Josephson Institute  >  Quotations Bank

Quotations: Passion, enthusiasm

Security is mostly superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.
— Helen Keller, American social activist, public speaker and author (1880-1968)

An overdose of praise is like 10 lumps of sugar in coffee; only a very few people can swallow it.
— Emily Post, American etiquette authority and author (1873-1960)

In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you.
— Warren Buffet, American financier (b. 1930)

We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German statesman, poet, novelist, dramatist and scientist (1749-1832)

In a president, character is everything. A president doesn't have to be brilliant... He doesn't have to be clever; you can hire clever... You can hire pragmatic, and you can buy and bring in policy wonks. But you cant buy courage and decency, you cant rent a strong moral sense. A president must bring those things with him. He needs to have, in that much maligned word, but a good one nonetheless, a vision of the future he wishes to create.. But a vision is worth little if a president doesn't have the character – the courage and heart – to see it through.
— Peggy Noonan, 20th century American author, speech writer for U.S. President Ronald Reagan

Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them. They make the impossible happen.
— Dr. Robert Jarvik, 20th-century American heart surgeon

Reason alone is insufficient to make us enthusiastic in any matter.
— François duc de la Rochefoucauld, French epigrammatist (1613-1680)

What a man accomplishes in a day depends upon the way in which he approaches his tasks. When we accept tough jobs as a challenge...and wade into them with joy and enthusiasm, miracles can happen. When we do our work with a dynamic conquering spirit, we get things done.
— Arland Gilbert

Zeal will do more than knowledge.
— William Hazlitt, English essayist and literary critic (1778-1830)

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
— Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (1901-1978)

The conclusions of passion are the only reliable ones.
— Soren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher (1813-1855)

Make no little plans! They have no magic to stir mens blood.
— Daniel Burnham, 19th-century Chicago architect

Passion, though a bad regulator, is a powerful spring.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, public philosopher and poet (1803-1882)

The two sovereign remedies for dullness are love or a crusade.
— D.H. Lawrence, English novelist (1885-1930)

Know the true value of time; snatch, seize and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness...never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
— Lord Chesterfield, English man of letters (1694-1773)

Energy and persistence conquer all things.
— Benjamin Franklin, American Founding Father, inventor and statesman (1706-1790)

[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

Love never fails, character never quits, and dreams do come true.
— Pete Maravich, basketball player

Betrayal can only happen if you love.
— John Le Carre (David Cornwall), British author (b. 1931), from The Perfect Spy

Choose your love, then love your choice.
— American proverb

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.
— –Siddhārtha Gautama, Buddha, Indian prince and founder of Buddhism (c. 563 BCE to 483 BCE)