Quotes
Balance
Every human thought, and every human action, is based in either love or fear. There is no other human motivation, and all ideas are but derivatives of these two. – Neale Donald Walsch
The world acquires value only through its extremes and endures only through moderation; extremists make the world great, the moderates give it stability. – Paul Valery
We must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose. – Indira Gandhi
Balance isn’t either/or; it’s and. – Covey
Character and Conviction
The character that is like clear sky and broad daylight is generated in dark rooms under leaky roofs. The statesmanship that can write the course of the Cosmos is born probing depth, and treading on thin ice. – Hong Zicheng
To anyone that ever told you you’re no good, they’re no better. – Hayley Williams
If you’re upset that I’m just being myself, I’m going to be myself more. – Taylor Swift
Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt
Creativity and Curiosity
Curiosity is the key to creativity. – Akio Morito
Creative choice is your birthright. Please own it. – John Bradshaw
In order to create, there must be a dynamic force. And what force is greater than love? – Igor Stravinsky
To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. – Joseph Chilton Pierce
The richest source of creation is feeling, followed by a vision of its meaning. – Anaïs Nin
If you come to a thing with no preconceived notions, the whole world can be your canvas. Just dream it, and you can make it so. I believe I belong to wherever I want to be, and whatever situation or context, I place myself. – Whoopi Goldberg
Creating is a skill that can be learned and developed. Like any skill, you learned by practice and hands-on experience. You can learn to create by creating. – Robert Fritz
Life is raw material. We are artisans. We can sculpt our existence into something beautiful, or debase it into ugliness. It’s in our hands. – Cathy Drinkwater Better
Courage and Determination:
Often the real test of courage is not to die, but to live. – Vittorio Alfieri
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable. – Helen Keller
When in doubt, do the courageous thing. – Jan Christian Smuts
Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire. – Jennifer Lee
Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do. – Bruce Lee
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. – Anaïs Nin
We can choose courage or we can choose comfort, but we can’t have both. Not at the same time. – Brené Brown
Courage, it would seem, is nothing less than the power to overcome danger, misfortune, fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm inwardly that life with all its sorrows is good; that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always tomorrow. – Dorothy Thompson
You cannot discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. – André Gide
Then the time came when the risk it took
To remain tight in a bud was more painful
Than the risk it took to blossom.
– Anaïs Nin
Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. – George Addair
Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’ – Mary Anne Radmacher
Risk brings its own rewards: the exhilaration of breaking through, of getting to the other side, the relief of a conflict healed, the clarity when a paradox dissolves. Whoever teaches us this is our agent of liberation. Eventually we know deeply that the other side of every fear is a freedom. Finally, we must take charge of the journey, urging ourselves past our own reluctance, misgiving, and confusion to freedom. – Marilyn Ferguson
Press on: Nothing in this world can take the place of perseverance. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. – Calvin Coolidge
There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul. – Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Encouragement and Hope
Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. – Christopher Robin
The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places. – Ernest Hemingway
People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. – Elizabeth Kübler-Ross
Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. – Arthur Ashe
You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do. – Eleanor Roosevelt
And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good. – John Steinbeck, East of Eden
Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. – John Wooden
Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it. – Helen Keller
In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love.
In the midst of tears, I found there was, within me, an invincible smile.
In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm.
I realized, through it all, that…
In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.
And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back. – Albert Camus
No matter how dark the moment, love and hope are always possible. – George Chakiris
Encouraging someone to be entirely themself is the loudest way to love them. – Kalen Dion
Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer. – Rainer Maria Rilke
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired and success achieved. – Helen Keller
If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced. – Vincent Van Gogh
It is not the mountains we conquer but ourselves. – Edmund Hillary
If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves. – Thomas Edison
Follow Your Dreams
Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world. – Harriet Tubman
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. – Eleanor Roosevelt
Love what you do and do what you love. Don’t listen to anyone else who tells you not to do it. You do what you want, what you love. Imagination should be the center of your life. – Ray Bradbury
Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will. – Suzy Kassem
A dream is the bearer of a new possibility, the enlarged horizon, the great hope. – Howard Thurman
Dreams are an art form created by the soul for our own edification. We must read them poetically, as we would any kind of art – Thomas Moore
Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Let yourself be silently drawn by the pull of what you really love. – Rumi
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. – Malala Yousafzai
So many people will tell you ”no”, and you need to find something you believe in so hard that you just smile and tell them ”watch me”. Learn to take rejection as motivation to prove people wrong. Be unstoppable. Refuse to give up, no matter what. It’s the best skill you can ever learn. – Charlotte Eriksson
Leaving what feels secure behind and following the beckoning of our hearts doesn’t always end as we expect or hope. We may even fail. But here’s the payoff: it can also be amazing and wonderful and immensely satisfying. – Steve Goodier
It’s not enough to wish, dream, hope. Even children know this. We must set sail into the sea of uncertainty. We must meet fear face-to-face. We must take our dreams as maps for a greater journey. Dreams, to come true, need a good story. So go live one. – Vironika Tugaleva
Get mocked at for as much as you can, fail as much as you can, but don’t quit. Let every mockery, every failure, be a source of inspiration for you to reach for greatness, and that greatness will silence your critics. – Ajaero Tony Martins
I knew that if I failed I wouldn’t regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not trying. – Jeff Bezos
Inspiration
All that you are, you are right now. All that you can be, begins in this moment. Now is a great place to be. For when you live it fully, with love, with gratitude, with purpose, anything is possible. – Ralph Marston
The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering. – Ben Okri
We all carry it within us: supreme strength, the fullness of wisdom, unquenchable joy. It is never thwarted, and cannot be destroyed. – Huston Smith
Even in the midst of devastation, something within us always points the way to freedom. – Sharon Salzberg
There is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it. – Amanda Gorman
The appearance of things changes according to the emotions; and thus we see magic and beauty in them, while the magic and beauty are really in ourselves. – Kahlil Gibran
In a moment of clarity, out of nowhere, I saw that when I believed my thoughts I suffered and when I questioned my thoughts I didn’t suffer, and I have come to see that this is true for every human being. – Byron Katie
Whenever you are sincerely pleased, you are nourished. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
If you want to change the world, or to be an influence for such a change, you must begin within yourself by changing the way you see the world. – Eric Butterworth
Fulfillment doesn’t come from trying to become someone you’re not. It comes from expressing, in each moment, the unique and genuine person you truly are. The success that matters is the success you achieve at making your own special contribution to life. The success that matters is the success of expressing your own unique value. – Ralph Marston
Experience is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you. – Aldous Huxley
There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open… No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others. – Martha Graham
The power is in you. The answer is in you. And you are the answer to all your searches: you are the goal. You are the answer. It’s never outside. – Eckhart Tolle
Intention and Purpose
We either live with intention or exist by default. – Kristin Armstrong
Intention is the core of all conscious life. Conscious intention colors everything. – Hsing Yin
The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly for newer and richer experience. – Eleanor Roosevelt
It is not enough to find a purpose, that unifies one goals; one must also carry through immediate challenges. The purpose must result in striving; intent has to be translated into action. What counts is not so much whether a person actually achieved what she has set out to do; rather it matters, whether effort has been expended to reach the goal, instead of being diffused or wasted. – Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi
Mindset and Meaning
The meaning of things lies not in the things themselves, but in our attitude towards them. – Antoine de Saint Exupery
Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. – Lou Holtz
The secret of success is constancy of purpose. – Benjamin Disraeli
Life is. I am. Anything might happen. And I believe I may invest my life with meaning. The uncertainty is a blessing in disguise. If I were absolutely certain about all things, I would spend my life in anxious misery, fearful of losing my way. But since everything and anything are always possible, the miraculous is always nearby and shall never, ever cease. – Robert Fulghum
Put your heart, mind, intellect, and soul even to your smallest act. This is the secret of success. – Swami Sivananda
Self Love
You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection. – Buddha
Loving yourself does not mean being self-absorbed or narcissistic, or disregarding others. Rather it means welcoming yourself as the most honored guest in your own heart, a guest worthy of respect, a lovable companion. – Margo Anand
We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light. – Mary Dunbar
You’re always with yourself, so you might as well enjoy the company. – Diane Von Furstenberg
We have to learn to be our own best friends because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies. – Roderick Thorp
We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty. – Maya Angelou
A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror. – Ken Keyes
Love is as love does. Love is an act of will – namely, both an intention and an action. – M. Scott Peck
Accept your humanness as well as your divinity, totally and without reserve. – Emmanuel
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens. – Louise L. Hay
Universe
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. – Max Ehrmann
Blue sky and fine weather can abruptly change to tremulous lightning and rolling thunder. Violent winds and angry rains can abruptly change to serene moonlight in a clear sky. Has the universe ever ceased its working? Has the universe ever been impeded? Human nature is also like this. – Hong Zicheng
Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. – Stephen Hawking
Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work. – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls. – Joseph Campbell
I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe. – Dalai Lama