Very few men are wise by their own counsel, or learned by their own teaching; for he that was only taught by himself had a fool as his master.
—Ben Jonson (1572–1637) English Dramatist, Poet, Actor
The engineering is secondary to the vision.
—Cynthia Ozick (b.1928) American Novelist, Short-story Writer, Essayist
The best way to predict the future is to create it.
—Peter Drucker (1909–2005) Austrian-born Management Consultant
For those who have seen the earth from space, and for the hundreds and perhaps thousands more who will, the experience most certainly changes your perspective. The things that we share in our world are far more valuable than those which divide us.
—Donald E. Williams
The spiritual force transcends all.—I feel this great creative and spiritual force within me that is greater than faith, greater than ambition, greater than confidence, greater than determination, greater than vision. It is all these combined. My brain becomes magnetized with this dominating force which I hold in my hand.
—Bruce Lee (1940–73) American Martial Artist, Actor, Philosopher
The moment of enlightenment is when a person’s dreams of possibilities become images of probabilities.
—Vic Braden (b.1929) American Sportsperson, Author
Vision looks inward and becomes duty.
Vision looks outward and becomes aspiration.
Vision looks upward and becomes faith.
—Stephen Samuel Wise (1874–1949) American Jewish Rabbi
If you aren’t passionate about a vision, it’s hard to have faith in it.
—Russell Simmons (b.1957) American Music Promoter
We are limited, not by our abilities, but by our vision.
—Anonymous
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
You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
People who cannot invent and reinvent themselves must be content with borrowed postures, secondhand ideas, fitting in instead of standing out.
—Warren Bennis (1925–2014) American Business Academic, Author
The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.
—Robertson Davies (1913–95) Canadian Novelist, Playwright, Essayist
We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Inside yourself or outside, you never have to change what you see, only the way you see it.
—Thaddeus Golas (1924–97) American New Age Writer
Lycurgus, Numa, Moses, Jesus Christ, Mohammed, all these great rogues, all these great thought-tyrants, knew how to associate the divinities they fabricated with their own boundless ambition.
—Marquis de Sade (1740–1814) French Political leader, Revolutionary, Novelist, Poet, Critic
I don’t believe that people create their own visions. Rather, I believe that visions are actually God’s way of communicating with us.
—Russell Simmons (b.1957) American Music Promoter
I was once ask if a big business man ever reached his objective. I replied that if a man ever reached his objective he was not a big business man.
—Charles M. Schwab (1862–1939) American Businessperson
There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but the view is always the same.
—Chinese Proverb
Most of us have jobs that are too small for our spirits.
—Studs Terkel (1912–2008) American Author, Oral Historian
The business of a seer is to see; and if he involves himself in the kind of God-eclipsing activities which make seeing impossible, he betrays the trust which his fellows have tacitly placed in him.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist
What we see depends mainly on what we look for.
—John Lubbock (1834–1913) English Politician, Biologist
Envisioning the end is enough to put the means in motion.
—Dorothea Brande (1893–1948) American Writer, Editor
It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of personkind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely.
—Leo Buscaglia (1924–98) American Motivational Speaker
The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.
—Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle) (1783–1842) French Writer
Worse than being blind would be to be able to see but not have any vision.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn’t mean he lacks vision.
—Stevie Wonder (b.1950) American Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Activist
Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye.
—H. Jackson Brown, Jr. (b.1940) American Self-Help Author
Leadership is the wise use of power. Power is the capacity to translate intention into reality and sustain it.
—Warren Bennis (1925–2014) American Business Academic, Author
You can vitally influence your life from within by auto-suggestion. The first thing each morning, and the last thing each night, suggest to yourself specific ideas that you wish to embody in your character and personality. Address such suggestions to yourself, silently or aloud, until they are deeply impressed upon your mind.
—Grenville Kleiser (1868–1935) Canadian Author
The most common commodity in this country is unrealized potential.
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) American Head of State, Lawyer
Our grand business undoubtedly is, not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
When there is no vision, a people perish.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The ultimate function of prophecy is not to tell the future, but to make it. Your successful past will block your visions of the future.
—Joel A. Barker
Three levels of organizational vision: 1. The Do-able 2. The Conceivable 3. The Previously Unthinkable.
—Indian Proverb
What I need is someone who will make me do what I can.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
If I have seen farther than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.
—Isaac Newton (1643–1727) English Physicist, Mathematician, Astronomer, Theologian
The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.
—James Lane Allen (1849–1925) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
The size of your accomplishments, the quality of your achievement, will depend very largely on how big a man you see in yourself, what sort of image you get of your possible self, yourself at your best.
—Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
We cannot rise higher than our thought of ourselves.
—Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.
—Thucydides (c.455?c.400 BCE) Greek Historian
The soul never thinks without a mental picture.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
When I care to be powerful—to use my strength in the service of my vision—then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.
—Audre Lorde (1934–92) American Poet, Activist
Learn to see, and then you’ll know that there is no end to the new worlds of our vision.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.
—Louisa May Alcott (1832–88) American Novelist
The moment there is suspicion about a person’s motives, everything he does becomes tainted.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
I am different from Washington; I have a higher, grander standard of principle. Washington could not lie. I can lie, but I won’t.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
A genius is one who shoots at something no one else can see—and hits it.
—Unknown
If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember this whole thing was started by a mouse.
—Walt Disney (1901–66) American Entrepreneur
I dream my painting and paint my dream.
—Vincent van Gogh (1853–90) Dutch Painter