"Work may be your dominant thought, and joy an afterthought. But joy is your true purpose, and work the afterthought."
Read quote
7 likes
Purpose quotes
Purpose
3K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Topics related to Purpose
Browse quotes that often appear alongside purpose — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Purpose quotes (page 21 of 149)
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"... when we are hurt it is important to remember that God Himself has allowed it for a purpose."
Read quote
7 likes
"At any given moment, life is completely senseless. But viewed over a period, it seems to reveal itself as an organism existing in time, having a purpose, trending in a certain direction."
Read quote
7 likes
"Life has meaning only if one barters it day by day for something other than itself."
Read quote
7 likes
"Purpose ... is held to be most closely connected with virtue, and to be a better token of our character than are even our acts."
Read quote
7 likes
"Parliament is a deliberate assembly of one nation, with one interest, that of the whole; where, not local purpose, not local prejudices ought to guide but the general good, resulting from the general reason of the whole."
Read quote
7 likes
"The Purpose of Time is to Prevent Everything from Happening at Once"
Read quote
7 likes
"I will keep my body charged with energy for fulfillment of my purpose, in accord with that which is commanded of me."
Read quote
7 likes
"Don't die with your music still in you. Don't die with your purpose unfulfilled. Don't die feeling as if your life has been wrong. Don't let that happen to you."
Read quote
7 likes
"Happinessis a byproduct of function. Those who seek happiness for itself seek victory without war."
Read quote
7 likes
"My purpose is to inspire people of all walks of life to discover the virtue inherent within them and to bring forth that virtue in their daily lives."
Read quote
7 likes
"The world is not looking for servants, there are plenty of these, but for masters, men who form their purposes and then carry them out, let the consequences be what they may."
Read quote
7 likes
"Only free peoples can hold their purpose and their honor steady to a common end, and prefer the interests of mankind to any narrow interest of their own."
Read quote
7 likes
"I like that kind of frantic schedule. It makes me feel like I have a purpose."
Read quote
7 likes
"My main purpose in life is to make enough money to create ever more inventions…. The dove is my emblem…. I want to save and advance human life, not destroy it…. I am proud of the fact that I have never invented weapons to kill…."
Read quote
7 likes
"My main purpose in life is to make money so I can afford to go on creating more inventions."
Read quote
7 likes
"A doctrine serves no purpose in itself, but it is indispensable to have one if only to avoid being deceived by false doctrines."
Read quote
7 likes
"The beauty of religious mania is that it has the power to explain everything. Once God (or Satan) is accepted as the first cause of everything which happens in the mortal world, nothing is left to chance ... or change. Once such incantatory phrases as "we see now through a glass darkly" and "mysterious are the ways". He chooses His wonders to perform" are mastered, logic can be happily tossed out the window". Religious mania is one of the few infallible ways of responding to the world's vagaries, because it totally eliminates pure accident. To the true religious maniac, it's all on purpose."
Read quote
7 likes
"The Constitution was never meant to prevent people from praying, it's declared purpose was to protect their freedom to pray"
Read quote
7 likes
"When your life is on course with it’s purpose, you are your most powerful."
Read quote
7 likes