Motivation quotes
2.8K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside motivation — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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"Motivation is when you get hold of an idea and don't let go of it until you make it a reality. Inspiration is the reverse - when an idea gets hold of you and you feel compelled to let that impulse or energy carry you along. You get to a point where you realize that you're no longer in charge, that there's a driving force inside you that can't be stopped."
"The sign of a masterpiece: A painting when there's a lack of resolution."
"All writing, all art, is an act of faith. If one tries to contribute to human understanding, how can that be called decadent? It's like saying a declaration of love is an act of decadence. Any work of art, provide it springs from a sincere motivation to further understanding between people, is an act of faith and therefore is an act of love."
"You gotta find a way to survive cause they win when your soul dies."
"I like to be a little more difficult to nail down that that just inside myself, but when someone's motivations, even if they wind up falling in one side or the other of the debate, when they're personal and also when they're masked by something that only the audience knows is really their motivation, that to me is just what I call entertainment."
"Do you want to sell sugar water all your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?"
"Regardless of anyone’s dietary motivations, the healthiest lifestyle is the one that’s most compassionate."
"Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than in the one where they sprung up."
"People always say 'Motivation is great but it doesn't last.' I just tell them, bathing does not last either, that is why I recommend it daily."
"I am convinced after more than 50 years in the field of motivation that anyone who wants to learn to look at life and/or their circumstances in a positive light can do so."
"Once a need is satisfied, it is no longer a motivator. Satisfaction does not increase motivation"
"Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity."
"Begin - to begin is half the work, let half still remain; again begin this, and thou wilt have finished."
"It is the character of a brave and resolute man not to be ruffled by adversity and not to desert his post."
"We must not say that every mistake is a foolish one."
"For there's nothing we read of in torture's inventions, Like a well-meaning dunce, with the best of intentions."
"In the old world, you devoted 30% of your time to building a great service and 70% of your time to shouting about it. In the new world, that inverts"
"Motivation is a mystery.Why does one salesperson see his first prospect at seven in the morning and another salesperson is just getting out of bed at eleven?I don't know.It's part of the mysteries of life."
"My suggestion would be to walk away from the 90% who don't and join the 10% who do."
"I believe talent is like electricity. We don't understand electricity. We use it. You can plug into it and light up a lamp, keep a heart pump going, light a cathedral, or you can electrocute a person with it. Electricity will do all that. It makes no judgment. I think talent is like that. I believe every person is born with talent."
