you want to raise their character.
—Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues (1715–47) French Moralist, Essayist, Writer
When the leader passes over all alike, not making a distinction, then the endeavors of those who are capable of exertion are entirely lost.
—The Hitopadesha Indian Collection of Fables
Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals and charge after them in an unstoppable manner.
—Les Brown
There’s always the motivation of wanting to win. Everybody has that. But a champion needs, in his attitude, a motivation above and beyond winning.
—Pat Riley (b.1945) American Basketball Player, Coach
Am I motivated by what I really want out of life—or am I mass-motivated?
—Earl Nightingale (1921–89) American Motivational Speaker, Author
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.” … You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
It is in human nature to relax, when not compelled by personal advantage or disadvantage.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
I’ve always felt it was not up to anyone else to make me give my best.
—Hakeem Olajuwon (b.1963) Nigerian-American Athlete
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
Avoiding the phrase ‘I don’t have time…’, will soon help you to realize that you do have the time needed for just about anything you choose to accomplish in life.
—Bo Bennett (b.1972) American Psychologist, Author
It’s simpler and easier to flatter people than to praise them.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Philosopher
Nobody motivates today’s workers. If it doesn’t come from within, it doesn’t come. Fun helps remove the barriers that allow people to motivate themselves.
—Herman Cain (1945–2020) American Businessman
We talk on principal, but act on motivation.
—Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864) English Writer, Poet
Men who for truth and honor’s sake
Stand fast and suffer long.
Brave men who work while others sleep,
Who dare while others fly…
They build a nation’s pillars deep
And lift them to the sky.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
No one does anything from a single motive.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
Who is sure of their own motives can in confidence advance or retreat.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.
—Leo Rosten (1908–97) Polish-born American Humorist, Screenwriter, Writer
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
Don’t spur a willing horse.
—Common Proverb
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
Leave a Reply