Quotes about motivation and goals
230 quotes from 178 people
Each man had only one genuine vocation — to find the way to himself.
Hermann Hesse1877–1962Demian (1919), p. 193If we have our own why in life, we shall get along with almost any how.
Friedrich Nietzsche1844–1900Twilight of the Idols (1889), “Maxims and Arrows,” § 1.12Ah, nothing is too late
Till the tired heart shall cease to palpitate.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow1807–1882Morituri Salutamus (1875), St. 24.One’s destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things.
Henry Miller1891–1980Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch (1957), p. 25Perfection of means and confusion of goals seem—in my opinion—to characterize our age.
Albert Einstein1879–1955“The Common Language of Science”, broadcast (28 September 1941); reprinted in Ideas and Opinions (1954)Ambition has its disappointments to sour us, but never the good fortune to satisfy us.
Benjamin Franklin1706–1790“On True Happiness”, Pennsylvania Gazette (20 November 1735).If men cease to believe that they will one day become gods then they will surely become worms.
Henry Miller1891–1980The Colossus of Maroussi (1941), Part 3, p. 235I take it that what all men are really after is some form or perhaps only some formula of peace.
Joseph Conrad1857–1924Under Western Eyes (1911), Pt. IIt is true of the Nation, as of the individual, that the greatest doer must also be a great dreamer.
Theodore Roosevelt1858–1919Berkeley, CA (1911)You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.
Maya Angelou1928–2014Letter to My Daughter (2008)- Friedrich Nietzsche1844–1900Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883), Prologue, § 3, tr. Thomas CommonIn context
Jonathan Swift1667–1745Thoughts on Various Subjects from Miscellanies (1711-1726)
Mahatma Gandhi1869–1948Harijan (19 November 1938) p. 343
Richard Bachborn 1936Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah (1977)
Seneca the Younger5 BC–AD 65Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter LXXI: On the supreme good, Line 2