Inspiration Café
Inspirational quotes are great when we need a lift or a gentle nudge to help us move in the right direction!
Every now and then, we stumble upon just the right phrase or exact words of wisdom to give us that important boost.
To that end, I have assembled a collection of inspirational quotes on life, the human condition, and "the self," which I have found to be especially uplifting. Enjoy!
The Quotes
Knowing others is intelligence;
Knowing yourself is true wisdom
Mastering others is strength;
Mastering yourself is true power. Lao Tzu
Real confidence comes from knowing and accepting yourself - your strengths and your limitations - in contrast to depending on confirmation from others. Judith M. Bardwick
Ninety percent of the world's woe comes from people not knowing themselves, their abilities, their frailties, and even their real virtues. Most of us go almost all the way through life as complete strangers to ourselves. Sydney J. Harris
If we did all the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves. Thomas Edison
When we all think alike, no one has to think at all. Walter Lippman
Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are. Bernice Johnson Reagon
The greatest thing is, at any moment, to be willing to give up who we are in order to become all that we can be. Max De Pree
The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. Joseph Campbell
Learn to live with self and you will learn to live with others. Edgar Cayce
Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late. Benjamin Franklin
All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on. Havelock Ellis
By three methods we may learn wisdom:
First by reflection which is noblest;
Second by imitation which is easiest;
And third by experience, which is bitterest. Confucius
Life is the sum of all your choices. Albert Camus
It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live. Marcus Aurelius
Man's mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions. Oliver Wendell Homes
To me every hour of the light and the dark is a miracle, every cubic inch of space is a miracle. Walt Whitman
Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well. Josh Billings
A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. George Bernard Shaw
It is not the length of life, but the depth of life. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart.
Who looks outside, dreams.
Who looks inside, awakens. Carl Jung
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts, we make our world. Suddhartha Guatama Buddha
If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life. Abraham Maslow
Your only obligation in this or any other lifetime is to be true to yourself. Richard Bach
He that leaveth nothing to chance will do few things ill, but he will do very few things. George Savile Halifax
Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings. Samuel Johnson
Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can. John Wooden
If you really put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price. Anonymous
Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging. Joseph Campbell.
Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. Margaret Mead
At bottom every man knows well enough that he is a unique being, only once on this earth; and by no extraordinary chance will such a marvelously picturesque piece of diversity in unity as he is, ever be put together a second time. Friedrich Nietzsche
You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them. Michael Jordan
Push yourself again and again. Don't give an inch until the final buzzer sounds. Larry Bird
Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities. Aldous Huxley
Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out. Robert Collier
There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way. Christopher Morley
To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first. Shakespeare
If at first you don't succeed, then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it. W.C. Fields
The whole of life is but a moment of time. It is our duty, therefore to use it, not to misuse it. Plutarch
Happiness resides not in possessions and not in gold; the feeling of happiness dwells in the soul. Democritus
Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity. Louis Pasteur
After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box. Italian Proverb
If you can't accept losing, you can't win. Vince Lombardi
It has been my philosophy of life that difficulties vanish when faced boldly. Isaac Asimov
Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant. Horace
There is no education like adversity. Benjamin Disraeli
Yes, know thyself: in great concerns or small,
Be this thy care, for this, my friend, is all. Juvenal
Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day-to-day living that wears you out. Anton Chekhov
A man who finds no satisfaction in himself will seek for it in vain elsewhere. La Rochefoucauld
Live up to the best that is in you: Live noble lives, as you all may, in whatever condition you may find yourselves. Henry W. Longfellow
I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is the victory over self. Aristotle
Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind. Aristotle
The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. Shakespeare
Adversity's sweet milk, philosophy. Shakespeare
Each of us is meant to have a character all our own, to be what no other can exactly be, and do what no other can exactly do. William Ellery Channing
They can because they think they can. Virgil
Heaven never helps the man who will not act. Sophocles
The searching-out and thorough investigation of truth ought to be the primary study of man. Cicero
People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them make them. George Bernard Shaw
In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on. Robert Frost
The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true. James Branch Cabell
When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard," I am always tempted to ask, "Compared to what?" Sydney J. Harris