Motivational Quotes

Purpose

For I say unto you in all sadness of conviction that to think great thoughts you must be heroes as well as idealists. Only when you have worked alone -- when you have felt around you are a black gulf of solitude more isolating than that which surrounds the dying man, and in hope and despair have trusted to your own unshaken will -- then only can you gain the secret isolated joy of the thinker, who knows that a hundred years after he is dead and forgotten men who have never heard of him will be moving to the measure of his thought -- the subtle rapture of postponed power, which the world knows not because it has no external trappings, but which to his prophetic vision is more real than that which commands an army. And if this joy should not be yours, still it is only thus you can know that you have done what lay in you to do -- can say that you have lived, and be ready for the end.

- Holmes Jr., Oliver Wendell

Best Quotes about Purpose

When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it.

Stone, W. Clement

You are only as strong as your purpose, therefore let us choose reasons to act that are big bold righteous and eternal.

Munro, Barry

Every man is occasionally visited by the suspicion that the planet on which he is riding is not really going anywhere; that the Force which controls its measured eccentricities hasn't got anything special in mind. If he broods on this somber theme long enough he gets the doleful idea that the laughing children on a merry-go-round or the thin, fine hands of a lady's watch are revolving more purposely than he is.

Thurber, James

Above all be of single aim; have a legitimate and useful purpose, and devote yourself unreservedly to it.

Allen, James

The sense of paralysis proceeds not so much out of the mammoth size of the problem but out of the puniness of the purpose.

Cousins, Norman

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. [2 Corinthians 5:20]

Bible

The purpose of man is in action not thought.

Carlyle, Thomas

All men should strive to learn before they die, what they are running from, and to, and why.

Thurber, James

Every person above the ordinary has a certain mission that they are called to fulfill.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

10.

Your cause belongs to those that can avenge your wrongs.

Winkworth

11.

A just cause is not ruined by a few mistakes.

Dostoevsky, Fyodor

12.

The only failure a man ought to fear is failure in cleaving to the purpose he sees to be best.

Eliot, George

13.

Ever more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for.

Frankl, Viktor E.

14.

A man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set out to accomplish it. He should make this purpose the centralizing point of his thoughts. It may take the form of a spiritual ideal, or it may be a worldly object, according to his nature at the time being; but whichever it is, he should steadily focus his thought forces upon the object which he has set before him. He should make this purpose his supreme duty, and should devote himself to its attainment, not allowing his thoughts to wander away into ephemeral fancies, longings, and imaginings. This is the royal road to self-control and true concentration of thought. Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose (as he necessarily must until weakness is overcome), the strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting point for future power and triumph.

Allen, James

15.

Winners are people with definite purpose in life.

Waitley, Denis

16.

Once we are destined to live out our lives in the prison of our mind, our duty is to furnish it well.

Ustinov, Peter

17.

For an athlete to function properly, he must be intent. There has to be a definite purpose and goal if you are to progress. If you are not intent about what you are doing, you aren't able to resist the temptation to do something else that might be more fun at the moment.

Wooden, John

18.

You have to know what is right for you and go after it regardless of what others say.

Brown, Les

19.

What mankind wants is not talent; it is purpose.

Bulwer-Lytton, Edward G.

20.

It is essential that we enable young people to see themselves as participants in one of the most exciting eras in history, and to have a sense of purpose in relation to it.

Rockefeller, Nelson

21.

There is no better test of a man's work than time, which also reveals the thoughts which lay hidden in his breast.

Simonides

22.

A purpose you impart is no longer your own.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

23.

The first principle of ethical power is Purpose. By purpose, I don't mean your objective or intention-something toward which you are always striving. Purpose is something bigger. It is the picture you have of yourself-the kind of person you want to be or the kind of life you want to lead.

Blanchard, Ken

24.

The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder -- waif, a nothing, a no man. Have a purpose in life, and, having it, throw such strength of mind and muscle into your work as God has given you.

Carlyle, Thomas

25.

We need not only a purpose in life to give meaning to our existence but also something to give meaning to our suffering. We need as much something to suffer for as something to live for.

Hoffer, Eric

26.

What we must try to be, of course, is ourselves and wholeheartedly. We must find out what we really are and what we really want.

Boswell, Nelson

27.

The presence of a long-term, conscious goal has helped me maintain stability through the ubiquitous changes of over half a century.

Craig Mary

28.

They are not only idle who do nothing, but they are idle also who might be better employed.

Socrates

29.

Blessed are the single-hearted, for they shall enjoy much peace. If you refuse to be hurried and pressed, if you stay your soul on God, nothing can keep you from that clearness of spirit which is life and peace. In that stillness you will know what His will is.

Carmichael, Amy

30.

Pep without purpose is piffle.

31.

You can come to understand your purpose in life by slowing down and feeling your heart's desires.

Wieder, Marcia

32.

The first thing to do in life is to do with purpose what one purposes to do.

Casals, Pablo

33.

Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ; so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. [Philippians 1:27]

Bible

34.

Never be afraid to treat the path alone. Know which is your path and follow it wherever it may lead you; do not feel you have to follow in someone else's footsteps.

Bellin, Gita

35.

The one who adapts his policy to the times prospers, and likewise that the one whose policy clashes with the demands of the times does not.

Machiavelli, Niccolo

36.

It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end

Hemingway, Ernest

37.

Be above it! Make the world serve your purpose, but do not serve it.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

38.

To the person with a firm purpose all men and things are servants.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

39.

The longest journey is the journey inwards. Of him who has chosen his destiny, Who has started upon his quest for the source of his being.

Hammarskjold, Dag

40.

Give me a man who says, This one thing I do, and not, These fifty things, I dabble in.

Moody, Dwight L.

41.

My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm happy. I can't figure it out. What am I doing right.

Schulz, Charles M.

42.

When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and your discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.

Patanjali

43.

Multitudes of people, drifting aimlessly to and fro without a set purpose, deny themselves such fulfillment of their capacities, and the satisfying happiness which attends it. They are not wicked, they are only shallow. They are not mean or vicious; they simply are empty -- shake them and they would rattle like gourds. They lack range, depth, and conviction. Without purpose their lives ultimately wander into the morass of dissatisfaction. As we harness our abilities to a steady purpose and undertake the long pull toward its accomplishment, rich compensations reward us. A sense of purpose simplifies life and therefore concentrates our abilities; and concentration adds power.

Hildebrand, Kenneth

44.

The secret of man's being is not only to live but to have something to live for.

Dostoevsky, Fyodor

45.

Great minds have purposes; others have wishes.

Irving, Washington

46.

The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started.

Cousins, Norman

47.

People should follow their own energy.

Schultz, Will

48.

Many men go fishing their entire lives without knowing it is not fish they are after.

Thoreau, Henry David

49.

I think that a lot of women are made to feel that they have not done the one thing that they were put on the earth to do if they didn't do the normal thing, if they didn't take the most traveled path. And it's unfortunate.

Griffith, Nanci

50.

What we determine we often break. Purpose is but the slave to memory.

Shakespeare, William