George Matthew Adams
Courage is heartworth making itself felt in deeds. It never waits for chances; it makes chances.Collection: Courage
There are high spots in all of our lives and most of them have come about through encouragement from someone else. I don't care how great, how famous or successful a man or woman may be, each hungers for applause.Collection: Famous
Sailing a boat calls for quick action, a blending of feeling with the wind and water as well as with the very heart and soul of the boat itself. Sailing teaches alertness and courage, and gives in return a joyousness and peace that but few sports afford.Collection: Peace
Beauty of expression is so akin to the voice of the sea.Collection: Beauty
A cheerful frame of mind, reinforced by relaxation... is the medicine that puts all ghosts of fear on the run.Collection: Fear
There is no such thing as a 'self-made' man. We are made up of thousands of others.
Character is greater than talent, genius, fame, money, friends - there is nothing to compare with it. A man may have all these and yet remain comparatively useless - be unhappy - and die a bankrupt in soul.
I say to myself that I shall try to make my life like an open fireplace, so that people may be warmed and cheered by it and so go out themselves to warm and cheer.
No one ever gets too big to make mistakes. The secret is that the big man is greater than his mistakes, because he rises right out of them and passes beyond them.
What you think means more than anything else in your life. More than what you earn, more than where you live, more than your social position, and more than what anyone else may think about you.
The further you get from nature, the less happy you are; and the nearer, the more exultant you become over the world and all that there is in it.
Few people wear out before their time. Mostly they rust out, worry out, run out - spill out. A machine must have care and its different parts must be adjusted properly. No machine has ever approached the human machine. When it is right, it is in health.
We cannot waste time. We can only waste ourselves.
The easiest thing in the world is to succeed. You can't help it if you follow the rules and play the game the best way you know how according to yourself, instead of according to the one next to you, or above you, or somewhere away from you.
No one owns you. One hundred per cent of the stock in your personal corporation belongs to you.
It's marvelous the change that comes about when a man gets together all his forces and centers them upon the doing of one thing at a time.
People who look down never get much of an idea of the sky where the stars are set. And the fellow who doesn't hitch at least one or two of his wagons to a star never gets very high up. Get your eyes off the ground. Look ahead.
It is easier to win than to fail. Everybody sides with the winner. But the failure walks alone.
No matter what your work today, if it is worth while at all - time to plan it out, time to do it well, and time to finish it, is your day's greatest gift and your greatest job.
It is a great thing to have a big brain, a fertile imagination, grand ideals, but the man with these, bereft of a good backbone, is sure to serve no useful end.
People do not want what we have in our pockets half as much as they want what is in our hearts. If we combine both, intelligently, however, according to our means, we give wisely and well.
What is more beautiful than a sea of water with a number of white-winged boats skirting its surface? Poetry and beauty contesting with the wind and the waves!
The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years.
In this life we get only those things for which we hunt, for which we strive, and for which we are willing to sacrifice.Collection: Sacrifice
There is no such thing as a "self-made" man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.Collection: Success
He who does not get fun and enjoyment out of every day...needs to reorganize his lifeCollection: Fun
Encouragement is oxygen to the soul. Good work can never be expected from a worker without encouragement. No one ever climbed spiritual heights without it. No one ever lived without it.Collection: Motivational
Keep out of your mind, and out of your office, and out of your world, every element that seeks admittance with no definite, helpful, useful end in view.Collection: Doors
Each day can be one of triumph if you keep up your interests.Collection: Inspirational
I said to myself that I shall try to make my life like an open fireplace, so that people may be warmed and cheered by it and so go out themselves to warm and cheer.Collection: Cheer
We can accomplish almost anything within our ability if we but think we can.Collection: Thinking
Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world of the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years... Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart.Collection: Love
We can accomplish almost anything within our ability if we but think we can! Every great achievement in this world was first carefully thought out. Think-but to a purpose. Think constructively. Think as you read. Think as you listen. Think as you travel and your eyes reveal new situations. Think as you work daily at your desk, or in the field, or while strolling. Think to rise and improve your place in life. There can be no advancement or success without serious thoughtCollection: Inspiration
What you think means more than anything else in your life.Collection: Mean
You are your greatest investment. The more you store in that mind of yours, the more you enrich your experience, the more people you meet, the more books you read, and the more places you visit, the greater is that investment in all that you are. Everything that you add to your peace of mind, and to your outlook upon life, is added capital that no one but yourself can dissipate.Collection: Book
Enthusiasm is a kind of faith that has been set afireCollection: Faith
Always expect the best. Then if you have to hurdle a few tough problems, you will have generated the strength and courage to do so.Collection: Expectations
Each day of your life, as soon as you open your eyes in the morning, you can square away for a happy and successful day.Collection: Morning
It is the spirit of a person that hangs above him like a star in the sky.Collection: Stars
The organized person ... makes the most of his time and goes to his bed for the night perfectly relaxed for rest and renewal.Collection: Night
In this life we get only those things for which we hunt, for which we strive, and for which we are willing to sacrifice. It is better to aim for something that you want-even though you miss it-than to get something that you didn't aim to get, and which you don't want! If we look long enough for what we want in life we are almost sure to find it, no matter what that objective may be.Collection: Sacrifice
People do not get tired out from working where work is intelligently handled. Work, if it is interesting, is a stimulant. It's worry and a lack of interest in what one does that tire and discourage. Every one of us should have our pet interests-as many as we can handle efficiently and happily. Our interests should never be allowed to lag or get cold so that all enthusiasm is spent. Each day can be one of triumph if you keep up to your interests-feeding them as they feed you!Collection: Work
It's what each of us sows, and how, that gives us character and prestige. Seeds of kindness, goodwill, and human understanding, planted in fertile soil, spring up into deathless friendships, big deeds of worth, and a memory that will not soon fade out. We are all sowers of seeds-and let us never forget it!Collection: Life
Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first.Collection: Christmas
One of the great arts in living is to learn the art of accurately appraising values. Everything that we think, that we earn, that we have given to us, that in any way touches our consciousness, has its own value. These values are apt to change with the mood, with time, or because of circumstances. We cannot safely tie to any material value. The values of all material possessions change continually, sometimes over night. Nothing of this nature has any permanent set value. The real values are those that stay by you, give you happiness and enrich you. They are the human values.Collection: Art
If you have nothing to do, look at yourself and see if there isn't something close at hand that you can improve. It may make you wealthy, although it is more likely it will make you happy.Collection: Inspirational
There is a tendency among some businesses to criticize and belittle their competitors. This is a bad procedure. Praise them. Learn from them. There are times when you can co-operate with them to their advantage and to yours! Speak well of them and they will speak well of you. You can't destroy good ideas. Take advantage of them.Collection: Ideas
There is a growing sentiment in America that regular saving should be ignored-that the government will take care of people and give them security when they get beyond a certain age or become old and unable to work, but it must be borne in mind that the people who earn and do save, take care of the government! Were it not for the thrifty and the willing workers, the government would be in a bad way.Collection: America
If we had no regard for others' feelings or fortune, we would grow cold and indifferent to life itself.Collection: Feelings
It's what each of us sows, and how, that gives us character and prestige.Collection: Smart