# Potential

Potential generally refers to a currently unrealized ability. The term is used in a wide variety of fields, from physics to the social sciences to indicate things that are in a state where they are able to change in ways ranging from the simple release of energy by objects to the realization of abilities in people.

## Quotes

* One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.
** Maya Angelou in: Rowena Holloway Pray It Forward, iUniverse, 1 August 2007, p. 34.
* But not the first Illusion, the new earth, The march upon the solitary fire, The casting of the dice of death and birth Against a giant, for a blind desire, The stream uncrossed, the promise still untried, The metal sleeping in the mountainside.
** Stephen Vincent Benét, Western Star (1943), prelude, section 3, stanza 6, p. 7–8. The last two lines were quoted by Senator George McGovern in his remarks nominating R. Sargent Shriver as his vice presidential running mate on the Democratic ticket, in a television address from the Capitol (August 5, 1972).
* The difference that a drama group or a cinema club can make to a small village or a town. It opens people up to ideas, potential about themselves that really, in a way, education often fails to. It's a way of drawing a community together.
** Gabriel Byrne in: Kitty Holland Gabriel Byrne says Government ‘paying lip-service’ to arts, Irish Times, 25 January 2014.
* Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better.
** Bill Bradley in : Wade D. Sadlier Unlocking Your Potential: The Keys to Discovering Your Hidden Treasure, Tate Publishing, 2011, p. 114.
* ... ultimately, there's one investment that supersedes all others: Invest in yourself. Address whatever you feel your weaknesses are, and do it now. I was terrified of public speaking when I was young. I couldn't do it. It cost me $100 to take a Dale Carnegie course, and it changed my life. I got so confident about my new ability, I proposed to my wife during the middle of the course. It also helped me sell stocks in Omaha, despite being 21 and looking even younger. Nobody can take away what you've got in yourself—and everybody has potential they haven't used yet. If you can increase your potential 10%, 20% or 30% by enhancing your talents, they can't tax it away. Inflation can't take it from you. You have it the rest of your life.
** Warren Buffett, (September 20, 2017)"My Greatest Investing Advice And The Investments Everyone Should Make". Forbes.
* The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.
** Confucius in :Be Free!: Keys to Success and Happiness in Every Aspect of Your Life, Slavica Inc, 12 October 2010, p. 45.
* Building a solid foundation in the early years of a child's life will not only help him or her reach their reach their full potential but will also result in better societies as a whole.
** Novak Djokovic, Nole supports vulnerable children in Serbia, Novak Djokovic, 21 December 2011.
* Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.
** Black Elk, in Steve Heisler The Missing Link: Teaching and Learning Critical Success Skills, R&L Education, 2 April 2014, p. 61.
* I do believe that man is a rope between animal and superman. But the superman I'm thinking of isn't Nietzsche's. The real superhuman, man or woman, is the person who's rid himself of all prejudices, neuroses, and psychoses, who realizes his full potential as a human being, who acts naturally on the basis of gentleness, compassion, and love, who thinks for himself and refuses to follow the herd. That's the genuine dyed-in-the-wool superman.
** Philip José Farmer, The Dark Design (1977), Ch. 31.
* Leadership is all about unlocking the potential in others.
** Carly Fiorina, Speech on Leadership at University of Maryland (October 10, 2003), broadcast by C-Span.
* Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!
** Anne Frank in: Paul Novak 101+ Uncommonly Good Insights for Teens, WordTechs Press, 27 May 2014, p. 18.
* I have seen firsthand that agricultural science has enormous potential to increase the yields of small farmers and lift them out of hunger and poverty.
** Bill Gates in: Dana Goldstein Dana Goldstein 5 Questions for Bill Gates: The Full Interview, The Daily Beast, 24 January 2010.
* God's angels often protect his servants from potential enemies.
** Billy Graham in: Angels: Ringing Assurance that We Are Not Alone, Thomas Nelson Inc, 11 April 2000, p. 83.
* We can reach our potential, but to do so, we must reach within ourselves. We must summon the strength, the will, and the faith to move forward - to be bold - to invest in our future.
** John Hoeven in: Jay Levinson, et al., Guerrilla Marketing on the Internet: The Definitive Guide from the Father of Guerrilla Marketing, Entrepreneur Press, 1 August 2008.
* It's not about charisma and personality, it's about results and products and those very bedrock things that are why people at Apple and outside of Apple are getting more excited about the company and what Apple stands for and what its potential is to contribute to the industry.
** Steve Jobs in: Stephen Nale The 100 Greatest Steve Jobs Quotes, 5 October 2012, Source: BusinessWeek Online, 12 May 1998.
* God, our Creator, has stored within our minds and personalities, great potential strength and ability. Prayer helps us tap and develop these powers.
** A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in: Tom Zender One Minute Meditations At Work: 365 Days of Inspiration on the Job, BalboaPress, 26 October 2011, p. 100.
* With realization of one's own potential and self-confidence in one's ability, one can build a better world.
** Dalai Lama in: Jennifer E. Rhule Find the Leader in You: A Guide to Discovering Your Unlimited Potential, AuthorHouse, 25 July 2013, p. 86.
* The method of considering the components of a vector as the first derivatives of a certain function of the coordinates with respect to those coordinates was invented by Laplace ... in his treatment of the theory of attractions. The name of Potential was first given to this function by Green ..., who made it the basis of his theory of electricity. Green's essay was neglected by mathematicians till 1846, and before that time most of its important theorems had been discovered by Gauss, Chasles, Sturm, and Thomson ...
** James Clerk Maxwell, A treatise on electricity and magnetism Vol I. Oxford : Clarendon Press. 1873. p. 14.
* A word of encouragement from a teacher to a child can change a life. A word of encouragement from a spouse can save a marriage. A word of encouragement from a leader can inspire a person to reach her potential.
** John C. Maxwell in:Encouragement Changes Everything: Bless and Be Blessed, Thomas Nelson Inc, 1 January 2008
* Women are not weaker. Read that again. Women are not weaker. They are just as strong, just as resolute, just as creative, and are filled with just as much potential as any man.
** Brad Meltzer in:Heroes for My Daughter, HarperCollins, 10 April 2012 , p. 7.
* My parents... imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren't rich, because in a generous America you don't have to be rich to achieve your potential.
** Barack Obama, Speech at the Democratic National Convention (July 27, 2004).
* [I]t’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.
** Barack Obama, Knox College Commencement Address (4 June 2005).
* I am convinced that our daughters can contribute just as much to society as our sons. Our common prosperity will be advanced by allowing all humanity - men and women - to reach their full potential.
** Barack Obama, "A New Beginning", speech at Cairo University (June 4, 2009).
* I want to challenge you today to get out of your comfort zone. You have so much incredible potential on the inside. God has put gifts and talents in you that you probably don't know anything about.
** Joel Osteen in: Julie Blim and Lisa Ryan Joel Osteen: The Power of Positivity (part 2), The Christian Broadcasting Network.
* The signs of outstanding leadership appear primarily among the followers. Are the followers reaching their potential? Are they learning? Serving? Do they achieve the required results? Do they change with grace? Manage conflict?
** Max de Pree in: David T. Foster III et.al., Emergency Services Leadership, Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 10 January 2012,
* Instead of looking outside of ourselves and counting potential enemies, fasting summons us to turn our glance inward, and to take the measure of our greatest challenge: the self, the ego, in our own eyes and as others see us.
** Tariq Ramadan in: Ramadan is over, but the struggle goes on, ABC Religion and Ethics, 20 August 2012.
* Abortion is inherently different from other medical procedures because no other procedure involves the purposeful termination of a potential life.
** Justcie Potter Stewart in: Christopher A. Anzalone Encyclopedia of Supreme Court Quotations, M.E. Sharpe, p. 182.
* We shall never be able to remove suspicion and fear as potential causes of war until communication is permitted to flow, free and open, across international boundaries.
** Harry S. Truman in: M.P. Singh Quote Unquote (A Handbook of Quotations), Lotus Press, 1 January 2005, p. 101.
* All human beings are very creative - full of potential, full of energy... So, money kind of allows them to express it... And if you're successful, you can take more money. You can expand your capacity, reach next level of capacity, and so on.
** Muhammad Yunus in:with Muhammad Yunus, PBS Foundation.
* If there is one lesson for U.S. foreign policy from the past 10 years, it is surely that military intervention can seem simple but is in fact a complex affair with the potential for unintended consequences.
** Fareed Zakaria in: The Libyan Conundrum, Time Inc., 10 March 2011.