Quotes by Author | Beyond Motive

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Quotes by Author

"I always have a quotation for everything - it saves original thinking."

"I always have a quotation for everything - it saves original thinking."

Dorothy L. Sayers, British Author

Knowledge, Quotation, Thinking

385

"The day we decide to drop the flimsy makeshift scenarios in our cluttered mind and eschew the 'alleluias' of self-importance, life can become genuine, lucid and graceful, like a flow of wellness in the glow of a new morning. ['Words flew away like birds']"

"The day we decide to drop the flimsy makeshift scenarios in our cluttered mind and eschew the 'alleluias' of self-importance, life can become genuine, lucid and graceful, like a flow of wellness in the glow of a new morning. ['Words flew away like birds']"

Erik Pevernagie, Belgian Author

Simplicity, Ego, Authenticity, Grace, Clarity

312

"The barbarians never take a city until someone holds the gates open to them. And it's your own multicultural authorities who will do it for you."

"The barbarians never take a city until someone holds the gates open to them. And it's your own multicultural authorities who will do it for you."

Christopher Hitchens, American Author

Warning, City, Authority, Betrayal

236

"Direct your attention to people; love, help and care for them."

"Direct your attention to people; love, help and care for them."

Sunday Adelaja, Nigerian Author

Care, Love, Influence, Service

233

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

Robert Brault, American Author

221

"When we give up the chase, we give up our wishing."

"When we give up the chase, we give up our wishing."

Stephen Richards, British Author

Mindset, Chase, Wish, Give-up, Desire

200

"When ambition ends, happiness begins."

"When ambition ends, happiness begins."

Thomas Merton, American Author

Happiness, Ambition

189

"Our challenge is not to let life mold us or break us."

"Our challenge is not to let life mold us or break us."

Sunday Adelaja, Nigerian Author

Courage, Challenge, Life, Mold, Break

189

"Recollection builds up our personality. Our individuality is based on all the little pieces we assembled in the past. ['The past was her best friend']"

"Recollection builds up our personality. Our individuality is based on all the little pieces we assembled in the past. ['The past was her best friend']"

Erik Pevernagie, Belgian Author

Identity, Memory, Personality, Past

174

"Art is a revolt against fate."

"Art is a revolt against fate."

Andre Malraux, French Author

162

"The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision."

"The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision."

Helen Keller, American Author

Wisdom, Vision, Being, Blind, Sight

161

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."

Mark Twain, American Author

Wisdom, People, Doubt, Fool, Open

160

"In every religion there is an element of the supernatural, varying with the influence of pure reason over its devotees."

"In every religion there is an element of the supernatural, varying with the influence of pure reason over its devotees."

Charles Eastman, Sioux Author

Religion, Influence, Reason, Supernatural

159

"We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery."

"We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery."

Samuel Smiles, Scottish Author

Wisdom, Success, Mistake, Failure

154

"It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure on the world."

"It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure on the world."

John Steinbeck, American Author

Death, Thought, Action, Dying

153

"The religion of the Indian is the last thing about him that the man of another race will ever understand."

"The religion of the Indian is the last thing about him that the man of another race will ever understand."

Charles Eastman, Sioux Author

Religion, Man, Race, Will

149

"Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way."

"Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way."

E. L. Doctorow, American Author

Driving, Night, Writing

148

"Contrariwise, if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic."

"Contrariwise, if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic."

Lewis Carroll, English Author

147

"If you fell down yesterday, stand up today."

"If you fell down yesterday, stand up today."

H. G. Wells, English Author

Resilience, Today, Yesterday

145

"Life is a comedy for those who think... and a tragedy for those who feel."

"Life is a comedy for those who think... and a tragedy for those who feel."

Horace Walpole, English Author

Life, Comedy, Tragedy

141

"All is worthwhile if the soul is not small."

"All is worthwhile if the soul is not small."

Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese Author

140

"Personal Branding is the combination of one's skills and talents to produce value for people that creates an impression, a perception and reputation in the mind of others."

"Personal Branding is the combination of one's skills and talents to produce value for people that creates an impression, a perception and reputation in the mind of others."

Bernard Kelvin Clive, Ghanaian Author

Business, Branding, Skill, Values, Reputation

138

"To feel today what one felt yesterday isn't to feel - it's to remember today what was felt yesterday, to be today's living corpse of what yesterday was lived and lost."

"To feel today what one felt yesterday isn't to feel - it's to remember today what was felt yesterday, to be today's living corpse of what yesterday was lived and lost."

Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese Author

Living, Today, Yesterday

137

"Your strategy for success must constantly move, change, and evolve."

"Your strategy for success must constantly move, change, and evolve."

Ziad K. Abdelnour, Lebanese Author

Strategy, Change, Success, Evolution

133

"You don't get results by focusing on results. You get results by focusing on the actions that produce results."

"You don't get results by focusing on results. You get results by focusing on the actions that produce results."

Mike Hawkins, American Author

Action, Actions, Results

132

"Especially moments when things are very difficult and complicated for me and I am still trying to grasp what is happening and I am still trying to understand and to reach family back home."

"Especially moments when things are very difficult and complicated for me and I am still trying to grasp what is happening and I am still trying to understand and to reach family back home."

Edwidge Danticat, Haitian Author

Family, Home, Moments, Trying

132

"We should try to understand our innermost needs. We shouldn't use irony to reduce their power."

"We should try to understand our innermost needs. We shouldn't use irony to reduce their power."

Manuel Puig, Argentinian Author

Power, Irony, Needs

131

"To complain is always nonacceptance of what is. It invariably carries an unconscious negative charge. When you complain, you make yourself into a victim. When you speak out, you are in your power. So change the situation by taking action or by speaking out if necessary or possible; leave the situation or accept it. All else is madness."

"To complain is always nonacceptance of what is. It invariably carries an unconscious negative charge. When you complain, you make yourself into a victim. When you speak out, you are in your power. So change the situation by taking action or by speaking out if necessary or possible; leave the situation or accept it. All else is madness."

Eckhart Tolle, German Author

Acceptance, Complaining, Power, Change

131

"Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible."

"Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible."

Tony Robbins, American Author

Motivational, Goals, First

130

"You can have power over people as long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in you power."

"You can have power over people as long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in you power."

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Russian Author

Power, People, Man

130

"Factions are a sign of illness in a party."

"Factions are a sign of illness in a party."

Ernest Mandel, Belgian Author

Unity, Illness, Party

129

"If a spectator with a philosophical mind, somebody accustomed to reading books, gets the same kind of information in a movie, he might not fully understand it."

"If a spectator with a philosophical mind, somebody accustomed to reading books, gets the same kind of information in a movie, he might not fully understand it."

Manuel Puig, Argentinian Author

Books, Information, Mind, Reading

128

"In a country like France, so ancient, their history is full of outstanding people, so they carry a heavy weight on their back. Who could write in French after Proust or Flaubert?"

"In a country like France, so ancient, their history is full of outstanding people, so they carry a heavy weight on their back. Who could write in French after Proust or Flaubert?"

Manuel Puig, Argentinian Author

History, People, Country, France

127

"And this we should believe: that hope and volition can bring us closer to our ultimate goal: justice for all, injustice for no-one."

"And this we should believe: that hope and volition can bring us closer to our ultimate goal: justice for all, injustice for no-one."

Eyvind Johnson, Swedish Author

Hope, Injustice

126

"Contrary to what Kafka does, I always like to refer all of my fictions to the level of reality, He, on the other hand, leaves them at an imaginary level."

"Contrary to what Kafka does, I always like to refer all of my fictions to the level of reality, He, on the other hand, leaves them at an imaginary level."

Manuel Puig, Argentinian Author

126

"It's a sad moment, really, when parents first become a bit frightened of their children."

"It's a sad moment, really, when parents first become a bit frightened of their children."

Ama Ata Aidoo, Ghanaian Author

Family, Children, First, Parents

126

"A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety."

"A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety."

Aesop, Greek Author

Contentment, Peace, Anxiety

126

"Many days I don't write any code at all, and some days I spend all day writing code."

"Many days I don't write any code at all, and some days I spend all day writing code."

Larry Wall, Canadian Author

Career, Day, Writing

125

"Rather than being your thoughts and emotions, be the awareness behind them."

"Rather than being your thoughts and emotions, be the awareness behind them."

Eckhart Tolle, German Author

Mindfulness, Awareness, Thoughts, Emotions

125

"There's a practical problem about time and energy, and a more subtle problem of what it does to a writer's head, to continually analyze why they write, where it all comes from, where it's going to."

"There's a practical problem about time and energy, and a more subtle problem of what it does to a writer's head, to continually analyze why they write, where it all comes from, where it's going to."

Kazuo Ishiguro, Japanese Author

Time, Energy, Writer

124

"The writer identifies the thought behind every written word."

"The writer identifies the thought behind every written word."

Lailah Gifty Akita, Ghanaian Author

Skill, Writer, Identifies, Thought, Word

124

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear."

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear."

Mark Twain, American Author

Courage, Fear, Absence

123

"The man who does not read books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them."

"The man who does not read books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them."

Mark Twain, American Author

Inspirational, Books, Man

123

"There was no religious ceremony connected with marriage among us, while on the other hand the relation between man and woman was regarded as in itself mysterious and holy."

"There was no religious ceremony connected with marriage among us, while on the other hand the relation between man and woman was regarded as in itself mysterious and holy."

Charles Eastman, Sioux Author

Marriage, Ceremony, Man, Religious

122

"Grief has limits, whereas apprehension has none. For we grieve only for what we know has happened, but we fear all that possibly may happen."

"Grief has limits, whereas apprehension has none. For we grieve only for what we know has happened, but we fear all that possibly may happen."

Pliny the Elder, Roman Author

Fear, Grief, Limits, May

122

"Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it."

"Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it."

Henry David Thoreau, American Author

Motivational, Success

121

"I'm a writer first and a woman after."

"I'm a writer first and a woman after."

Katherine Mansfield, New Zealander Author

Identity, First, Woman, Writer, Newzealander

120

"No man is as anti-feminist as a really feminine woman."

"No man is as anti-feminist as a really feminine woman."

Frank O'Connor, Irish Author

120

"You have all these people in the city and everything has become centralized. If you live outside the city and you need a birth certificate or some official paper from the government, you have to travel to the city."

"You have all these people in the city and everything has become centralized. If you live outside the city and you need a birth certificate or some official paper from the government, you have to travel to the city."

Edwidge Danticat, Haitian Author

Travel, Government, People

120

"I'm not terribly happy about rock and roll. Certain rock music is uninspiring, numbing; it makes you feel like an idiot."

"I'm not terribly happy about rock and roll. Certain rock music is uninspiring, numbing; it makes you feel like an idiot."

Manuel Puig, Argentinian Author

119

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