Think of only three things: your God, your family and the Green Bay Packers—in that order.
—Vince Lombardi (1913–70) American Football Coach
Act so as to elicit the best in others and thereby in thyself.
—Felix Adler (1851–1933) German-Born American Philosopher
The confidence we have in ourselves arises in a great measure from that which we have in others.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
Misery is almost always the result of thinking.
—Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) French Writer, Moralist
God will help you if you try, and you can if you think you can.
—Anna Delaney Peale (1875–1939) American Author
How things look on the outside of us depends on how things are on the inside of us. Stay close to the heart of nature and forget this troubled world. Remember, there is nothing wrong with nature; the trouble is in ourselves.
—Parks Cousins
Circumstances—what are circumstances? I make circumstances.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts, therefore guard accordingly, and take care, that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
Of course all life is a process of breaking down, but the blows that do the dramatic side of the work – the big sudden blows that come, or seem to come, from outside – the ones you remember and blame things on and, in moments of weakness, tell your friends about, don’t show their effect all at once. There is another sort of blow that comes from within – that you don’t feel until it’s too late to do anything about it, until you realize with finality that in some regard you will never be as good a man again. The first sort of breakage seems to happen quick – the second kind happens almost without your knowing it but is realized suddenly indeed. Before I go on with this short history, let me make a general observation – the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) American Novelist
There are more defects in temperament than in the mind.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
He who has not faith in others shall find no faith in them.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
Knock the “t” off the “can’t”.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Man’s real life is happy, chiefly because he is ever expecting that it soon will be so.
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–49) American Poet
Our self-image strongly held essentially determines what we become.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
Every person in the world may not become a personage. But every person may become a personality. The happiest people are those who think the most interesting thoughts. Interesting thoughts can live only in cultivated minds. Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development, who love good music, good books, good pictures, good plays at the theater, good company, good conversation-what are they? They are the happiest people in the world; and they are not only happy in themselves, they are the cause of happiness in others.
—William Lyon Phelps (1865–1943) American Author, Critic, Scholar
All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
—The Dhammapada Buddhist Anthology of Verses
I am happy and content because I think I am.
—Alain-Rene Lesage (1668–1747) French Novelist, Dramatist
Our minds can shape the way a thing will be because we act according to our expectations.
—Federico Fellini (1920–93) Italian Filmmaker
Honor begets honor, trust begets trust; faith begets faith; and hope is the mainspring of life.
—Henry L. Stimson (1867–1950) American Political leader, Military Leader, Lawyer
A man is a method, a progressive arrangement; a selecting principle, gathering his like unto him wherever he goes. What you are comes to you.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Clear your mind of ‘can’t”.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
We create our fate every day … most of the ills we suffer from are directly traceable to our own behavior.
—Henry Miller (1891–1980) American Novelist
I am dying, but otherwise quite well.
—Edith Sitwell (1887–1964) British Poet, Literary Critic
Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force, that thoughts rule the world.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Public opinion is a weak tyrant, compared with our private opinion – what a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, or rather indicates his fate.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
We have a problem. “Congratulations.” But it’s a tough problem. “Then double congratulations.”
—W. Clement Stone (1902–2002) American Self-help Guru, Entrepreneur
We may be pretty certain that persons whom all the world treats ill deserve the treatment they get. The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face. Frown at it, and it will in turn look sourly upon you; laugh at it and with it, and it is a jolly, kind companion; and so let all young persons take their choice.
—William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–63) English Novelist
Cynicism is intellectual dandyism.
—George Meredith (1828–1909) British Novelist, Poet, Critic
We awaken in others the same attitude of mind we hold toward them.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
Debt is a trap which man sets and baits himself, and then deliberately gets into.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer