An old colored brother is said to have finished his prayer with words like these: and now good Lord; I know that you ain’t going to let nothing come to me that me and you together can’t handle.
—Unknown
Independent of others and in concert with others, your main task in life is to do what you can best do and become what you can potentially be.
—Erich Fromm (1900–80) German-American Psychoanalyst, Social Philosopher
If any organism fails to fulfill its potentialities, it becomes sick.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
Culture is the process by which a person becomes all that they were created capable of being.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Sometimes I think we’re alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we’re not. In either case the idea is quite staggering
—Abraham Maslow (1908–70) American Psychologist, Academic, Humanist
The cynic says, “One man can’t do anything.” I say, “Only one man can do anything.”
—John W. Gardner (1912–2002) American Activist
The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
For the wise man looks into space and he knows there is no limited dimensions.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
Every moment of our lives we are either growing or dying—and it’s largely a choice, not fate. Throughout its life cycle, every one of the body’s trillions of cells is driven to grow and improve its ability to use more of its innate yet untapped capacity. Research biologist Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, who was twice awarded the Nobel Prize, called this syntropy, which he defined as the “innate drive in living matter to perfect itself”. It turns conventional thinking upside down…As living cells—or as people—there is no staying the same. If we aim for some middle ground or status quo, it’s an illusion—beneath the surface what’s actually happening is we’re dying, not growing. And the goal of a lifetime is continued growth, not adulthood. As Rene Dubos put it, “Genius is childhood recaptured”. For this to happen, studies show that we must recapture—or prevent the loss of—such child-like traits as the ability to learn, to love, to laugh about small things, to leap, to wonder, and to explore. It’s time to rescue ourselves from our grown-up ways before it’s too late.
—Robert Cooper (b.1947) British Diplomat
We are not in a position in which we have nothing to work with. We already have capacities, talents, direction, missions, callings.
—Abraham Maslow (1908–70) American Psychologist, Academic, Humanist
She didn’t know it couldn’t be done, so she went ahead and did it.
—Unknown
Contrary to what most of us believe, happiness does not simply happen to us. It’s something that we make happen, and it results from doing our best. Feeling fulfilled when we live up to our potentialities is what motivates differentiation and leads to evolution.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934–2021) Hungarian-American Psychologist
We never know how high we are till we are called to rise. And then, if we are true to plan, our statures touch the skies.
—Emily Dickinson (1830–86) American Poet
Wonder if there is life on another planet? Let’s suppose there is. Suppose further, that only one star in a trillion has a planet that could support life. If that were the case, then there would be at least 100 million planets that harbored life.
—Ben Sweetland
When a man has put a limit on what he will do, he has put a limit on what he can do.
—Charles M. Schwab (1862–1939) American Businessperson
Rich people see opportunities. Poor people see obstacles. Rich people see potential growth. Poor people see potential loss. Rich people focus on rewards. Poor focus on the risks.
—T. Harv Eker (b.1954) American Motivational Speaker, Lecturer, Author
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And what is it to cease breathing but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
Real life is, to most men, a long second-best, a perpetual compromise between the ideal and the possible; but the world of pure reason knows no compromise, no practical limitations, no barrier to the creative activity.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
It is impossible to underrate human intelligence—beginning with one’s own.
—Henry Adams (1838–1918) American Historian, Man of Letters
A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done.
—Vince Lombardi, Jr. (1913–70) American Football Player, Coach
I cannot discover that anyone knows enough to say definitely what is and what is not possible.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
It is very dangerous to go into eternity with possibilities which one has oneself prevented from becoming realities. A possibility is a hint from God. One must follow it.
—Soren Kierkegaard (1813–55) Danish Philosopher, Theologian
I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can’t be done. If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!
—Soren Kierkegaard (1813–55) Danish Philosopher, Theologian
We all have the extraordinary coded within us… waiting to be released.
—Jean Houston (b.1937) American New Thought Author, Speaker
Look and you will find it—what is unsought will go undetected.
—Sophocles (495–405 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
Start viewing the possible as probable. You’ll be surprised at what you can accomplish.
—Unknown
I believe that every human being is potentially capable within his ‘limits’ of fully ‘realizing’ his potentialities; that this, his being cheated and choked of it, is infinitely the ghastliest, commonest, and most inclusive of all the crimes of which the human world can assure itself.
—James Agee (1909–55) American Journalist, Poet, Screenwriter, Film Critic
No matter how far a person can go the horizon is still way beyond you.
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) American Novelist
We have more than we use.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher