Every time you wink the stars move.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Here is the basic rule for winning success. Let’s mark it in the mind and remember it. The rule is: Success depends on the support of other people. The only hurdle between you and what you want to be is the support of other people.
—David J. Schwartz (1927–87) American Self-help Author
I take rejection as someone blowing a bugle in my ear to wake me up and get going, rather than retreat.
—Sylvester Stallone (b.1946) American Actor, Screenwriter, Director
The purpose of life is not to win. The purpose of life is to grow and to share. When you come to look back on all that you have done in life, you will get more satisfaction from the pleasure you have brought into other people’s lives that you will from the times that you outdid and defeated them.
—Harold Kushner (b.1935) American Jewish Religious Leader, Priest
It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.
—Bear Bryant (1913–83) American Sportsperson
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
The greatest happiness that you can have is knowing that you do not necessarily require happiness.
—William Saroyan (1908–81) American Playwright, Novelist
The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.
—Edward Gibbon (1737–94) English Historian, Politician
Thinking is growth; we cannot think without growing.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author
The spirit of a warrior is not geared to indulging and complaining, nor is it geared to winning or losing. The spirit of a warrior is geared only to struggle, and every struggle is a warrior’s last battle on earth. Thus the outcome matters very little to him. In his last battle on earth a warrior lets his spirit flow free and clear. And as he wages his battle, knowing that his intent is impeccable, a warrior laughs and laughs.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater.
—Gail Godwin (b.1937) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches by means of opposites, so that you will have two wings to fly, not one.
—Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207–73) Persian Muslim Mystic
Warriors do not win victories by beating their heads against walls, but by overtaking the walls. Warriors jump over walls; they don’t demolish them.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
If you wait until the wind and the weather are just right, you will never plant anything and never harvest anything.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Be like the bird, who, feeling the branch break beneath him sings, knowing that he has wings.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
The downside, of course, is that over time religions become encrusted with precepts and ideas that are the antithesis of soul, as each faith tries to protect its doctrines and institution instead of nurturing the evolution of consciousness. If one is not careful to distinguish the genuine insights of a religion from its irrelevant accretions, one can go through life following an inappropriate moral compass.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934–2021) Hungarian-American Psychologist
In the fall, you don’t grieve because the leaves are falling and dying. You say, “Isn’t it beautiful!” Well, we’re the same way. There are seasons. We all fall sooner or later. It’s all so beautiful. And our concepts, without investigation, keep us from knowing this. It’s beautiful to be a leaf, to be born, to fall, to give way to the next, to become food for the roots. It’s life, always changing its form and always giving itself completely. We all do our part. No mistake.
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
Enjoyment, on the other hand, is not always pleasant, and it can be very stressful at times. A mountain climber, for example, may be close to freezing, utterly exhausted, and in danger of falling into a bottomless crevasse, yet he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Sipping a pina colada under a palm tree at the edge of the turquoise ocean is idyllic, but it just doesn’t compare to the exhilaration he feels on the windswept ridge.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934–2021) Hungarian-American Psychologist
If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably not wind up there.
—Movie: Forrest Gump
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain. And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy; And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields. And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.
—Larry Bird (b.1956) American Basketball Player
I realized that it’s insane to oppose it. When I argue with reality, I lose—but only 100% of the time. How do I know that the wind should blow? It’s blowing!
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Travelers, it is late. Life’s sun is going to set. During these brief days that you have strength, be quick and spare no effort of your wings.
—Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207–73) Persian Muslim Mystic
Eighty percent of success is showing up.
—James Allen (1864–1912) British Philosophical Writer
Don’t say, “I am depressed”. If you want to say, “It is depressed,” that’s all right. If you want to say that depression is there, that’s fine; if you want to say gloominess is there, that’s fine. But not: I am gloomy. You’re defining yourself in terms of the feeling. That’s your illusion; that’s your mistake. There is a depression there right now, but let it be, leave it alone. It will pass. Everything passes, everything. Your depressions and your thrills have nothing to do with happiness. Those are swings of the pendulum. If you seek kicks or thrills, get ready for depression. Do you want your drug? Get ready for the hangover. One end of the pendulum swings over to the other.
—Anthony de Mello (1931–87) Indian-born American Theologian
Let’s set the record straight. Money is important! To say that it’s not as important as any other things in life is ludicrous. What’s more important, your arm or your leg? Could it be that both are important?
—T. Harv Eker (b.1954) American Motivational Speaker, Lecturer, Author
Knowing and not doing are equal to not knowing at all.
—Unknown
Your life is a kind of laboratory where you’re constantly experimenting with your own higher knowing, always increasing your capacity to design the life you choose. Human beings must create; it’s hardwired. The question is, are you consciously creating or only sleepwalking through your human life?
—David Emerald
It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) American Military Leader
Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second. Give your dreams all you’ve got and you’ll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy. For if you break bread with indifference, you bake bitter bread that feeds but half a man’s hunger. And if you grudge the crushing of grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine. And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man’s ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon. And my ambition has been growing steadily ever since.
—Salvador Dali (1904–89) Spanish Painter
Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces up, snow is exhilarating; there is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
The key to every man is his thought. Sturdy and defying though he look, he has a helm which he obeys, which is the idea after which all his facts are classified. He can only be reformed by showing him a new idea which commands his own.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house; and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Jane Fonda, who divided her life into three acts, decided after her sixtieth birthday that she was now facing the final act, and came to the following conclusion: “I thought to myself, well if that’s the case and if what I’m scared of isn’t death, but getting to the end with regrets, then I’ve got to figure out what would be the things that I would regret when I got to the last act if I hadn’t done them or achieved them by then. And they were: having an intimate relationship and having made a difference”.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934–2021) Hungarian-American Psychologist
The will to prepare is more important that the will to win.
—LaVell Edwards (1930–2016) American College Football Coach
The world belongs to those who don’t let anxiety about screwing up keep them from moving forward.
—Unknown
Whenever you feel uncomfortable, instead of retreating back into your old comfort zone, pat yourself on the back and say, “I must be growing,” and continue moving forward.
—T. Harv Eker (b.1954) American Motivational Speaker, Lecturer, Author
Suppose you were to come upon someone in the woods working feverishly to saw down a tree. “What are you doing?” you ask. “Can’t you see?” comes the impatient reply. “I’m sawing down this tree”. “You look exhausted!” you exclaim. “How long have you been at it?” “Over five hours,” he returns, “and I’m beat! This is hard work”. “Well, why don’t you take a break for a few minutes and sharpen that saw?” you inquire. “I’m sure it would go a lot faster”. “I don’t have time to sharpen the saw,” the man says emphatically. “I’m too busy sawing!”
—Stephen Covey (1932–2012) American Self-help Author
I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot…And I missed. And I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is precisely…Why I succeed.
—Michael Jordan (b.1963) American Sportsperson, Businessperson
You must take personal responsibility.
You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons,
or the wind, but you can change yourself.
That is something you have charge of.
You don’t have charge of the constellations,
but you do have charge of whether you read,
develop new skills, and take new classes.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
To conquer without risk is to triumph without glory.
—Pierre Corneille (1606–84) French Poet, Dramatist
Too many of those with unrealized aspirations have set them aside due to fear of failure. The bigger the dream, the greater the fear. Doing less than our best allays this fear. I could have done better if I’d tried, we assure ourselves. Among the least appreciated reasons for doing superficial, second-rate work of any kind is the comfort of knowing it’s not our best that’s on the line. By not trying too hard, we avoid learning what our true potential is, and having to fulfill it. Doing our best can be deeply threatening. It forces us to consider what we’re actually capable of accomplishing. Once we learn that lesson, we can’t unlearn it. Our true potential becomes both a shining light we can follow and an oppressive burden of expectation that might, or might not, be met.
—Unknown
A smile is a light in the window of the soul indicating that the heart is at home.
—Unknown
The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Explorer
You cannot attain mastery by patterning yourself after another or by following custom or tradition. Sheep do that. Masters and leaders never do.
—Roger McDonald (b.1941) Australian Novelist, Poet, Screenwriter, Writer
The limitations of my endurance were expanded over and over. At times I felt that if I did not sit down I would collapse. Then something would happen to attract my attention…miraculously, the distraction always provided wings, carrying new strength, a second wind.
—Marlo Morgan (1937–98) American Novelist, Author
Just imagine you’re four years old, and someone makes the following proposal: If you’ll wait until after he runs an errand, you can have two marshmallows for a treat. If you can’t wait until then, you can have only one—but you can have it right now. It is a challenge sure to try the soul of any four-year-old, a microcosm of the eternal battle between impulse and restraint, id and ego, desire and self-control, gratification and delay… There is perhaps no psychological skill more fundamental than resisting impulse. It is the root of all emotional self-control, since all emotions, by their very nature, led to one or another impulse to act.
—Daniel Goleman (b.1946) American Psychologist, Author, Science Journalist