We know what we are, but know not what we may be.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
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
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
Oh who can tell the range of joy or set the bounds of beauty?
—Sara Teasdale (1884–1933) American Poet
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
Our being is subject to all the chances of life. There are so many things we are capable of, that we could be or do. The potentialities are so great that we never, any of us, are more than one-fourth fulfilled.
—Katherine Anne Porter (1890–1980) American Short-Story Writer, Novelist
Of course we all have our limits, but how can you possibly find your boundaries unless you explore as far and as wide as you possibly can? I would rather fail in an attempt at something new and uncharted than safely succeed in a repeat of something I have done.
—A. E. Hotchner (1917–2020) American Author, Playwright
Our aspirations are our possibilities.
—Sarah Ban Breathnach (b.1947) American Self-help Author
O, do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men! Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks! Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle. But you shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself, at the richness of life which has come to you by the grace of God.
—Phillips Brooks (1835–93) American Episcopal Clergyman, Author
For he was likely, had he been put on, to have proved most royally.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
The biggest defect we human beings have is our short-sightedness. We don’t see what we could be. We should be looking at our potential, stretching ourselves into everything we can become.
—Mitch Albom (b.1958) American Sports Journalist
The things you want are always possible; it is just that the way to get them is not always apparent. The only real obstacle in your path to a fulfilling life is you, and that can be a considerable obstacle because you carry the baggage of insecurities and past experience.
—Les Brown
It takes great goals to lead us out of our everyday limits into accomplishing more than we ever thought we could or would.
—Robert K. Cooper (b.1957) American Author, Psychologist
Look at things… as they can be.
—David J. Schwartz (1927–87) American Self-help Author
As one studies these preconditions, one becomes saddened by the ease with which human potentiality can be destroyed or repressed, so that a fully-human person can seem like a miracle, so improbable a happening as to be awe-inspiring. And simultaneously one is heartened by the fact that self-actualizing persons do in fact exist, that they are therefore possible, that the gauntlet of dangers can be run, that the finish line can be crossed.
—Abraham Maslow (1908–70) American Psychologist, Academic, Humanist
Questions provide the key to unlocking our unlimited potential.
—Tony Robbins (b.1960) American Self-Help Author, Entrepreneur
Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they’re yours.
—Richard Bach (b.1936) American Writer, Aviator
Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Everyone’s got it in him, if he’ll only make up his mind and stick at it. None of us is born with a stop-valve on his powers or with a set limit to his capacities, There’s no limit possible to the expansion of each one of us.
—Charles M. Schwab (1862–1939) American Businessperson
It is heartening to realize that although we may crave comfort and routine, we nourish the soul’s growth primarily through what is hard. As Darwin saw it, it’s not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but those who are most responsive to change.
—Robert K. Cooper (b.1957) American Author, Psychologist
I only wish that ordinary people had an unlimited capacity for doing harm; then they might have an unlimited power for doing good.
—Socrates (469BCE–399BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. Which of the two has the grander view?
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
Whenever two people meet there are really six people present. There is each man as he sees himself, each man as the other person sees him, and each man as he really is.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
And what is the potential man, after all? Is he not the sum of all that is human? Divine, in other words?
—Henry Miller (1891–1980) American Novelist
Anything that has been accomplished by any other human being in the physical realm is within the field of possibility.
—Wayne Dyer (1940–2015) American Self-Help Author
Yes, there are times when the gold medal only goes to the winner. But not in the race of life, where the winners are those who are superior not to others but to their former selves.
—Robert K. Cooper (b.1957) American Author, Psychologist
Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you’ll be able to see farther.
—J. P. Morgan (1837–1913) American Financier, Philanthropist, Art Collector
It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you use that makes a difference.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
Are you closer right now to where you want to be than you were a half-hour ago?
—Robert K. Cooper (b.1957) American Author, Psychologist
What’s right about America is that although we have a mess of problems, we have great capacity – intellect and resources – to do something about them.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
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