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Motivation Quotes and Quotations
 What makes life dreary is want of motive.  They never die, who have the future in them. As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death. One must not lose desires. They are mighty stimulants to creativeness, to love and to long life. Take away the cause, and the effect ceases. Every true man, sir, who is a little above the level of the beasts and plants, lives so as to give a meaning and a value to his own life. The secret of discipline is motivation. When a man is sufficiently motivated, discipline will take care of itself. Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great. Talent isn't enough. You need motivation-and persistence, too: what Steinbeck called a blend of faith and arrogance. When you're young, plain old poverty can be enough, along with an insatiable hunger for recognition. You have to have that feeling of "I'll show them." If you don't have it, don't become a writer. Never let go of that fiery sadness called desire. It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger for them. One man with a dream, at pleasure, Shall go forth and conquer a crown, And three with a new song's measure, Can trample an empire down. We can do whatever we wish to do provided our wish is strong enough. ... What do you want most to do? That's what I have to keep asking myself, in the face of difficulties. Winning isn't everything. Wanting to win is. If you can learn from hard knocks, you can also learn from soft touches. For every man there exists a bait which he cannot resist swallowing. Accurate information is a key part of motivation. Football linemen are motivated by a more complicated, self-determining series of factors than the simple fear of humiliation in the public gaze, which is the emotion that galvanizes the backs and receivers. Love makes the wildest spirit tame, and the tamest spirit wild. I tried to treat them like me, and some of them weren't. To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life. I believe in using words, not fists. Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. The moment somebody says to me, "This is very risky," is the moment it becomes attractive to me. Some people are molded by their admirations, others by their hostilities. A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights. Good humor, like the jaundice, makes every one of its own complexion. All I want out of life is that when I walk down the street, folks will say, "There goes the greatest hitter who ever lived." Your distress about life might mean you have been living for the wrong reason, not that you have no reason for living. Great men undertake great things because they are great; fools, because they think them easy. Love teaches even asses to dance. There are only two stimulants to one's best efforts: the fear of punishment, and the hope of reward. When you get hungry enough, you find yourself speaking Spanish pretty well. Discontent is the first step in progress. No one knows what is in him till he tries, and many would never try if they were not forced to. I never work better than when I am inspired by anger; when I am angry, I can write, pray, and preach well, for then my whole temperament is quickened, my understanding sharpened, and all mundane vexations and temptations depart. It is for the superfluous things of life that men sweat. Happiness is in the taste, and not in the things themselves; we are happy from possessing what we like, not from possessing what others like. We must each find our separate meaning in the persuasion of our days until we meet in the meaning of the world. Don't let other people tell you what you want. Men are more often bribed by their loyalties and ambitions than by money. In my experience, there is only one motivation, and that is desire. No reasons or principle contain it or stand against it. All progress is based upon a universal, innate desire on the part of every living organism to live beyond its income. Those who are lifting the world upward and onward are those who encourage more than criticize. Everyone expects to go further than his father went; everyone expects to be better than he was born and every generation has one big impulse in its heart-to exceed all the other generations of the past in all the things that make life worth living. To feel valued, to know, even if only once in a while, that you can do a job well is an absolutely marvelous feeling. The speed of the leader is the speed of the gang. To sink a six-foot putt with thirty million people looking over your shoulder, convince yourself that, if you miss it, you will be embarrassed and poor. I want to do it because I want to do it. Fear, desire, hope still push us on toward the future. Money never remains just coins and pieces of paper. Money can be translated into the beauty of living, a support in misfortune, an education, or future security. Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge. - Plato Lust and force are the source of all our actions; lust causes voluntary actions, force involuntary ones. I don't make deals for the money. I've got enough, much more than I'll never need. I do it to do it. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That's how I get my kicks. Wealth ... and poverty: the one is the parent of luxury and indolence, and the other of meanness and vicious-ness, and both of discontent. - Plato Anxiety and conscience are a powerful pair of dynamos. Between them, they have ensured that I shall work hard, but they cannot ensure that one shall work at anything worthwhile. It is the spur of ignorance, the consciousness of not understanding, and the curiosity about that which lies beyond that are essential to our progress. We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different, and yet the same. Love teaches even asses to dance. Money and women. They're the two strongest things in the world. There are things you do for a woman you wouldn't do for anything else. Same with money. It is for the superfluous things of life that men sweat. It is not merely cruelty that leads men to love war, it is excitement. I am not sending messages with my feet. All I ever wanted was not to come up empty. I did it for the dough, and the old applause. My advice about acting? Speak clearly, don't bump into people, and if you must have motivation, think of your pay packet on Friday. I take it that what all men are really after is some form of, perhaps only some formula of, peace. It is the north wind that lashes men into Vikings; it is the soft, luscious south wind which lulls them to lotus dreams. - Ouida One starts an action simply because one must do something. Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility. The breakfast of champions is not cereal, it's the opposition. There's only one good reason to be a writer-we can't help it! We'd all like to be successful, rich and famous, but if those are our goals, we're off on the wrong foot. ... I just wanted to earn enough money so I could work at home on my writing. I wish it, I command it. Let my will take the place of a reason. - Juvenal Necessity, who is the mother of our invention. - Plato Urgent necessity prompts many to do things. I always felt that I hadn't achieved what I wanted to achieve. I always felt I could get better. That's the whole incentive. Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation. To have a grievance is to have a purpose in life. What you are must always displease you, if you would attain to that which you are not. We accept the verdict of the past until the need for change cries out loudly enough to force upon us a choice between the comforts of further inertia and the irksomeness of action. I can't concentrate on golf or bowling. Those bowling pins aren't going to hurt me. I can concentrate in the ring because someone is trying to kill me. I happened on the idea of fitting an engine to a bicycle simply because I did not want to ride crowded trains and buses. Always in a moment of extreme danger things can be done which had previously been thought impossible. Acting was a way out at first. A way out of not knowing what to do, a way of focusing ambitions. And the ambition wasn't for fame. The ambition was to do an interesting job. A loafer never works except when there is a fire; then he will carry out more furniture than anybody. Hardships, poverty and want are the best incentives, and the best foundation, for the success of man. Poverty, Frost, Famine, Rain, Disease, are the beadles and guardsmen that hold us to Common Sense. Necessity is the mother of taking chances. If you're good to your staff when things are going well, they'll rally when times go bad. Praise is the only gift for which people are really grateful. I praise loudly; I blame softly. There are two things that people want more than sex and money- recognition and praise. To hear how special and wonderful we are is endlessly enthralling. Words are less needful to sorrow than to joy. Sandwich every bit of criticism between two heavy layers of praise. There isn't much that tastes better than praise from those who are wise and capable. We treat our people like royalty. If you honor and serve the people who work for you, they will honor and serve you. What you praise you increase. What men and women need is encouragement. ... Instead of always harping on a man's faults, tell him of his virtues. Try to pull him out of his rut of bad habits. Everyone has an invisible sign hanging from their neck saying, "Make me feel important." Never forget this message when working with people. We are all motivated by a keen desire for praise, and the better a man is, the more he is inspired by glory. - Cicero Applause is the spur of noble minds, the end and aim of weak ones. Most people would rather be seen through than not seen at all. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand. Ideas actually begin to grow within us and come to life. Praise out of season, or tactlessly bestowed, can freeze the heart as much as blame. We do not content ourselves with the life we have in ourselves; we desire to live an imaginary life in the minds of others, and for this purpose we endeavor to shine. The greatest efforts of the race have always been traceable to the love of praise, as the greatest catastrophes to the love of pleasure. If each of us were to confess his most secret desire, the one that inspires all his plans, all his actions, he would say: "I want to be praised." We talk on principle, but we act on interest. What allows us, as human beings, to psychologically survive life on earth, with all of its pain, drama, and challenges, is a sense of purpose and meaning. A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights. The pitcher cries for water to carry and a person for work that is real. The virtues and the vices are all put in motion by interest. It's so hard when I have to, and so easy when I want to. Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong. You have to know exactly what you want out of your career. If you want to be a star, you don't bother with other things. Interest speaks all sorts of tongues, and plays all sorts of parts, even that of disinterestedness. Men's actions depend to a great extent upon fear. We do things either because we enjoy doing them or because we are afraid not to do them. Some people change their ways when they see the light, others when they feel the heat. There are only two forces that unite men-fear and interest. The passion to get ahead is sometimes born of the fear lest we be left behind. You can't underestimate the power of fear. There are only two stimulants to one's best efforts: the fear of punishment, and the hope of reward. A man who is afraid will do anything. Fear of losing is what makes competitors so great. Show me a gracious loser and I'll show you a permanent loser. A team that has character doesn't need stimulation. Beware of trying to accomplish anything by force. People who fight fire with fire usually end up with ashes. Because it's there. Diplomacy is the art of letting someone have your way. It is easier to influence strong than weak characters in life. Men are not against you; they are merely for themselves. No punishment has ever possessed enough power of deterrence to prevent the commission of crimes. On the contrary, whatever the punishment, once a specific crime has appeared for the first time, its reappearance is more likely than its initial emergence could ever have been. When the flag is unfurled, all reason is in the trumpet. No leader can be too far ahead of his followers. You will accomplish more by kind words and a courteous manner than by anger or sharp rebuke, which should never be used except in necessity. 
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