“Some people say that they feel burned out. The truth is that they probably never were on fire in the first place."

“Your potential is a picture of what you can become. Belief helps you see the picture and reach for it.”

"If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves."

-Thomas Edison

"The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems."

-Mohandas Gandhi

"John Powell, author of The Secret of Staying in Love, estimates that the average person reaches only ten percent of his potential, sees only ten percent of the beauty that is all around him, hears only ten percent of its music and poetry, smells only ten percent of its fragrance, and tastes only ten percent of the deliciousness of being alive. Most neither see nor seize their potential."

“When you discover you've been leading only half a life, the other half is going to haunt you until you develop it."

-Phillips Brooks

“When it comes to believing in themselves, some people are agnostic!”

"There is but one cause of human failure. And that is man's lack of faith in his true self."

-William James

“Don’t listen to those who say, 'It's not done that way.' Maybe it's not, but maybe you'll do it anyway. Don't listen to those who say, 'You're taking too big a chance.' Michelangelo would have painted the Sistine floor, and it would surely be rubbed out today."

-Neil Simon

"Harvey McKay tells the story of a professor who stood before a class of thirty senior molecular biology students.

Before he passed out the final exam, he stated, 'I have been privileged to be your instructor this semester, and I know how hard you have worked to prepare for this test. I also know most of you are off to medical school or grad school next fall. I am well aware of how much pressure you are under to keep your GPAs up, and because I am confident that you know this material, I am prepared to offer an automatic B to anyone who opts to skip taking the final exam.'

The relief was audible. A number of students jumped up from their desks, thanking their professor for the lifeline he had thrown them. 'Any other takers?' he asked. 'This is your last opportunity.' One more student decided to go.

The instructor then handed out the final exam, which consisted of two sentences. 'Congratulations,' it read, 'you have just received an A in this class. Keep believing in yourself.' It was a just reward for the students who had worked hard and believed in themselves."

“You don’t overcome challenges by making them smaller. You overcome them by making yourself bigger!"

“If you don’t live it, you don’t believe it.”

-Paul Harvey

“It is the greatest shot of adrenaline to be doing what you've wanted to do so badly. You almost feel like you could fly without the plane."

-Charles Lindbergh

“Passion is the foundation for excellence.”

“My grades went up because my passion did.”

“You can’t be successful and play it safe.”

“These firefighters focus on what’s wrong rather than what’s right. They find the cloud that comes with every silver lining.”

“Spend more time with people who see you not just as who you are but as you could be.”

“I am convinced that my life belongs to the whole community; and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in the life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before turning it over to future generations."

-George Bernard Shaw

"To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions."

-Benjamin Franklin

“Too many people wait around for their ship to come in. When they take that approach to life, they often find it to be hardship. The things that simply come to us are rarely the things we want."

"I believe you don't motivate people. What you do is hire motivated people, then make sure you don't demotivate them."

-Tom Golisano

"All problems become smaller if you don't dodge them, but confront them. Touch a thistle timidly, and it pricks you; grasp it boldly, and its spines crumble."

-William Halsey

“I read daily to grow in my personal life. I listen to others daily to broaden my perspective. I spend time thinking daily to apply what I am learning. And I try to write daily so that I can remember what I've learned. I also try to share those lessons with others."

“You can claim to be surprised once; after that, you’re just unprepared.”

“People don’t get a second chance to seize a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“Developing discipline always begins with a struggle. There is no easy way to become a disciplined person. It has nothing to do with talent or ability. It is not a matter of conditions but of choice. But once the choice is made and practice becomes a habit, two things become obvious. The first is a separation between the person who practices and the one who doesn't. The second thing that emerges is a winning spirit. The harder you work, the harder it becomes to surrender."

“You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he is willing to climb himself."

-Andrew Carnegie

“The difference between the ordinary and the extraordinary is the extra!"

“You beat fifty percent of the people in America by working hard; you beat forty percent by being a person of honesty and integrity and standing for something; and the last ten percent is a dogfight in the free enterprise system."

-Art Williams

“If you see a turtle on top of a fence post, you know he had help getting there."

-Alex Haley

"Thousands of people have talent. I might as well congratulate you for having eyes in your head. The one and only thing that counts is: Do you have staying power?"

-Noel Coward

"We are determined to win the battle. We will fight them until hell freezes over, and then, if we have to, we'll fight them on the ice."

-Joseph Lanier

“At a sales convention, the corporate sales manager got up in front of all two thousand of his firm's salespeople and asked, 'Did the Wright brothers ever quit?' 'No!' the sales force shouted.

'Did Charles Lindbergh ever quit?' he asked. 'No!' the salespeople shouted again. 'Did Lance Armstrong ever quit?' 'No!' He bellowed for a fourth time, 'Did Thorndike McKester ever quit?'

There was a confused silence for a long moment. Then a salesperson stood up and asked, 'Who in the world is Thorndike McKester? Nobody's ever heard of him.'

The sales manager snapped back, 'Of course you never heard of him - because he quit!'"

"Success is a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired - you quit when the gorilla is tired."

-Robert Strauss

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at its testing point."

-C. S. Lewis

"What on earth would a man do with himself if something didn't stand in his way?"

-H. G. Wells

“If we could kick the person responsible for most of our troubles, we wouldn't be able to sit down for a week."

“Inside every individual there are six people. They are: who you are reputed to be, who you are expected to be, who you were, who you wish to be, who you think you are, and who you really are."

"Never let a day pass without looking at some perfect work of art, hearing some great piece of music, and reading, in part, some great book."

-Goethe

“It’s truly remarkable how much a person has to learn before he realizes how little he knows. The world is vast, and we are so limited. There is much for us to learn, and we can learn much - as long as we remain teachable."

“Blessed are they that laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be entertained."

-Chinese Proverb

“If you see a bomb technician running, try to keep up with him."

-U.S. Ammo Troop

“The greatest enemy of learning is knowing.”

“If you want to know how long it will take to get to the top, consult a calendar. If you want to know how long it can take to fall to the bottom, try a stopwatch."

“Talent can be cultivated in tranquility; character only in the rushing stream of life."

-Goethe

“Your character is always your choice.”

“People can no sooner blame their character on their circumstances than they can blame their looks on a mirror. Developing character is your personal responsibility. It cannot be given to you; you must earn it."

“Almost all our faults are more pardonable than the methods we think up to hide them."

-Francois La Rochefoucauld

“You have God-given talent; develop it. You have opportunity before you; pursue it. You have a future that is bright; look forward to it. But above all else, you have the potential to become a person of character; follow through with it. Character, more than anything else, will protect everything in your life that you hold dear."

“My friends have made the story of my life. In a thousand ways they have turned my limitations into beautiful privileges, and enabled me to walk serene and happy in the shadow cast by my deprivation."

-Helen Keller

“Tom has changed my life forever. He has been a lifter in so many areas of my life. If you ever encounter someone who has that impact on you, fight to preserve that relationship, show your gratitude often, and give whatever you can in return."

“Every man is entitled to be valued by his best moments."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"My friends didn't believe that I could become a successful speaker. So I did something about it. I went out and found me some new friends!"

-Joe Larson

“Life is too long to spend it with people who pull you in the wrong direction. And it's too short not to invest in others. Your relationships will define you. And they will influence your talent - one way or the other. Choose wisely."

“You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand."

-Woodrow Wilson

“Your vision must align with who you want to be. Your choices must align with your vision. Your effort must align with the size of your vision. Your behavior must align with your values and principles.”

“A visionary is someone who is not living in the here and now. He or she has already seen at least five moves ahead and is living in that reality.”

“The ability to solve problems well is the ability to take a complex issue you’re facing and break it down into a step-by-step formula that helps you identify the root of the problem.”

“There’s perfection within you, and that perfection is seeking expression within and through you. It is always for expression, expansion, and greater good."

“Our paradigm was built through repetition – constant, spaced repetition – and that’s the way it’s going to be changed.”

“The income you earn is in direct ratio to the need for what you do, your ability to do it, and the difficulty of replacing you. There’s got to be a tremendous need for what you’re doing, so you’re going to get really good at it, and you’re going to be really difficult to replace.”

“The actual truth is not negative or positive when you remove judgement from it. It simply is. Neutral is the harmony between two extremes, negative and positive.

Neutral thinkers remain aware of the situation as it changes from moment to moment. We give ourselves the opportunity to learn from every situation, even if the outcome is not optimal at that specific time. The next behavior remains consistently in our control."

"Nothing hit me between the eyes like the illusion of choice. It so clearly is true, and yet we all compete against our own choices every day."

“They were a collection of winners and, more important, a group organized around great behaviors. After all, winners win only when they behave like people who win."

“It’s not hours in the day you lack, it’s a vision for your life that makes time irrelevant.”

“Failure has never killed a dream; quitting kills every dream it touches.”

“The picture in my mind was so clear you could have put a frame around it and hung it on a wall.”

"The path to success is to take massive, determined action.”