Our Centers for Ethics:

Quotations: Purpose, will, ambition

---

But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think...
— Lord Byron, English poet (1788-1824), from Don Juan, Canto III

[A]n aim in life is the only fortune worth the finding; and it is not to be found in foreign lands, but in the heart itself.
— Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist and adventurer (1850-1894), from The Amateur Emigrant

All progress depends on the unreasonable man.
— George Bernard Shaw, 19th/20th-century Anglo-Irish dramatist and wit

To know just what has to be done, then to do it, comprises the whole philosophy of practical life.
— Sir William Osler, Canadian medical pioneer, educator and author (1849-1919)

When I am anxious it is because I am living in the future. When I am depressed it is because I am living in the past.
— Unknown

[T]he tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn't a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream...It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for. Not failure, but low aim is sin.
— Benjamin Elijah Mays, American educator and president of Morehouse College (1895-1984)

Genius is but fine observation strengthened by fixity of purpose.
— Edward Bulwer-Lytton, English novelist (1803-1873)

The most important part of doctrine is the first two letters.
— David C. Egner

As long as I can conceive something better than myself I cannot be easy unless I am striving to bring it into existence.
— George Bernard Shaw, Anglo-Irish dramatist and wit (1856-1950)

Striving to do better, oft we mar whats well.
— William Shakespeare, English dramatist (1564-1616)

The only way to find the limits of the possible is by going beyond them to the impossible.
— Arthur C. Clarke, English science fiction writer (b. 1917)

The more you prepare, the luckier you appear.
— Terry Josephson, 20th/21st-century motivational author

Stop thinking in terms of limitations and start thinking in terms of possibilities.
— Terry Josephson, 20th/21st-century motivational author

« back to quotations | top of page