Life does not happen to us, it happens from us.
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
Don't wait for a funeral to pay a compliment. You may not make it in time.
I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom.
The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves.
He who never made a mistake never made a discovery.
Great minds have purposes others have wishes.
Immaturity can last a lifetime.
The great accomplishments of man have resulted from the transmission of ideas and enthusiasm.
When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.
There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. That little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.
To reach a port we must sail, sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it. But we must not drift or lie at anchor.
We must be the change we wish to see.
It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.
Anyone who thinks the sky is the limit, has limited imagination.
I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.
A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner.
I couldn't wait for success, so I went ahead without it.
To be happy, we must not be too concerned with others.
Conversation is an art in which a man has all mankind for his competitors, for it is that which all are practicing every day while they live.
I'm willing when time permits to honestly express or to open myself to you, to act as a sort of sign pole for a traveler.
Take a watch to pieces and examine, however carefully, its separate parts in turn, and you will never come across the principles by which the watch keeps time.
Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement.
The crocodile is only strong in the water.
There is only one person who could ever make you happy, and that person is you.
Seek the lofty by reading, hearing and seeing great work at some moment every day.
If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it.
When you make a mistake or get ridiculed or rejected, look at mistakes as learning experiences, and ridicule as ignorance. . . . Look at rejection as part of one performance, not as a turn down of the performer.
To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.
Come to the edge. We can't. We're afraid. We can't. We will fall ! Come to the edge. And they came. And he pushed them. And they flew.
The sublimity of wisdom is to do those things living that are desired when dying.
Authentic leaders have absorbed the fundamental fact of existence -- that you can't get around life's inherent contradictions. The leadership mind is spacious. It has ample room for the ambiguities of the world, for conflicting feelings, and for contradictory ideas. I believe that the central leadership attribute is the ability to manage polarity.
One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon- instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today.
Great music and art are earthly wonders, but I think 'cubist' songs and paintings are hideous.
Truth is nobody's property, no race, no individual can lay any exclusive claim to it. Truth is the nature of all souls.
There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.
Understanding can overcome any situation, however mysterious or insurmountable it may appear to be.
A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.
Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven't half the strength you think they have.
Perspective is in the quiet of a walk, the wisdom of a good book, or the harmony of your favorite music. I find it sometimes in the slow peace of fishing.
Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.
Success is achieved by those who try and keep trying with a positive mental attitude.
Embrace that it's ok to grow.
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
Seeds of faith are always within us; sometimes it takes a crisis to nourish and encourage their growth.
The person who will not stand for something will fall for anything.
There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.
You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time.
Every hand does its part to hold up the world. Every healthy individual guides his life by a selected motive which takes precedence over all the others. He is the man who maintains his integrity in the midst of change, his individuality in the face of external pressures to conform.
The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement.
Why hesitate? Upon the plains of hesitation are the bleached bones of countless millions, who on the threshold of victory sat down to wait, and in waiting they died.
Without continuous personal development, you are now all that you will ever become, and hell starts when the person you are meets the person you could have been.
The road to success is always under construction.
Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.
Many people seem to think that success in one area can compensate for failure in other areas. But can it really ? True effectiveness requires balance.
Living a life of integrity is one of the greatest missions we can undertake.
The soul is covered with the color of its leisure thoughts.
The cherokee people are not "my people".
If it is to be it is up to me.
Come forth into the light of things , Let nature be your Teacher.
Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.
The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.
If you look at what you have in life, You'll always have more. If you look at what you don't have in life, You'll never have enough.
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man adapts the world to himself. All progress depends upon the unreasonable man.
Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, " What's in it for me ? ".
It's to be expected that you make mistakes when you're breaking new ground.
Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me I lift me lamp beside the golden door.
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals.
Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.
To freely bloom - that is my definition of success.
Obstacles are those frightful things you can see when you take your eyes off your goal.
How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners, and instant cameras teach patience to its young ?
Be courageous ! Whatever setbacks America has encountered, it has always emerged as a stronger and more prosperous nation. Be brave as your fathers before you. Have faith and go forward !
I feel like a tiny bird with a big song !
Men spend their lives in anticipations, in determining to be vastly happy at some period when they have time. But the present time has one advantage over every otherit is our own. Past opportunities are gone, future have not come. We may lay in a stock of pleasures, as we would lay in a stock of wine , but if we defer the tasting of them too long, we shall find that both are soured by age.
Let he him who would be moved to convince others, be first moved to convince himself.
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.
Many of life's failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
Neither seek nor avoid, take what comes.
Pay no attention to what the critics say , no statue has ever been erected to a critic.
The best leader brings out the best in those he has stewardship over.
Who is the happiest of men ? He who values the merits of others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though'twere his own.
To establish true self-esteem we must concentrate on our successes and forget about the failures and the negatives in our lives.
From what we get, we can make a living, what we give, however makes a life.
Only after you challenge your biases and stereotypes-- what Francis Bacon called the 'idols which beset men's minds'--can you help others do the same.
Everyone should carefully observe which way his heart draws him, and then choose that way with all his strength.
Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.
If money helps a man to do good to others, it is of some value , but if not, it is simply a mass of evil, and the sooner it is got rid of, the better.
You are the only person on earth who can use your ability.
Into the hands of every individual is given a marvelous power for good or evil -- the silent, unconscious, unseen influence of his life. This is simply the constant radiation of what man really is, not what he pretends to be.