Words to inspire by influential people

Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed. Cavett Robert

Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots. Victor Hugo

All serious daring starts from within. Eudora Welty

The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.  Steven Spielberg

  Man is a creation of desire, not a creation of need. Gaston Bachelard

If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary. Jim Rohn

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. Winston Churchill

For a small child there is no division between playing and learning; between the things he or she does just for fun and things that are educational. The child learns while living and any part of living that is enjoyable is also play. Penelope Leach

Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts. Henri Frederic Amiel

Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. Lou Holtz  

Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally. (David Frost) #quotes #quote #quotations #DavidFrost

Make the decision, make it with confidence, and the world will be yours. Jaren L. Davis

Great minds discuss ideas.  average minds discuss events.  small minds discuss people.  # Eleanor #Roosevelt

The qualities of a great man are vision, integrity, courage, understanding, the power of articulation, and profundity of character. Dwight D. Eisenhower

Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless when facing them. Rabindranath Tagore

There is no passion to be found playing small in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living. Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

It always seems impossible until it is done. Nelson Mandela #quote

Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying,one armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end. Nelson Mandela

For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. #Nelson #Mandela #quotes

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. Nelson Mandela

“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.” ― Nelson Mandela

Action without Vision is only passing time, vision without action is merely day dreaming, but vision with action can change the world. Nelson Mandela

I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances. Nelson Mandela

To be nobody-but-yourself -- in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else -- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. e e cummings  

The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause. Mark Twain

Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek. Mario Andretti

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me'. Erma Bombeck

For those who are willing to make an effort, great miracles and wonderful treasures are in store. Isaac Bashevis Singer

The secret of getting ahead is getting started.  Mark Twain

A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results. Wade Boggs  

Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem. Abraham Lincoln

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life. Steve Jobs

Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you. Jim Rohn

Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts.  Alan Cohen

The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention. John Burroughs

I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self. #Aristotle

Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. # Lance #Armstrong

As long as we are persistence in our pursuit of our deepest destiny, we will continue to grow. We cannot choose the day or time when we will fully bloom. It happens in its own time. Denis Waitley

Let us not be content to wait and see what will happen, but give us the determination to make the right things happen. Horace Mann

Success is the sum of small efforts - repeated day in and day out. Robert Collier

People never care how much you know until they know how much you care. John C. Maxwell

The first time you say something, it's heard. The second time, it's recognized, and the third time it's learned. John C. Maxwell

If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough. Meister Eckhart

A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Courage means to keep working a relationship, to continue seeking solutions to difficult problems, and to stay focused during stressful periods. (Denis Waitley) #quotes

Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.  Lao Tzu

On the battlefield, the military pledges to leave no soldier behind. As a nation, let it be our pledge that when they return home, we leave no veteran behind. Dan Lipinski

The biggest difference is in the leadership. It was better for us. We had more coaches and mentors to help us. A lot of the younger players today suffer from a lack of direction. (Isaiah Thomas) #quotes

Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.Thomas Carlyle

True happiness is... to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future. Lucius Annaeus Seneca #quotes

I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing. Socrates #quotes

Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand. Colin Powell