Quotes about motivation and goals
230 quotes from 178 people
Virgil70–19 BCAeneid (29–19 BC), Book VII, Line 312 (tr. Robert Fagles); spoken by Juno.Now always be the best, my boy, the bravest,
and hold your head up high above the others.
Homer900–800 BCIliad, VI. 208 (tr. Robert Fagles); Glaucus recalling his father’s charge
William the Silent1533–1584Letter to his brother, Louis of Nassau, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 93
Roberto Clemente1934–1972Tris Speaker Award acceptance speech, Houston (29 January 1971), as quoted in The Sporting News (20 February 1971)
David Hume1711–1776The History of England (1754-62)
Victor Hugo1802–1885Schoolboy notebook entry (1816), as quoted in Georges Pellissier, The Literary Movement in France During the Nineteenth Century (1897)When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
Paulo Coelhoborn 1947The Alchemist (1988), p. 22; a variant of this has become attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen” — but no occurrence of this a statement has been located prior to in The Gift …We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done.
Alan Turing1912–1954Computing Machinery and Intelligence (1950), p. 460.
Jawaharlal Nehru1889–1964A Tryst With Destiny (14 August 1947)
Walter Savage Landor1775–1864Imaginary Conversations (1824-1829), “Lord Brooke and Sir Philip Sidney”
Benjamin Disraeli1804–1881Speech to the National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associations in Crystal Palace, London (24 June 1872), quoted in Selected Speeches of the Late Right Honourable the Earl of Beaconsfield, Volume II, ed. T. E. Kebbel (1882), pp. 534-535
Jordan Petersonborn 1962Beyond Order (2021), p. 65
Nicolas Chamfort1740–1794Maximes et Pensées, #158
Ovid43 BC–AD 17Ars Amatoria (The Art of Love), Book I, line 389 (tr. James Michie)Great difficulties may be surmounted by patience and perseverance.
Abigail Adams1744–1818Letter to John Adams (27 November 1775)