Greatness is not in where we stand,
but in what direction we are moving.
We must sail sometimes with the wind
and sometimes against it -
but sail we must,
and not drift, nor lie at anchor.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Related topics: Bold Choice Courage Adventure Positive Motivational
The best of a book is not the thought which it contains,
but the thought which it suggests;
just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones
but in the echoes of our hearts.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes
Apology is only egotism wrong side out.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
A mind that is stretched by a new experience
an never go back to its old dimensions.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
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When in doubt, do it.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
It is the province of knowledge to speak,
and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
If you don't know what you want, you will probably never get it.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Nothing is so common-place as to wish to be remarkable.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Fame is the scentless sunflower, with gaudy crown of gold;
But friendship is the breathing rose, with sweets in every fold.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea,
never regains its original dimensions.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Alas for those that never sing,
But die with all their music in them!
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Some people are so heavenly minded
that they are no earthly good.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
To be seventy years young is sometimes
far more cheerful and hopeful
than to be forty years old.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Old age is fifteen years older than I am.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Except in cases of necessity, which are rare,
leave your friend to learn
unpleasant things from his enemies;
they are ready enough to tell them.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
A mind, once stretched by a new idea,
never regains its original dimensions.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
The price of greatness is responsibility.
- Winston Churchill
As human beings, our greatness lies
not so much in being able to remake the world -
as in being able to remake ourselves.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi
It's the little things you do
that can make a big difference.
What are you attempting to accomplish?
What little thing can you do today
that will make you more effective?
You are probably only one step away from greatness.
- Bob Proctor
The greatness of a nation can be judged
by the way its animals are treated.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi
Every child comes with the message
that God is not yet discouraged of man.
- Rabindranath Tagore
The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.
- Rabindranath Tagore
Lord, grant that I might not so much
seek to be loved as to love.
- St. Francis of Assisi
To know yet to think that one does not know is best;
Not to know yet to think that one knows
will lead to difficulty.
- Lao Tzu
Everything has beauty,
but not everyone sees it.
- Confucius
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us.
- Marianne Williamson
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
- Lao Tzu
A good traveler has no fixed plans,
and is not intent on arriving.
- Lao Tzu
Love one another but make not a bond of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea
between the shores of your souls.
- Khalil Gibran
"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly,
"one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower."
- Hans Christian Andersen
The beauty does not live out there;
the beauty's in my eyes.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
The world is perfect. It's a mess.
It has always been a mess.
We are not going to change it.
Our job is to straighten out our own lives.
- Joseph Campbell
The mind is not a vessel to be filled
but a fire to be kindled.
- Plutarch
You will not be punished for your anger,
you will be punished by your anger.
- The Buddha
The true meaning of life is to plant trees,
under whose shade you do not expect to sit.
- Nelson Henderson
The essence of life is not in
the great victories and grand failures,
but in the simple joys.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Love does not claim possession, but gives freedom.
- Rabindranath Tagore
I am not afraid of storms
for I am learning how to sail my ship.
- Louisa May Alcott
Everything is a miracle,
not just the beautiful and lovely things.
- Anonymous
Treat those who are good with goodness,
and also treat those who are not good with goodness.
Thus goodness is attained.
Be honest to those who are honest,
and be also honest to those who are not honest.
Thus honesty is attained.
- Lao Tzu
Self-respect is not a function of size, age, or wealth.
Breathe deep, sing loud and sweet,
"I am me, I am unique, I am magnificent."
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
I do not need anyone's permission to be my true self.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations.
I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty,
believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.
- Louisa May Alcott
Sometimes we need the fog to remind ourselves
that all of life is not black and white.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
The key to forgiveness is to forgive from the heart -
not from the mind.
- Sheri Rosenthal
It's not the size of the dog in the fight,
it's the size of the fight in the dog.
- Mark Twain
The worst sin toward our fellow creatures
is not to hate them,
but to be indifferent to them:
that's the essence of inhumanity.
- George Bernard Shaw
Circumstance does not make the man: it reveals him to himself.
- James Allen
Life is not about how fast you run
or how high you climb
but how well you bounce.
- Vivian Komori
Imagine all the people living life in peace.
You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us,
and the world will be as one.
- John Lennon
A ship in harbor is safe -
but that is not what ships are for.
- John A. Shedd
Love means not ever having to say you're sorry.
- Erich Segal
The opposite of courage in our society
is not cowardice, it is conformity.
- Rollo May
If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant.
If we did not sometimes taste of adversity,
prosperity would not be so welcome.
- Anne Bradstreet
Not everything that casts a long shadow is to be feared.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
The question is not what you look at, but what you see.
- Henry David Thoreau
Truth is not defined by
how many people believe something.
Ask. Question. Think.
Decide - for yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Life is NOT "Supposed to be Fair."
Know that there is no single way that life is "supposed" to be.
Demanding that life meet our expectations
is a sure fire recipe for a miserable existence.
Life is a game with no rules.
Life just happens to us regardless of our best intentions.
Our only path to happiness lies in being open
to receiving whatever life throws at us -
with Gratitude. Have NO Expectations of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
The full measure of a man is
not to be found in the man himself,
but in the colors and textures that
come alive in others because of him.
- Albert Schweitzer
The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.
- Oscar Wilde
We are not held back by the love we didn't receive in the past,
but by the love we're not extending in the present.
- Marianne Williamson
We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors,
we borrow it from our children.
- Native American Proverb
Life may not be the party we hoped for,
but while we are here we might as well dance.
- Anonymous
Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek,
but a means by which we arrive at that goal.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Treat the earth well.
It was not given to you by your parents,
it was loaned to you by your children.
We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors,
we borrow it from our Children.
- Native American traditional
One does not discover new lands without consenting
to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.
- Andre Gide
The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance -
it is the illusion of knowledge.
- Daniel J. Boorstin
It's not whether you get knocked down;
it's whether you get back up.
- Vince Lombardi
Do or do not, there is no try.
- Jedi Master Yoda in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Our greatest glory is not in never falling,
but in rising every time we fall.
- Confucius
Life is not supposed to be fair.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
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May the world be kind to you,
and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
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