Motivational, Rebellious, and Silly Quotes, Sayings, Thoughts, and Phrases

 

“I think that people want peace so much that one of these days government had better get out of their way and let them have it.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

“A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.” – Unknown

“If you should die before me, ask if you could bring a friend.” – Stone Temple Pilots

“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.” – Winnie the Pooh

“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.” – Mark Twain

“Use what talent you possess – the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.” – Henry Van Dyke

“When once you have tasted flight you will always walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward: for there you have been and there you will always be.” – Henry Van Dyke

“The concept of two people living together for 25 years without a serious dispute suggests a lack of spirit only to be admired in sheep.” – A.P. Herbert

“We will either find a way or make one.” – Hannibal

“Never . . . Never . . . Never . . . Never Give up!” – Winston Churchill

“The word impossible is not in my dictionary.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

“Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief she is beautiful.” – Sophia Loren

“Tell me who admires you and loves you, and I will tell you who you are.” – Charles Augustin Sainte-Beauve

“Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.” – David Lloyd George

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” – Apple Computers

“The simple lack of her is more to me than others’ presence.” – Edward Thomas

“Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” – T. S. Eliot, Poet

“The United States is in no sense founded upon the Christian doctrine.”  – George Washington

“It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” – Thomas Jefferson

“When your work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt.” – Henry Kaiser, businessman

“Get mad, then get over it.” – Colin Powell

“Unless you are willing to drench yourself in your work beyond the capacity of the average man, you are just not cut out for positions at the top.” – J. C. Penney, retailer

“An overburdened, overstretched executive is the best executive, because he or she doesn’t have the time to meddle, to deal in trivia, to bother people. ” – Jack Welch, General Electric Chairman and Chief Executive

“Success is a lousy teacher.  It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” – Bill Gates

“To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.”  – Kahlil Gibran

“Angels transcend every religion, every philosophy, every creed. In fact angels have no religion as we know it…their existence precedes every religious system that has ever existed on earth.” – St. Thomas Aquinas

“There will be a time when loud-mouthed, incompetent people seem to be getting the best of you.  When that happens, you only have to be patient and wait for them to self-destruct.  It never fails.” – Richard Rybolt

“So what do we do?  Anything, something, so long as we just don’t sit there.  If we screw it up, start over.  Try something else.  If we wait until we’ve satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late.” – Lee Iacocca

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” – Harold Whitman

“I don’t believe in looking back. If you make a decision that you think is the proper one at the time, then that’s the correct decision.” – John Woody

“Resolve says, ‘I will.’  The man says, ‘I will climb this mountain.  They told me it is too high, too far, too steep, too rocky and too difficult.  But it’s my mountain.  I will climb it.  You will soon see me waving from the top or dead on the side from trying.’” – Jim Rohn

“If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves.” – Thomas Edison

“Never fear shadows.  They simply mean there’s a light shining somewhere nearby.” – Ruth Renkel

“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” – Albert Einstein

“We understand why children are afraid of the darkness, but why are men afraid of the light?” – Plato

“A conclusion is simply the place where someone got tired of thinking.” – Arthur Block

“Past the seeker as he prayed came the crippled and the beggar and the beaten.  And seeing them, he cried, “Great God, how is it that a loving creator can see such things and yet do nothing about them?”…God said, “I did do something.  I made you.” – Sufi Teaching

“Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment and especially on their children than the unlived life of the parent.” – Carl Jung

“We cannot change anything until we accept it.” – Carl Jung

“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it.” – Henry Ford

“And if not now, when?” – The Talmud

“Destiny is not a matter of chance; but a matter of choice.  It is not a thing to be waited for.  It is a thing to be achieved.” – William Jennings Bryant

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” – Benjamin Franklin

“If people knew how hard I worked at my art, they would not consider me a genius.” – Michelangelo

“Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.” – Muhammad Ali

“There is a marvelous story of a man who once stood before God, his heart breaking from the pain and injustice in the world.  ‘Dear God,’ he cried out, ‘look at all the suffering, the anguish and distress in the world.  Why don’t you send help?’  God responded, ‘I did.  I sent you.’” – David J. Wolpe

“We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“It is not worth an intelligent man’s time to be in the majority.  By definition, there are already enough people to do that.” – G.H. Hardy

“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” – Truman Capote

“If I were dropped out of a plane into the ocean and told the nearest land was 1,000 miles away, I’d still swim.  And I’d despise the one who gave up.” – Abraham Maslow, Psychologist

“Life is not fair, but life is not fair for everyone.  That makes life fair.” – Unknown

“The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty.  The activist is the man who cleans up the river.” – Ross Perot

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” – Plato, Philosopher

“The rock that is an obstacle in the path of one person becomes a stepping-stone in the path of another.” – Source Unknown

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.  It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed.  Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up.  It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve.  It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.” – Source Unknown

“Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it…Autograph your work with excellence.” – Source Unknown

“Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts, By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master gardener of his soul, the director of his life. He also reveals, within himself, the laws of thought, and understands with ever-increasing accuracy, how the thought forces and mind elements operate in the shaping of his character, circumstances, and destiny.” – James Allen

“If everything’s under control, you’re going to slow.” – Mario Andretti

“When I hear music, I fear no danger.  I am invulnerable.  I see no foe.  I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.” – Henry David Thoreau

“If you raise your children to feel that they can accomplish any goal or task they decide upon, you will have succeeded as a parent and you will have given your children the greatest of all blessings.” – Brian Tracy

“Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill. ” – Muhammad Ali, boxer

“A ship in the harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.” – William Shedd

“Do not follow where the path may lead.  Go instead where there is not path and leave a trail.” – Muriel Strode

“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they never use.” – Kierkegaard

“There was never a good war or a bad peace.” – Benjamin Franklin

”Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises?  If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.” – Henry David Thoreau

“Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.” – Henry Van Dyke, American Poet, Author

“We are what we repeatedly do.” – Aristotle

“Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.” – Dale Carnegie

“There’s only one direction you can coast.” – Brian Tracy

“We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere.” – Tim McGraw

“Vitality shows not only in the ability to persist, but in the ability to start over.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

“The only gracious way to accept an insult is to ignore it.  If you can’t ignore it, top it. If you can’t top it, laugh at it. If you can’t laugh at it, it’s probably deserved.” – Joseph Russell Lynes

“Courage is not the lack of fear.  It is acting in spite of it.” – Mark Twain, author

“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” – Wayne Gretzky

“If money is your hope for independence, you will never have it.  The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience and ability.” – Henry Ford

“Every memorable act in the history of the world is a triumph of enthusiasm. Nothing great was ever achieved without it because it gives any challenge or any occupation, no matter how frightening or difficult, a new meaning. Without enthusiasm you are doomed to a life of mediocrity but with it you can accomplish miracles.” – Og Mandino

“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” – Buddha

“When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail.” – Abraham Maslow

“Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.” – James Michener

“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

“The secret to success is to start from scratch and keep on scratching.” – Dennis Green

“People are unreasonable, illogical, and self–centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.” – Robert Schuller

“You aren’t wealthy until you have something money can’t buy.” – Garth Brooks

“I was about half in love with her by the time we sat down.  That’s the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty… you fall half in love with them, and then you never know where the hell you are.” – J.D. Salinger

“Genius is a talented person who does his homework.” – Thomas Edison, inventor

“If you bungle raising your children, I don’t think whatever else you do matters very much”. – Jacqueline Kennedy

“The important thing is this:  to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.” – Charles Du Bos

“It is unfortunate we can’t buy many business executives for what they are worth and sell them for what they think they are worth.” – Malcolm Forbes

“Don’t let people who live in fear and hate govern how you live.” – Melissa Etheridge

“I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered.  But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalog: “No good in a bed, but fine against a wall.”” – Eleanor Roosevelt

“Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.” – Mark Twain

“Money can’t buy you happiness… but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery.” – Spike Milligan

“Until I was thirteen, I thought my name was shut up.” – Joe Namath

“Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life.” – Herbert Henry Asquith

“Don’t worry about avoiding temptation… as you grow older, it will avoid you.” – Winston Churchill

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands in time of challenge and controversy” – Martin Luther King Jr

“The people who get on in this world are the ones who get up and look for the circumstances they want and, if they can’t find them, make them.” – George Bernard Shaw, Playwright

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” – William Butler Yeats, Irish Poet and Dramatist

“Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation… even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.” – Leonardo da Vinci

“Believe in who you are, believe in what you feel, your power will come from that.” – Melissa Etheridge

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar

“If you don’t invest very much, then defeat doesn’t hurt very much and winning is not very exciting.” – Dick Vermeil, American Football Coach

“People make a mistake who think that my art has come easily to me.  Nobody has devoted so much time and thought to composition as I.  There is not a famous master whose music I have not studied over and over.” – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

“I’m one step ahead of my past, two steps behind my dream.” – Melissa Etheridge

“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” – Will Rogers

“You’ve got to get to the stage in life where going for it is more important than winning or losing.” – Arthur Ashe, Tennis Player

“An inventor fails 999 times, and if he succeeds once, he’s in. He treats his failures simply as practice shots.” – Charles Kettering, Inventor

“Character is doing the right thing when nobody’s looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that’s right is to get by, and the only thing that’s wrong is to get caught.” – J. C. Watts, US Congressman

“Disgust and resolve are two of the great emotions that lead to change.” – Jim Rohn

“It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important.  You have to do the right thing.  It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing.  You may never know what results come from your action.  But if you do nothing, there will be no result.” – Gandhi

“Phrases and their actual meanings: “My teacher has never liked me.”  Expect a phone call before lunch from the teacher informing you that your child has been launching hot dogs by compressing them inside a small Thermos and then removing the lid quickly.” – Erma Bombeck

“Most of the important things in the world have been accompanied by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” – Dale Carnegie

“The better a man is, the more mistakes he will make, for the more new things he will try.  I would never promote to a top-level job a man who was not making mistakes… otherwise he is sure to be mediocre.” – Peter Druker

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” – Robert F. Kennedy

“Don’t marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can’t live without.” – Dr James C Dobson

“Any intelligent woman who reads the marriage contract, and then goes into it, deserves all the consequences.” – Isadora Duncan

“Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then.” – Katharine Hepburn

“I love being married.  It’s so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.” – Rita Rudner

“You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover’s arms can only come later when you’re sure they won’t laugh if you trip.” – Jonathan Carroll

“Immature love says: ‘I love you because I need you.’ Mature love says ‘I need you because I love you.’” – Erich Fromm

“It is no disgrace to start all over.  It is usually an opportunity.” – George Matthew Adams

“If you press me to say why I loved him, I can say no more than because he was he, and I was I.” – Michel de Montaigne

“Before I met my husband, I’d never fallen in love. I’d stepped in it a few times.” – Rita Rudner

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage.” – Lao Tzu

“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” – Thomas Jefferson

“I do not try to dance better than anyone else.  I only try to dance better than myself.” – Mikhail Baryshnikov, ballet dancer

“I always remember an epitaph which is in the cemetery at Tombstone, Arizona. It says: “Here lies Jack Williams. He done his damnedest.” I think that is the greatest epitaph a man can have – When he gives everything that is in him to do the job he has before him. That is all you can ask of him and that is what I have tried to do.” – Harry Truman, 33rd US president

“Defeat is simply a signal to press onward.” – Helen Keller, author, lecturer

“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad.” – Aldous Huxley

“A company is an organic, living breathing thing, not just an income sheet and balance sheet. You have to lead it with that in mind.” – Carly Fiorina, Hewlett-Packard Chairman and Chief Executive

“The only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your feet.” – Nadia Comaneci, Gymnast

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak.  Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” – Winston Churchill

“Did you ever notice how difficult it is to argue with someone who is not obsessed with being right?” – Wayne W. Dyer

“There are four ways, and only four ways, in which we have contact with the world.  We are evaluated and classified by these four contacts: what we do, how we look, what we say, and how we say it.” – Dale Carnegie

“You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere.” – Lee Iacocca

“Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.” – Mark Twain

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” – Mother Teresa

“I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.” – Roy Croft

“Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” – Aristotle

“As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might.” – Marian Anderson

“Begin doing what you want to do now.  We are not living in eternity.  We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand – and melting like a snowflake.” – Marie Beyon Ray

“Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it’s when you’ve had everything to do and you’ve done it.” – Margaret Thatcher

“Better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all.” – St. Augustine

“Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition.” – Alexander Smith

“If you ask God to become a vessel for His continuing incarnation, you had better be prepared to be beaten by Him with a big, gnarly, potter’s stick (as Job was) to make certain you’re strong enough to contain His Holy Spirit. Those who are, survive; those who aren’t, don’t. The former are the ‘bodhisattvas’ of the world who (like Jung and some of us) return to warn the others, ‘Watch out for the next step — it’s a killer!’ The latter are the people who stand on the street corner, shouting at passing traffic and arguing with the fire hydrant.” – Reb Yakov Leib HaKohain

“Faith is a passionate intuition.” – William Wordsworth

“Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for.” – Socrates

“Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it so that the other half may reach you.” – Kahlil Gibran

”There aren’t any great men. There are just great challenges that ordinary men like you and me are forced by circumstances to meet.” – William F. Halsey

“Reason is our soul’s left hand, Faith her right.” – John Donne

“…and then the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anais Nin

“If you bring forth what is within you, what is within you will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what is within you will destroy you” – The Gospel of St Thomas

“Don’t fight a battle if you don’t gain anything by winning.” – George S. Patton

“Not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.” – George Sala

“When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: “You haven’t!”” -Thomas Edison

“Treasure the love you receive above all. It will survive long after your good health has vanished.” – Og Mandino

“Nature often holds up a mirror so we can see more clearly the ongoing processes of growth, renewal, and transformation in our lives.” – Mary Ann Brussat

“Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes.  It is not something physical.” – Sophia Loren

“A beautiful lady is an accident of nature.  A beautiful old lady is a work of art.” – Louis Nizer

“I do not bring forgiveness with me, nor forgetfulness. The only ones who can forgive are dead; the living have no right to forget.” – Chaim Herzog

“You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well.” – Lewis B. Smedes

“Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature!” – George Bernard Shaw

“The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities.  We need men who can dream of things that never were.” – John F. Kennedy

“Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.” – Thomas Paine

“I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world.” – Thomas A. Edison

“Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends.” – Shirley MacLaine

“Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” – Oprah Winfrey

“Anger is a killing thing: it kills the man who angers, for each rage leaves him less than he had been before – it takes something from him.” – Louis L’Amour

“Lying has a kind of respect and reverence with it.  We pay a person the compliment of acknowledging his superiority whenever we lie to him.” – Samuel Butler

“Lying increases the creative faculties, expands the ego, and lessens the frictions of social contacts.” – Clare Boothe Luce

“Lying is the most simple form of self-defense.” – Susan Sontag

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek then with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru

“The pacifist’s task today is to find a method of helping and healing which provides a revolutionary constructive substitute for war.” – Vera Brittain

“It is easier to lead men to combat, stirring up their passion, than to restrain them and direct them toward the patient labors of peace.” – Andre Gide

“Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how.  The moment you know how, you begin to die a little.  The artist never entirely knows, we guess.  We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark.” – Agnes de Mile, American dancer-choreographer (1905-1993)

“When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.” – Peter Marshal

“Everyone has his burden. What counts is how you carry it.” – Merle Miller

“You must get good at one of two things: sowing in the spring or begging in the fall.” – Jim Rohn

“The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.” – Napoleon Hill, Author

“Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.” – Ambrose Bierce

“What is powerful is when what you say is just the tip of the iceberg of what you know.” – Jim Rohn

“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned; and however early a man’s training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly.” – Thomas H. Huxley, scientist, educator

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill

“I decided to be the best and the smartest.” – Oprah Winfrey, entrepreneur, talk-show host

“Begin with praise and honest appreciation. Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders . . . Make the fault easy to correct. Make the other person happy about doing what you suggest.” – Dale Carnegie

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas Edison, inventor

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” — Thomas Edison

“Men are born to succeed, not fail.” – Henry David Thoreau

“People seldom see the halting and painful steps by which the most insignificant success is achieved.” – Anne Sullivan

“People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don’t know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to.” – George Allen

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier

“Many a man has finally succeeded only because he has failed after repeated efforts. If he had never met defeat he would never have known any great victory.” – Orison Swett Marden

“Nothing great has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstances.” – Bruce Barton, advertising executive

“Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives.” – Anthony Robbins