Motivational Quotes
One thing I like to collect in my swipe file is quotes. Quotes make you look more intelligent than you really are because you can borrow someone elses smarts and make it look like they are agreeing with you 
I saw these positive quotes in a comment over at the Dilbert Blog last year and just dug them out again.
“Whether you think you can or can’t, either way you are right.”
- Henry Ford“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”
- Albert Einstein“You create your own universe as you go along.”
- Winston Churchill
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought”
- Buddha
Do you have any favourite quotes we can all steal enjoy? 
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Posted on August 06th, 2007 by Chris Garrett in Productivity
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I am a fan of motivational quotes eversince I was in high school. I used to borrow books on motivational quotes when my peers borrowed revision books or story books or fiction books.
I am still a fan now, but motivational quotes are getting very easily available (some people run random quotes on their blogs) so I no longer search for them. But yeah, I love them (the quotes, I mean), LOL.
Actually, I’ve made a whole section of quotes called Business Lessons where I’ve quoted other individuals and made some quotes myself.
Hope you like them.
http://www.dcs-media.com/businesslessons/default.aspx
Plus, I’ve found more on the web:
Interface Design Quotes
http://www.dcs-media.com/desdev/design/interface-design-quotes.aspx
Quotes and More Quotes
http://www.dcs-media.com/webworthy/tools/quotes-and-more-quotes.aspx
Thanks,
JD
I have my current favorite inspiration come up daily from my “tasks” reminder folder. Right now, it’s…
“I try to live a life that shows love and caring, rather than judgement and ire.” Sorry I didn’t save who said it.
“The future’s already here, it’s just not evenly distributed.” ~ William Gibson, science fiction writer.
“The market for something to believe in is infinite.” ~ Hugh McLeod.
“Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.”
–Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Sometimes we all think we know more than we do and i’m always reminded of this quote.
“Learn your craft. It won’t stop you being a genius”
DeLacrouix (I think.)
“Having ideas is like sex. Making them happen is like marriage.” — me
Chris,
I have two favorites, courtesy of my late, beloved Aunt Mary:
-”Eschew obfuscation.” anonymous
-”Combine inward pride, with outward modesty.” Will & Ariel Durant, For Very Young Philosophers Only.
This last was on a piece of cardboard along with a number of other quotes that hung in the guest bathroom of her house. Over many years of visits to her house and to that bathroom, we all absorbed some genuine wisdom.
p.s My favorite memory of my Aunt Mary was of her sliding down the banister of the Fairmount Hotel in San Francisco when I was 16 and she was 40. She was one cool lady.
Newt
I also love motivational quotes allot. So I have recntly made a wallpaper with my Top 15. You can preview and download it in different screen sizes from the article on my Dutch site; Motivational wallpaper {Warning: some bright color combination ahead! So this wallpaper is not for the fainthearted…)
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent” - Eleanor Roosevelt
“It is foolish to fear that which you cannot avoid.” - don’t remember
Thanks for the great quotes, Chris. I always keep a list of my favorite quotes handy, to read when I need a little push in the right direction - I’ll have to add yours to the file!
My favorite words to live your life by:
“If you can dream it, you can do it.”
- Walt Disney
=)
“too much talking about it and not enough doing about it” - shane (me)
is what you’ll hear me saying on the job site. (it’s effective by the way)
“Never EVER EVER accept problems from a junior” - my dad”
When presented with problems always reply - “you’re a capable and intelligent person I’m confident you’ll find a solution” - Buddha
“Adversity is a great motivator !!… isn’t it?!?!”-shane
“if you can’t find any other motivation - anger serves well” - Cant remember where I heard this.
“If you’re not going to be responsible for it - then don’t do it” jeff hawes (contractor extra-ordinaire)
“it seems that often when problems arise, our outlook becomes narrow” - 14th dalai lama.
Probably the biggest motivational quote I got in the recent past was from a rock climbing buddy of mine - he knows I fear heights. SO he took me to the biggest damned rock face he could find. here is what he told me: It blew my mind at the time - still does actually.
“shane - belief is all and everything. The only way you’re going to find belief in yourself is to confront that fear (heights) and overcome it, then you’ll believe in your own ability to create anything you want”
I don’t know if this was random out of mouth talking or something he read but did it hit me right where I live!!
Cheers and Beers From Canada
Shane
I don’t know why this one has always cracked me up - maybe just my silly sense of humor…
“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” ~Mark Twain
Motivational? Ok, I guess not, unless you’re a nudist. Here’s one of my favorite “real” motivational quotes:
“The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” ~Chinese Proverb
My favorite quote ever is:
Some people see things; and say “Why?” I dream things that never were; and I say “Why not?”
- George Bernard Shaw -
Just love it!!
I like Napoleon Hill. These quotes are from his book “The Law of Success”.
“You can do it, if you believe you can.”
“Do not tell the world what you can do – show it!”
“Who said it could not be done? And what great victories has he to his credit which qualifies him to judge others accurately?”
“Big prices of life go to the builders, not the destroyers”.
“Out of resistance comes strength”
“I would rather begin at the bottom and climb to the top than to start at the top and have to remain there”.
“The Do-ers are the believers in all walks on life”
“Nothing can bring you success but yourself”.
“Persistence, desire & faith are key to success”.
“Your company will be a reflection of yourself”.
“The man who is ready, is the man who has prepared himself”.
I got hundreds more.
I can’t believe you have been a been peaking at my home work once again Chris. It is amazing how I start something and even before I finish I find you posting about it. It is never similar, but always close enough to make me wonder about it
Actually I will be starting a whole series on quotations. I have always loved them since they allow you to say so much with so few words. The series revolve around the themes of my blog so motivational quotes will not be a subject.
Personally I have always loved those referring to life as a journey. I am rephrasing as I translate them from the languages I know them in:
“Even the longest journey starts with a single step” Chinese proverb
“Even a single step can be the start of the longest journey” Jan (Me, myself and I)
“To travel is to live” Hans Christian Andersen
“To live is to travel” Jan (Me, myself and I)
Yes, I do like playing with words even if I am not the best at it
My swipe file is now over 200 pages. Here’s one I picked up yesterday.
“The proof of your effectiveness today is to be no longer needed.”
Dr Mark Loane, former Wallaby and acclaimed ophthalmologist
For no-Aussies the Wallabies are the Australian Rugby tema.
AdamG
Couple of things come to mind here, one quote that keeps me motivated towards my goals is by Eldridge Cleaver - “you’re either part of the solution or you’re part of the problem.”
One that makes me laugh is “some people bring happiness ‘wherever’ they go, others - ‘whenever’ they go”, that scathing little gem is by Oscar Wilde
My all time favourite for motivation though is a poem called ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling - full of good stuff.
Here is the quote that I always like to use when thinking about hard situations
“Get busy living or get busy dying”
~Tim Robbins (Shawshank Redemption)
Another one that my friend always uses
“Do or Do not, there is no try”
~The one and only Yoda
Inspirational quotes are great for the get up and go. Instead of quotes I prefer to read inspirational stories. A great inspirational story is one of Sidney Poitier who came up from poverty to become one of many respectable actors. He said he’d seen many people be beaten down by poverty but if you can beat it, you will definitely rise way above it. I prefer the stories but another great post Chris.
It’s not terribly motivating, but it serves as a lesson for all of us procrastionators.
” Procrastionation is just like masturbation, it feels good at first, but in the end you’re only screwing yourself ”
I have no clue who said it!
My favorite motivational quote, well one them, is by Jose Marti;
“Today’s dreams are tomorrow’s realities.”
“A stupid man’s report of what a clever man says is never accurate because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.”
- Bertrand Russell
“They did not know it was impossible, so they did it!”
- Mark Twain
And in the same vein:
“Don’t tell me what I can’t do!”
- John Locke (Lost character, not the philosopher)
So many, so little time…. Here are a few at the top of my mind:
The obstacle is the path. –Chinese Proverb
You are successful when you help others become successful. — anonymous
The remedy for fear is action. — me
“Save the cheerleder save the world”
Ok, for real there are so many, it would take hours to list them all. Here are three of my favorite (not all) quotes from Thomas Edison:
“The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn’t like to do.”
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Anais Nin - “we don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are” has been my all time favorite
I just pulled this one out of a fortune cookie this week:
“Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing perfectly.”I posted this and two other “fortunes”this morning on my blog, . Another favorite is from Maya Angelou, “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”
Hi Chris,
When I’m doing a talk, I use a cycling PowerPoint of quotes and aphorisms when I’m waiting for the hall to fill up. I’ve put some of them up on Slideshare here - http://www.slideshare.net/RowanManahan
and blogged about this too. It sure beats the hell out of a boring title slide.
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimistic sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” - Winston Churchill
Nice reading through the post and comments, thank you.
Have a great day.
I love collecting quotes!
One of my favorite motivational quotes of the moment is:
“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being.”
–Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Mark Twain always has awesome quotes, too. He’s a funny guy! I saw some good ones by him here.
And then there’s always Voltaire, “A witty saying proves nothing.” That’s not quite motivational, though
Some great quotes, thanks everyone!
I just came across another excellent quote at Richard Sambrooks blog that, while not motivational as such, is perfect for bloggers.