There’s no limit to what a man can achieve, if he doesn’t care who gets the credit.
—J. Laing Burns, Jr.
A threefold cord is not quickly broken.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
There are two ways of exerting one’s strength; one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.
—Booker T. Washington (1856–1915) African-American Educationist
Success means accomplishments as the result of our own efforts and abilities. Proper preparation is the key to our success. Our acts can be no wiser than our thoughts. Our thinking can be no wiser than our understanding.
—George Samuel Clason (1874–1957) American Businessperson, Author
Strong men can always afford to be gentle. Only the weak are intent on “giving as good as they get.”
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
Gentleness corrects whatever is offensive in our manner.
—Hugh Blair (1718–1800) Scottish Preacher, Scholar, Critic
Nature is upheld by antagonism.—Passions, resistance, danger, are educators. We acquire the strength we have overcome.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The important thing to recognize is that it takes a team, and the team ought to get credit for the wins and the losses. Successes have many fathers, failures have none.
—Philip Caldwell (b.1920) American Businessperson
Don’t show off every day, or you’ll stop surprising people. There must always be some novelty left over. The person who displays a little more of it each day keep up expectations, and no one ever discovers the limits of his talents.
—Baltasar Gracian (1601–58) Spanish Scholar, Prose Writer
Strength instead of being the lusty child of passion, grows by grappling with and subduing them.
—J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) Scottish Novelist, Dramatist
We live in a wondrous time in which the strong is weak because of his moral scruples and the weak grows strong because of his audacity.
—Otto von Bismarck (1815–98) German Chancellor, Prime Minister
The great successful men of the world have used their imagination…they think ahead and create their mental picture in all its details, filling in here, adding a little there, altering this a bit and that a bit, but steadily building – steadily building.
—Robert Collier (1885–1950) American Self-Help Author
Our real problem, then, is not our strength today; it is rather the vital necessity of action today to ensure our strength tomorrow.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader
The toughest thing about success is that you’ve got to keep on being a success. Talent is only a starting point in business. You’ve got to keep working that talent.
—Irving Berlin (1888–1989) American Songwriter, Composer
History records the successes of men with objectives and a sense of direction. Oblivion is the position of small men overwhelmed by obstacles.
—William H. Danforth (1870–1955) American Businessman
Responsibility of any kind can seem intimidating and for this reason man may often be afraid of truly deep relationships with other human beings. A relationship suggests to him the most extreme of responsibilities. It implies a burden, a restriction of freedom, seldom the converse. A student in love class, for instance, commented, “I’ve always been afraid of deep relationship because of the responsibility it seemed to impose. I was afraid of the demands it would make of me and I worried I wouldn’t be able to meet those demands. I was amazed to find that when I did get the courage to form a relationship, I actually became stronger. I acquired two minds instead of one, four hands, four arms, four legs, and another’s world. In joining forces with someone, I got twice the strength to grow, with twice as many alternatives. Now it’s easier for me to love others. I am stronger and I am less afraid”. He had discovered an important insight.
—Leo Buscaglia (1924–98) American Motivational Speaker
New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.
—John Locke (1632–1704) English Philosopher, Physician
Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.
—Arnold Schwarzenegger (b.1947) Austrian-American Athlete, Actor, Politician
A fundamental mistake to call vehemence and rigidity strength! A man is not strong who takes convulsion-fits; though six men cannot hold him then. He that can walk under the heaviest weight without staggering, he is the strong man … A man who cannot hold his peace, till the time come for speaking and acting, is no right man.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Anyone who proposes to do good must not expect people to roll stones out of his way, but must accept his lot calmly if they even roll a few more on it. A strength which becomes clearer and stronger through experiences of such obstacles is the only strength that can conquer them. Resistance is only a waste of strength.
—Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French Theologian, Musician, Philosopher, Physician
No one is immune to pain, and it shouldn’t be denied when it exists. The key is to know that you can lead a productive and meaningful life no matter what the external circumstances are. What positive thinking does is offer a power boost to help you handle whatever life throws at you. Your “bad breaks” do not dominate your life; your indomitable strength does. And when you feel that indomitable strength, you really can handle any of your fears from a position of power—the kind of power that really can make good things happen.
—Susan Jeffers (1938–2012) American Psychologist, Self-Help Author
When we are strong, we are always much greater than the things that happen to us.
—Thomas Merton (1915–68) American Trappist Monk
The worst bankrupt in the world is the man who has lost his enthusiasm. Let a man lose everything else in the world but his enthusiasm and he will come through again to success.
—William Howard Arnold
Gentleness is the antidote for cruelty.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
A man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he is born with — a man is what he makes of himself.
—Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922) Scottish-born American Inventor, Engineer, Academic
Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.
—Arthur Ashe (1943–93) American Tennis Player
Failure is success if we learn from it.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
Personal development is your springboard to personal excellence. Ongoing, continuous, non-stop personal development literally assures you that there is no limit to what you can accomplish.
—Brian Tracy (b.1944) American Author, Motivational Speaker
The people rate strength before everything.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
I think what weakens people most is fear of wasting their strength.
—Etty Hillesum (1914–43) Jewish Diarist
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