Motivation quotes

Motivation

2.8K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.

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Motivation quotes (page 16 of 139)

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James Van Allen Physicist
Motivation

"In a dispassionate comparison of the relative values of human and robotic spaceflight, the only surviving motivation for continuing human spaceflight is the ideology of adventure. But only a tiny number of Earth's six billion inhabitants are direct participants. For the rest of us, the adventure is vicarious and akin to that of watching a science fiction movie. At the end of the day, I ask myself whether the huge national commitment of technical talent to human spaceflight and the ever-present potential for the loss of precious human life are really justifiable."

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Michael Jordan Professional Basketball Player
Motivation

"Maybe it’s my own fault. Maybe I led you to believe it was easy when it wasn’t. Maybe I made you think my highlights started at the free throw line, and not in the gym. Maybe I made you think that every shot I took was a game winner. That my game was built on flash, and not fire. Maybe it’s my fault that you didn’t see that failure gave me strength; that my pain was my motivation. Maybe I led you to believe that basketball was a God given gift, and not something I worked for every single day of my life. Maybe I destroyed the game. Or maybe you’re just making excuses."

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Michael Jordan Professional Basketball Player
Motivation

"I'm not afraid to take a step and if I fall, I fall. I pick myself up and move on. If we can all learn one thing in life, it's don't be afraid to take on something that you believe you're capable of achieving."

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Mike Tyson Professional Boxer
Motivation

"I just have this thing inside me that wants to eat and conquer. Maybe it's egotistical, but I have it in me. I don't want to be a tycoon. I just want to conquer people and their souls."

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Dalai Lama Spiritual Leader
Motivation

"If you develop a pure and sincere motivation, if you are motivated by a wish to help on the basis of kindness, compassion, and respect, then you can carry on any kind of work, in any field, and function more effectively."

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Elon Musk Entrepreneur, Business Magnate
Motivation

"Well, my motivation behind Tesla is really to do as much good as possible for the environment and the electric-vehicle revolution. I think there is still a lot of work to do and if we were to sell to a big company, I'm not sure it would progress at the same pace."

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Carl Honore Author and Speaker
Motivation

"By slowing down at the right moments, people find that they do everything better: They eat better; they make love better; they exercise better; they work better; they live better."

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Benjamin Carson Neurosurgeon, Author, Politician
Motivation

"No matter how good you are at planning, the pressure never goes away. So I don't fight it. I feed off it. I turn pressure into motivation to do my best."

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Bill Ford Businessman
Motivation

"When you factor in population growth, it's clear that the mobility model that we have today simply will not work tomorrow. Four billion clean cars on the road are still four billion cars, and a traffic jam with no emissions is still a traffic jam."

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Alan Russell Author, Screenwriter
Motivation

"The richer we are, the longer we live. And the longer we live, the more expensive it is to take care of our diseases as we get older."

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Ayn Rand Philosopher, Novelist
Motivation

"I like to receive money for my work. But I can pass that up this time. I like to have people know my work is done by me. But I can pass that up. I like to have tenants made happy by my work. But that doesn't matter too much. The only thing that matters, my goal, my reward, my beginning, my end is the work itself. My work done my way. Peter, there's nothing in the world that you can offer me, except this. Offer me this and you can have anything I've got to give. My work done my way. A private, personal, selfish, egotistical motivation. That's the only way I function. That's all I am."

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