Quotes about motivation

Men are more accountable for their motives, than for anything else; and primarily, morality consists in the motives, that is in the affections.

— Archibald Alexander

God made man to go by motives, and he will not go without them, any more than a boat without steam or a balloon without gas.

— Henry Ward Beecher

You cannot raise a man up by calling him down.

— William Boetcker

There are two levers for moving men -- interest and fear.

— Napoleon Bonaparte

Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.

— Harriet Braiker

Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals and charge after them in an unstoppable manner.

— Les Brown

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

— Leo Buscaglia

The ultimate inspiration is the deadline.

— Nolan Bushnell

Nobody motivates today's workers. If it doesn't come from within, it doesn't come. Fun helps remove the barriers that allow people to motivate themselves.

— Herman Cain

If you do not wish a man to do a thing, you had better get him to talk about it; for the more men talk, the more likely they are to do nothing else.

— Thomas Carlyle

There is only one way... to get anybody to do anything. And that is by making the other person want to do it.

— Dale Carnegie

Whatever touches the nerves of motive, whatever shifts man's moral position, is mightier than steam, or calorie, or lightening.

— Edwin Hubbel Chapin

If I would be happy, I would be a bad ballplayer. With me, when I get mad, it puts energy in my body.

— Roberto Clemente

What comes from the heart, goes to the heart.

— Samuel Taylor Coleridge

No one does anything from a single motive.

— Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I want you to be everything that's you, deep at the center of your being.

— Confucius

Motivation is like food for the brain. You cannot get enough in one sitting. It needs continual and regular top up s.

— Peter Davies

The ones who want to achieve and win championships motivate themselves.

— Mike Ditka

We know nothing about motivation. All we can do is write books about it.

— Peter F. Drucker

Comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.

— Finley Peter Dunne

Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.

— Dwight D. Eisenhower

The best morale exist when you never hear the word mentioned. When you hear a lot of talk about it, it's usually lousy.

— Dwight D. Eisenhower

If you would lift me up you must be on higher ground.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

You don't have to do anything you don't want to do.

— David Harold Fink

One of the strongest characteristics of genius is the power of lighting its own fire.

— John W. Foster

The mechanics of industry is easy. The real engine is the people : Their motivation and direction.

— Ken Gilbert

Make sure you visualize what you really want, not what someone else wants for you.

— Jerry Gillies

Instruction does much, but encouragement does everything.

— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

It is in human nature to relax, when not compelled by personal advantage or disadvantage.

— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Who is sure of their own motives can in confidence advance or retreat.

— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

A message prepared in the mind reaches a mind; a message prepared in a life reaches a life.

— Bill Gothard

A wife encourages her husband's egoism in order to encourage her own.

— Russel Green

Some of us are like wheelbarrows, only useful when pushed and easily upset.

— Jack Herbert

When the leader passes over all alike, not making a distinction, then the endeavors of those who are capable of exertion are entirely lost.

— Hitopadesa

The inner thought coming from the heart represents the real motives and desires. These are the cause of action.

— Raymond Holliwell

It's not my job to motivate players. They bring extraordinary motivation to our program. It's my job not to de-motivate them.

— Lou Holtz

Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated.

— Lou Holtz

Though a good motive cannot sanction a bad action, a bad motive will always vitiate a good action. In common and trivial matters we may act without motives, but in momentous ones the most careful deliberation is wisdom.

— W. M. L. Jay

When the administrator feels himself to be the sole driving agency, and finds himself chiefly engaged in arousing those who apathetic and coercing those who are antagonistic, there is something vitally wrong with the administration. An executive should find himself engaged chiefly in directing the energies which create themselves naturally in all parts of the business, and in finding the proper outlet for the eager upward striving of the ranks below.

— E.E. Jones

We promise according to our hopes and perform according to our fears.

— Francois De La Rochefoucauld

We would frequently be ashamed of our good deeds if people saw all of the motives that produced them.

— Francois De La Rochefoucauld

To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.

— Donald Laird

We talk on principal, but act on motivation.

— Walter Savage Landor

What we see depends mainly on what we look for.

— Sir John Lubbock

I usually need a can of beer to prime me.

— Norman Mailer

One of the reasons it has seemed so difficult for a person to change his habits, his personality, or his way of life, has been that heretofore nearly all efforts at change have been directed to the circumference of the self, so to speak, rather than to the center.

— Maxwell Maltz

Am I motivated by what I really want out of life -- or am I mass-motivated?

— Earl Nightingale

I've always felt it was not up to anyone else to make me give my best.

— Akeem Olajuwon

The only way to get people to like working hard is to motivate them. Today, people must understand why they're working hard. Every individual in an organization is motivated by something different.

— Rick Pitino

Two purposes in human nature rule. Self-love to urge, and reason to restrain.

— Alexander Pope

Don't spur a willing horse.

— Proverb

It is not the horse that draws the cart, but the oats.

— Russian Proverb

All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us... they can't get away this time. [When Surrounded By 8 Enemy Divisions During WW2]

— Chesty Puller

You are what you think. You are what you go for. You are what you do!

— Bob Richards

It is simpler and easier to flatter people than to praise them.

— Jean Paul Richter

A champion needs a motivation above and beyond winning.

— Pat Riley

There's always the motivation of wanting to win. Everybody has that. But a champion needs, in his attitude, a motivation above and beyond winning.

— Pat Riley

I never criticize a player until they are first convinced of my unconditional confidence in their abilities.

— John Robinson

We should not teach children the sciences; but give them a taste for them.

— Jean Jacques Rousseau

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.

— Jim Ryun

Why did I want to win? because I didn't want to lose!

— Max Schmelling

We may think there is willpower involved, but more likely change is due to want power. Wanting the new addiction more than the old one. Wanting the new me in preference to the person I am now.

— George Sheehan

The most important thing about motivation is goal setting. You should always have a goal.

— Francie Larrieu Smith

I still feel like I gotta prove something. There are a lot of people hoping I fail. But I like that. I need to be hated.

— Howard Stern

Next to excellence, comes the appreciation of it.

— William M. Thackeray

Help people become more motivated by guiding them to the source of their own power.

— Paul G. Thomas

The most important thing about a man is what he believes in the depth of his being. This is the thing that makes him what he is, The thing that organizes him and feeds him; the thing that keeps him going in the face of untoward circumstances; the thing that gives him resistance.

— Hugh Stevenson Tigner

We must treasure the achievers of our land because it's they who raise the sights of all the others.

— Source Unknown

There is nothing that fear and hope does not permit men to do.

— Marquis De Vauvenargues

You must rouse into people's consciousness their own prudence and strength, if you want to raise their character.

— Marquis De Vauvenargues

I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn.

— John Wesley

I have always been pushed by the negative. The apparent failure of a play sends me back to my typewriter that very night, before the reviews are out. I am more compelled to get back to work than if I had a success.

— Tennessee Williams

Education is not the filling of the pail, but, the lighting of the fire.

— William Butler Yeats

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing-that's why we recommend it daily.

— Zig Ziglar

Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway.

— Mary Kay Ash

what you work hard for may become the sweetest thing in life

— Source Unknown

Don't talk about it...Do it!

— Brion Burcham

Get ready for tomorrow, Today.

— Jvongard

Become a pilot of a money plane, conductor of a fashion train or driver of drop head music at the end of the day you can become something you dreamed of reality is within your reach, Don't Dream Drive to your goal. Become Someone.

— Jvongard

If you don't do it, it won't get done. And if you don't do it now, you probably won't do it at all. Motivation must defeat procrastination. This is a good time to get started.

— Patrick Pinckney

Everthing we want needs only two things. Effort and time. Give it both. Thing will be your

— garrysandhu

Being unsettle keeps you progressing and contentedness leads you towards irrelevance -- Rakshith Amarnath [28.05.2013]

— Amarnath Rakshith

I am not perfect. Are you? Let us accept the fact that nobody is perfect. Let us learn to accept our imperfections as well as those of others-RVM

— Source Unknown

We don't know Where God is, Who God is or What God is… BUT GOD IS! -RVM

— Source Unknown

If we can be Glad .........But we choose to be Sad, we are MAD! ! !- RVM

— Source Unknown

If you don't like the Fruits you are growing, then change the Seeds you are sowing. -RVM

— Source Unknown

Those who Discover the High Sea are the ones who are FREE to Be what they Want to Be. -RVM

— Source Unknown

Enjoy the Bliss of just Being…Without being dependent on anything! -RVM

— Source Unknown

In life what you ASPIRE will TRANSPIRE—be it Loss or Gain, Sun or Rain, Joy or Pain.-RVM

— Source Unknown

Some people live such boring lives; it’s Black & White, so dead! I choose to color my life with Fun, some Blue, some Green, some Red. -RVM

— Source Unknown

Birds fly in the sky without the fear of fall. We too must have the Courage to take Risks and grow tall.-RVM

— Source Unknown

Today is a tomorrow that we thought about yesterday. Don't worry about tomorrow. Take care of today because if you take care of today tomorrow will take care of itself. - RVM

— Source Unknown

The Attitude of Gratitude can raise your Altitude. Being Thankful is a magical way to reach the Top.-RVM

— Source Unknown

I am the Richest man on earth because I am the Happiest man on earth. After all, isn’t Happiness the Greatest Wealth in Life? -RVM

— Source Unknown

It may be a Mountain or a Tree, a River or a Bee . . . learn to enjoy the little things in Life. -RVM

— Source Unknown

Instead of trying to understand Life, we must live it. Create a reason to Live and progress on that path every day.-RVM

— Source Unknown

How much you achieve in Life is not as important as how much you enjoy each moment of Life.-RVM

— Source Unknown