c2p-cmd/Good-Quotes-Authors huggingface dataset:
The goal - at least the way I think about entrepreneurship - is you realize one day that you can't really work anyone else. You have to start your own thing. It almost doesn't matter what the thing is. We had six different business plan changes, and then the last one was PayPal.If that one didn't work out, if we still had the money and the people, obviously we would not have given up. We would have iterated on the business model and done something else. I don't think there was ever clarity as to who we were until we knew it was working. By then, we'd figured out our PR pitch and told everyone what we do and who we are. But between the founding and the actual PayPal, it was just like this tug-of-war where it was like, "We're trying this, this week." Every week you go to investors and say, "We're doing this, exactly this. We're really focused. We're going to be huge." The next week you're like, "That was a lie.
— Jessica Livingston, Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days
Lawrence will go on burying his own undertakers.
— Harold Bloom, The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages
He had no ability to give up. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to quit, he couldn’t. It wasn’t in him. It never had been.
— Dan Groat, Monarchs and Mendicants
The boys just wanted to light the oven, but they ended up burning down the whole business and the family home. The children were saved, but the Ole Kirk Kristiansen's future looked bleak.Ole Kirk was a religious man; his optimism and sense of humour were well-known far beyond the local boundaries. Where others would have folded their hands in their laps and accepted their fate, he did not give up. With the courage born of desperation, he rebuilt his business on a larger and more expensive scale than it had been previously - and more so than he could afford: Many rooms had to be sublet, and the Kristiansens themselves only used a small part of the building. Apprentices were no longer paid, but received board and lodging instead. Life continued, somehow.
— Christian Humberg, 50 Years of the Lego Brick [With 6 Legos]
When the struggle gets realYou just have to get realer
— Julius Veal
The Holy Ghost is no temporary gift, He abides with the saints. We have but to seek Him aright, and He will be found of us. He is jealous, but He is pitiful; if He leaves in anger, He returns in mercy. Condescending and tender, He does not weary of us, but awaits to be gracious still.
— Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, Based on the English Standard Version
Belief creates conviction, conviction creates persistence, persistence creates perseverance and perseverance creates unlimited opportunities for greatness.
— Jason Versey
The universe would give you whatever you wanted if you twisted its arm hard enough.
— Rebecca Scherm, Unbecoming
If your heart is still beating, God is not done with you yet.
— Dillon Burroughs, Faith Acts: A Provocative Call to Live What You Believe
God may allow a disturbance, but we don’t have to be disturbed by it.
— Dillon Burroughs, Faith Acts: A Provocative Call to Live What You Believe
Thick is the darkness-- Sunward, O, sunward!Rough is the highway-- Onward, still onward!Dawn harbors surely East of the shadows.Facing us somewhere Spread the sweet meadows.Upward and forward! Time will restore us:Light is above us, Rest is before us.
— William Ernest Henley, Poems by William Ernest Henley
Suppose your whole world seems to rock on its foundations. Hold on steadily, let it rock, and when the rocking is over, the picture will have reassembled itself into something much nearer to your heart's desire
— Emmet Fox
Anyone who prays for the death of his enemy must consider who tempted Jesus Christ, the persecution of the apostles and the Psalm 23 of David
— Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
Be daring and determined. There is nothing to lose in this life.
— Lailah Gifty Akita
Patience endurance define the attractiveness of life.
— Lailah Gifty Akita, Think Great: Be Great!
An ordinary intellect will, by industry and perseverance, often accomplish more than a much superior one, deficient in energy and the power of endurance.
— L.G. Abell, A Mother's Book of Traditional Househould Skills
Zeal is more often checked after long years in the same service than when novelty gives a charm to our work.
— Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students
They outnumbered me, and I was worsted and under their feet; but, as yet, I was not dead.
— Charlotte Brontë
We often forget that the Author of our faith must be the Preserver of it also. The lamp which was burning in the temple was never allowed to go out, but it had to be daily replenished with fresh oil; in like manner, our faith can only live by being sustained with the oil of grace,
— Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students
Like swimming squirrels, you navigate with the help of Heaven and a stiff breeze, but you never land where you hope to—do you?
— Robert W. Chambers
People suffer all over the world, every day. But people triumph all over the world every day, too.
— Mia Sheridan, Grayson's Vow
It's not possible to advise a young writer because every young writer is so different. You might say, 'Read,' but a writer can read too much and be paralyzed. Or, 'Don't read, don't think, just write,' and the result could be a mountain of drivel. If you're going to be a writer you'll probably take a lot of wrong turns and then one day just end up writing something you have to write, then getting it better and better just because you want it to be better, and even when you get old and think 'There must be something else people do,' you won't quite be able to quit.
— Alice Munro
Keep the goal in mind and push onward to accomplish it.
— Lailah Gifty Akita, Think Great: Be Great!
Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God' (Hebrews 12:1-2). Jesus was motivated to endure by anticipating the joy of His reward. No amount of hardship and struggle could deprive Him of that anticipation.
— Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness
With patience endurance, you can survive any storm.
— Lailah Gifty Akita, Pearls of  Wisdom: Great  mind
If you don’t actively use your knowledge God has freely given you, you will never walk into God’s predestined plan for your life. You must seek it and then get to work. It will not fall into your lap.
— Latorria Freeman, Turn My Life Around Discovering Your Purpose
Graduating from college doesn't mean you're smart, said Mike Mussina who graduated from Stanford in 3 1/2 years, but it does mean you're smart enough to know that having a college degree would be a good thing.
— John Feinstein
It's never been a question of who is going to let me behave a certain way
—  it's always been a question of who is going to stop me. I thank you for answering it.
Authentic leaders inspire us to engage with each other in powerful dreams that make the impossible possible. We are called on to persevere despite failure and pursue a purpose beyond the paycheck. This is at the core of innovation. It requires aligning the dreams of each individual to the broader dream of the organization.
— Henna Inam, Wired for Authenticity: Seven Practices to Inspire, Adapt, & Lead
But sometimes the pieces fall together the way they want to, and you can't change the story; all you can do is try to ride it out.
— Seanan McGuire, Rosemary and Rue
When times get tough and your path gets rough, just hold on. You'll get there soon enough.
— Innocent Mwatsikesimbe, The Reason
Walk and loveWe're walking in loveFor the walk of love
— Criss Jami, Salomé: In Every Inch In Every Mile
It is very much, she thinks, like looking at the moon and knowing one could make it there, too. It is only time and breath that stand between her and the top. She is young. She'll do it and have done it.
— Dave Eggers
You can only have the courage and strength to do what you think is right. It may turn out to be wrong, but you will at least have done it, and that is the important thing. We must act according to the best dictates of our reason, and then leave God to judge its ultimate value.
— Irving Stone, Lust for Life
They had that special grace, that special spirit that says, 'Give me a challenge and I'll meet it with joy." on Challenger disaster
— Ronald Reagan
If ever the adventure proves tiring, or you lose sight of your dream, look to the west at sunset. There, on days when the skies are clear, you might see upon the horizon a thin layer of amber mist. When it appears, you will know its purpose: it is the mist of believing.
— Fennel Hudson, Wild Carp - Fennel's Journal - No. 4
With feet on solid ground, we walk across stumbling blocks, yet we survive! Through eyes that cloud with tears of pain or struggle, yet we survive! With hands that touch the thorns of life, yet we survive! Through faith and purpose and face as flint, YET WE SURVIVE!
— Lorna Jackie Wilson, Black Butterfly: The Journey - The Victory
Anyone can dig a ditch. There's no way to dig smarter. Or dig faster. Having a baby is like being assigned to dig a ditch. That goes all the way to the horizon.
— Jonathan V. Last
Be the Rain.I am the rain.The mountain may spit fire at the sky. . . Still the rain will fall.The mountain may quake at the world. . . Still the rain will fall.The mountain will be silent and brooding. . .Still the rain will fall.The mountain will tumble down upon the earth. . .Still the rain will fall.The mountain will be reduced to sandy shore. . .Still the rain will fall.Be the rain.by D. Denise Dianaty© 11 January 2014
— D. Denise Dianaty
When a storm comes, bamboo bends. It doesn't break.
— Michelle Moran, Rebel Queen
Who is willing to suffer for a Savior they won't even trouble themselves to learn about?
— Aimee Byrd, Theological Fitness: Why We Need a Fighting Faith
Sometimes you can't fight. Sometimes, some things, you have to outlast.
— Hilari Bell
You regard us here neither as thieves nor as robbers. Today, as in the time of Pilate, Christ the Savior is accused. Once again there is mocking and scorn, slander and noisy jubilance. But he remains yet, and his glance embraces sinners with unending compassion.
— Georgi Petrovich Vins-A Russian Baptist pastor
Your gaze fixated on him, my imagination deducing your conclusion. The agony sets in, this pain is unsurpassable with despair adjoining. But I can feel my heart knocking against my chest. So I'll attempt to push ahead for my behalf.
— Anonymous
God always has a plan. This isn't his fault. This is a test, something designed to help you grow closer to God. And. I know, somehow, God will use it.
— C.B. Cook, Paralyzed Dreams
God's going to work everything out and use you in ways you can't even imagine.
— C.B. Cook, Paralyzed Dreams
The human spirit is like an elastic band. The more you stretch, the greater your capacity.
— Bidemi Mark-Mordi
Three more words. Be happy. Persevere.
— Dean Koontz, Odd Thomas
This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small,large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force;never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.
— Winston  Churchill
if one characteristic of Lyndon Johnson was a boundless ambition, another was a willingness, on behalf of that ambition, to make efforts that were also without bounds.
— Robert A. Caro, Means of Ascent
The ultimate message of this book, though, is not that should strive for publication, but that you should become devoted to the craft of writing, for its own sake. Ask yourself what you would do if you knew you would never be published. Would you still write? If you are truly writing for the art of it, the answer will be yes. And then, every word is a victory.
— Noah Lukeman, The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile
I was on a path, and I became determined to give it everything I had — no matter what.
— Eleanor Brownn, Mile 9: The true story of a lifelong couch potato who one day made a decision that changed everything
My friends, we should consider ourselves fortunate, not because we are any greater or lesser because we face adversity, rather we simply rejoice in the opportunity to face it.
— Michael Joling
If you can continue to smile through hardship and pain, then your moment will come…just be patient.
— Charles F. Glassman, Brain Drain   The Breakthrough That Will Change Your Life
Some people won't love you, no matter what you do. Some people won't STOP loving you, no matter what you do. Go where the lov
— Eleanor Brownn
Faith and perseverance is the key to overcoming obstacles.
— Lorna Jackie Wilson
We ended up our talk by my asking Dennis his feelings now about the Marines. Any regrets for all those wounds? Or about having been sent to and having to fight an unpopular war?"No. The Marine Corps meant a tremendous amount to me. And even today I gain momentum from it. The Corps is one of the prime reasons Marines are so successful in whatever we do - because we refuse to quit.
— James Brady, Why Marines Fight
The successful have the courage to walk each day toward something
— only after coming through something.
The most difficult adversary I have ever faced happens to look just like me.
— Johnnie Dent Jr.
It is absolutely essential to hang in there—especially when you feel most discouraged.
— Steve Shallenberger, Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders
The successful possess the courage to walk each day toward something
—  after coming through everything.
A strong man sails by ash breeze!
— Jean Lee Latham i Carry On Mr. Bowditch i
If one flower has to grow out of all the weeds, let that flower be YOU.
— Margaret Aranda, No More Tears: A Physician Turned Patient Inspires Recovery
Self-preservation is not a man’s first duty: flight is his last. Better and wiser and infinitely nobler to stand a mark for the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" and to stop at our post though we fall there, better infinitely to toil on, even when toil seems vain, than cowardly to keep a whole skin at the cost of a wounded conscience or despairingly to fling up work, because the ground is hard and the growth of the seed imperceptible. Prudent advices, when the prudence is only inspired by sense, are generally foolish.
— Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Psalms
How I wished after all the hardships, you will immediately attain your reward. But it's not that easy. You need to wait for the right time to come in your life. Always bear in mind that diligence is nothing without perseverance.
— Joe Mari Fadrigalan
A bowl of diligence and perseverance, a cup of faith and a pinch of inspiration mixed with a spoon of contentment are the ingredients of a delicious success. Cook yours well.
— Joe Mari Fadrigalan
[For the genuine believer] There are moments in life when God's pursuit of us seems like that of a persistent mosquito, constantly buzzing around our heads and causing us pain, and we are utterly powerless to shake him off.
— Ian M. Duguid
We may run into many downfalls in life, but with a mighty God on our side those downfalls have already been defeated.
— Pauline Seaport
Though the captives' resistance was dangerous, through such acts, dignity was preserved, and through dignity, life itself.
— Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
You can either hold onto your dream by letting go of your excuses or hold onto your excuses by letting go of your dream.
— Orrin Woodward
Never allow the ill-thoughts of people stop you from pursuing your goals and dreams.
— Lailah Gifty Akita
There is a saying: Genius is perseverance. While genius does not consist entirely of editing, without editing it's pretty useless.
— Susan Bell, The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself
Few lack talent, but most people lack the vision & perseverance to develop their talents.
— Orrin Woodward
There is no "can't" in martial arts. It is perfectly all right for students to state that they are "still working on it", "have not mastered it yet", or "are trying as best they can" as all of those sentiments reflect willingness and perseverance. It is not all right, on the other hand, to verbally or physically portray reluctance, vacillation, or defect.
— Lawrence Kane
The spirit of perseverance and persistence will calm mighty storms.
— Lailah GiftyAkita
Perseverance, secret of all triumphs.
— Victor Hugo
Quit talkin' about it and be about it!
— Obiora Embry
The Jesus Movement had survived the fad phase and was settling down for the long haul.
— Larry Eskridge, God's Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement in America
Some people will never know how close they really were to success because they threw in the towel right before their big break.
— Dawn Gluskin
Keep a relentless eye on your goals! Perseverance, joyful dedication, and unwavering focus will get you there!
— Amy Leigh Mercree
If his decision is correct, he will win the battle, even if it lasts longer than expected. If his decision is wrong, he will be defeated and he will have to start all over again- only this time with more wisdom.But once he has started, a warrior of the light perseveres until the end.
— Paulo Coelho, Warrior of the Light
Shake it off little girl, dry your tears, suck it up and face your fears.
— Sai Marie Johnson
Success has no idle hands
—  affords no legs at rest.
Success flourishes only in perseverance--ceaseless, restless perseverance.”Baron Manfred von Richthofen (1892-1918); Former Fighter Pilot
— Baron Manfred von Richthofen
Get on top of the obstacles and they become vantage points.
— Tom Althouse
Sometimes we scratch, claw and climb so hard to conquer a mountain that, once achieved, we cling to its summit much too long and it ultimately instigates our fall. As we dangle by our fingertips we grasp and claw at what’s no more; with a fear of falling into the dim unknown. But, ironically, it’s in that very moment that we are empowered to choose. We can stay cliff hanging in our darkened fears clinging to a time that has past us by or we can faithfully and freely fall into the hands of a new destiny. Sometimes, persevering...is simply having the courage to let go. ~Jason Versey
— Jason Versey, A Walk with Prudence
The elegant and beautiful Lotus flower must toil through the mud and mire of murky swamps and shadowy waters of darkness before it can finally bloom. Above the fray of struggle yet firmly rooted in rugged beginnings, it ultimately lies pristinely above the water, basking in the sun of triumph. So no matter what you’ve endured or where you come from...you are no different and no less beautiful. There is simply no greater beauty than when a flower blossoms despite its tough and humble beginnings. ~Jason Versey
— Jason Versey, A Walk with Prudence
The only person your anger hurts is you. Let it go. Accept it. Move on.
— Kristin von Kreisler, An Unexpected Grace
Sometimes, persevering...is simply having the courage to let go. ~Jason Versey
— Jason Versey, A Walk with Prudence
Every great accomplishment has its share of struggle, adversity and pain. Great achievement cannot exist without them. To reap the rewards of success in our marriages, in the lives of our children, and in our professional careers we must be prepared to push through some pretty tough moments. But trust me... on the other side of that struggle awaits an intrinsic reward that is worth more than gold. ~Jason Versey
— Jason Versey, A Walk with Prudence
Life is just there, to be made the best of, until it isn't. And that's all right, too.
— Timothy Hallinan, The Fame Thief
The coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave but one?''Of course. Who said it?''I don't know.''He was probably a coward,' she said. "He knew a great deal about cowards but nothing about the brave. The brave dies perhaps two thousand deaths if he's intelligent. He simply doesn't mention them.
— Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms
Education is a choice. We don't become educated by watching television, and we don't learn a whole lot having similar conversations with the same, safe people day after day. Our education comes from pushing up against boundaries, from taking risks that may seem at first to be overwhelming, and by persevering past the first disappointments or shortfalls until we reach a point at which actual learning takes place. Determination and perseverance are absolutely vital to developing a true education--rarely, if ever, do we learn the most valuable lessons in the first few steps of the journey.
— Tom Walsh
I promise I shall never give up, and that I’ll die yelling and laughing, and that until then I’ll rush around this world I insist is holy and pull at everyone’s lapel and make them confess to me and to all.
— Jack Kerouac
The rewards of tomorrow are safely hidden in the belief of never quitting and not giving up on yourself today
— Johnnie Dent Jr.
There are seasons in our lives when we stand emotionally vulnerable, naked, affronted, without hope and broken. What of these dark difficult times? It’s in these moments of deep humility and brokenness that exposes us for who we are. Adversity is a litmus test of our spirit. Don’t begrudge it. It’s where God does his greatest work. When you come out on the other side, and you will, you’ll receive the gift of knowing exactly who you are and what you’re truly made of and that’s a small price to pay… if you stop and really think about it. ~Jason Versey
— Jason Versey, A Walk with Prudence
The fatigue of the climb was great but it is interesting to learn once more how much further one can go on one's second wind. I think that is an important lesson for everyone to learn for it should also be applied to one's mental efforts. Most people go through life without ever discovering the existance of that whole field of endeavor which we describe as second wind. Whether mentally or physically occupied most people give up at the first appearance of exhaustion. Thus they never learn the glory and the exhilaration of genuine effort...
— Agnes Elizabeth née Ernst Meyer
...I can't make exceptions for myself. If I can run, I will run. I don't have to feel good to do it.
— Patricia Hamill, Fearless
I do not want to be like a small animal bitten by a snake, going stiff with that poison. I want to bite back.
— Yvette Christiansë, Unconfessed
Walking with the projected chestFeeling like you just won The race has been toughBut the joy of winning is too good
Every great accomplishment has its share of struggle, adversity and pain. Great achievement can not exist without them. To achieve true success in our relationships and in our careers we need to be prepared to push through some pretty tough stuff. On the other side of that pain awaits an intrinsic reward that is worth so much more than anything you can ever imagine.
— Jason Versey, A Walk with Prudence
Perseverance is not a passive submission to circumstances—it is a strong and active response to the difficult events of life.
— Elizabeth George
I arise to face my failures every morning, but I never fail to face them.
— Gino Norris, Stress Diary Journal
It's only those who are persistent, and willing to study things deeply, who achieve the Master Work
— Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
The offspring of virtue is perseverance. The fruit and offspring of perseverance is habit and child of habit is character.
— John Climacus
Remember at the junior picnic, when someone whipped that dog at Jennifer's head? And Jennifer was laughing, like it was funny? Ted never copped to it, but I know he did it. I saw him. A-hole.'Rachel shakes her head in disgust. 'She probably deals with that kind of crap every day...''That's it. I'm going to ask Jennifer if she wants to sit with us today... I don't like those little turds thinking they can make fun of her because she's on the list. Don't they have any respect for the fact that she's a senior? If she's with us, they wouldn't dare say anything.
— Siobhan Vivian, The List
The only way to succeed in life is to never give up. Oftentimes, it requires standing alone.
— Ellen J. Barrier
One play down and 497 to Go!
— Ray S. Jones
You are going to get over it sooner or later so get over it now.
— William James Moore
Persistence and passion will make you invincible.
— Christian Baloga
(Everyday life is like a sack: with holes. And you carry it anyway.)
— Marina Tsvetaeva
Beauty is sometimes born of pain
— Sheri L. Swift
Perhaps [he had] persevered for too long, in the face of too many obstacles, his hair proof of his tenacity - the stark black streaked with white or, in certain light, stark white shot through with black, each strand of white attributable to the jungle fever (so cold it burned, his skin glacial), each strand of black a testament to being alive afterwards.
— Jeff VanderMeer, City of Saints and Madmen
It’s better to be the rooster than the feather duster.
— Jimmy Spithill
I was seeking comic originality, and fame fell on me as a by-product. The course was more plodding than heroic: I did not strive valiantly against doubters but took incremental steps studded with a few intuitive leaps.
— Steve Martin, Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
Cats may have nine lives, but pigs . . . don't . . . give . . . up.
— Chris Kurtz, The Adventures of a South Pole Pig: A novel of snow and courage
Our power of perseverance is as that of an eagle. We soar above our challengers.
— Ellen J. Barrier
It is not the best for us to lay embago on the industries that produce temptations. What we need to do is to compete, overcome and dominate the market with the products of our endurance. No battles we face, no crown will we win. No temptations exist, no conquerors are known.
— Israelmore Ayivor
Faith does not make things happen. It merely breeds perseverance
—  which helps one persist in making things happen.
All you can try to do is be better than you were yesterday, everyday.
— Marcus Harrison Green
When you prepare, regularly work hard, create value, help others get what they want, and persevere... the life of your dreams is INEVITABLE.
— Matthew Loop
Disciplined runners consistently clear their heads and focus fully on the journey ahead.. .because their passion and zeal for the goal supersedes the strain. The goal beckons them onward. Passion doesn't negate weariness
—  it just resolves to press beyond it.
You don't have to be strong to survive a bad situation
—  you simply need a plan.
I pray to God to give me perseverance and to deign that I be a faithful witness to Him to the end of my life for my God.
— St. Patrick, The Confession of Saint Patrick (Confessions of St. Patrick): With the Tripartite Life, and Epistle to the Soldiers of Coroticus
I have to keep facing the darkness. If I stand tall and face the thing I fear, I have a chance to conquer it. If I just keep dodging and hiding it will conquer me.
— Mary Pope Osborne, My Secret War: The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck, Long Island, New York 1941
Often, people give up without knowing success was just around the corner; if they had only preserved a little longer, if they had only tried one more time, they could have succeed.
— Ashley Ormon, God in Your Morning
If you don't acquire the discipline to push through a personal low point, you will miss the reward that comes with persevering.
— Jeff Goins, Wrecked: When a Broken World Slams into your Comfortable Life
In the realm of ideas, everything depends on enthusiasm. ... In the real world, all rests on perseverance.
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
We all have to face our faults and mistakes, and then choose to overcome them or let them drag us down.
— Jessica Lave
Leaders respond & change
—  the rest quit and blame.
Is it not true that the clever rogue is like the runner who runs well for the first half of the course, but flags before reaching the goal: he is quick off the mark, but ends in disgrace and slinks away crestfallen and uncrowned. The crown is the prize of the really good runner who perseveres to the end.
— Plato
She watched with morbid fascination as they gathered at the stumps at the ends of the man's wrists, the old scar tissue the only place on him unclaimed by Fener, but the paths the sprites took to those stumps touched not a single tattooed line. The flies dance a dance of avoidance - but for all that, they were eager to dance.
— Steven Erikson, Deadhouse Gates
The distance a goldfish swims is not controlled by the bowl.
— Les Coleman
That's one of those things about love. It always assumes it can find a way to express itself.
— Bob Goff, Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World
Perseverance is impossible if we don't permit ourselves to hope.
— Dean Koontz, Odd Thomas
Motivation can't take you very far if you don't have the legs.
— Lance Armstrong
Some trees are too deeply rooted to move … And if they are uprooted, they will die…
— Jocelyn  Murray, The Gilded Mirror: Constantinople
...I've learned that doing what you think is right doesn't always make you feel good. For another, I've learned that sometimes you just have to keep on going when you want to do nothing but drop. And that just doing the everyday things, like keeping a shop running or getting up every morning, will keep the work going until things can straighten out again. And doing those things right every day soon becomes more important than the more pressing issues of the time.
— Ann Rinaldi, Time Enough for Drums
To be defeated, but not to give in, is victory.- Jósef Piłsudski
— Neal Ascherson, Wojtek the Bear: Polish War Hero
You always need to work hard. You always need to be willing to work hard. Not everything will be hard, but you should, at the very least, be willing to work hard.
— Tom Giaquinto, Be A Good Human
Maybe not, maybe not. Cheer up, Becky, and let's go on trying.
— Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Judgment should never enter into the hearts and minds of others while observing another in a pain that cannot be understood.
— Amy Denise
Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance.
— Samuel Johnson
I study the chessboard and concede defeat."You can gain yourself in five moves" says the Colonel. "Worth fighting to the end. In five moves your opponent can err. No war is won or lost until the final battle is over.
— Haruki Murakami, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Do you have the talent?' is rarely the question. 'Do you have the guts to finish?' is the real question.
— Orrin Woodward, LIFE
In truth, I am nothing but a plodding mediocrity — please observe, a plodding mediocrity — for a mere mediocrity does not go very far, but a plodding one gets quite a distance. There is joy in that success, and a distinction can come from courage, fidelity and industry.
— Benjamin N. Cardozo
The sated day is never firstThe best day is a day of thirstYes, there is goal and meaning in our path -but it is the way that is the labour's worth.
— Karin Boye, Complete Poems
To truly defeat an enemy, no sacrifice is too great.
— Preston Morgan, Winter Nova
Perseverance and gratefulness makes ​hope closer to the blessing.
— Toba Beta, My Ancestor Was an Ancient Astronaut
It's not about what you're capable of, it's about what you are willing to endure.
— Orrin Woodward
Rise above the storm and you will find the sunshine.
— Mario Fernández
Stick in and do my best.
— Rhona Cameron, Nineteen Seventy Nine: A Big Year in a Small Town
Not everything is about you," Clary said furiously."Possibly," Jace said, "but you do have to admit that the majority of things are.
— Cassandra Clare, City of Glass
One of the Silent Brothers is here to see you. Hodge sent me to wake you up. Actually he offered to wake you himself, but since it's 5 a.m., I figured you'd be less cranky if you had something nice to look at.""Meaning you?""What else?
— Cassandra Clare, City of Bones
Chaos is what we've lost touch with. This is why it is given a bad name. It is feared by the dominant archetype of our world, which is Ego, which clenches because its existence is defined in terms of control.
— Terence McKenna
The ego hurts you like this: you become obsessed with the one person who does not love you. blind to the rest who do.
— Warsan Shire
If a man thinks he is not conceited, he is very conceited indeed.
— C.S. Lewis
I am sufficiently proud of my knowing something to be modest about my not knowing all.
— Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita
Do you ever lose the ego?” Westford asks me.“Yeah.” When his daughter kisses me, my ego flies out the window.
— Simone Elkeles, Rules of Attraction
No matter what we talk about, we are talking about ourselves
— Hugh Prather, I Touch the Earth, the Earth Touches Me
And I realized that I’d tolerated him this long because of self-doubt.
— Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire
Midlife is the time to let go of an overdominant ego and to contemplate the deeper significance of human existence.
— C.G. Jung
Great people have great egos
—  maybe that's what makes them great.
If we are to grow in love, the prisons of our egoism must be unlocked. This implies suffering, constant effort and repeated choices.
— Jean Vanier, Community And Growth
If someone corrects you, and you feel offended, then you have an ego problem.
— Nouman Ali Khan
Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.
— Colin Powell
Every discussion which is made from an egoistic standpoint is corrupted from the start and cannot yield an absolutely sure conclusion. The ego puts its own interest first and twists every argument, word, even fact to suit that interest.
— Paul Brunton, The Notebooks of Paul Brunton
The minute you start compromising for the sake of massaging somebody's ego, that's it, game over.
— Gordon Ramsay
I want to make sure Kiara’s got a boyfriend who has more to offer than a hot bod and a face that could make angels weep.
— Simone Elkeles, Rules of Attraction
I don't want to see you. I don't like you. I don't like your face. You look like an insufferable egotist. You're impertinent. You're too sure of yourself. Twenty years ago I would have punched your face with the greatest of pleasure.
— Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead
God had brought me to my knees and made me acknowledge my own nothingness, and out of that knowledge I had been reborn. I was no longer the centre of my life and therefore I could see God in everything.
— Bede Griffiths
When I pass, speak freely of my shortcomings and my flaws. Learn from them, for I'll have no ego to injure.
— Aaron McGruder, The Boondocks: Because I Know You Don't Read the Newspaper
We can't all be stars because someone has to sit on the curb and clap as I go by.
— Sebastian Horsley, Dandy in the Underworld: An Unauthorized Autobiography
We think we are being interesting to others when we are being interesting to ourselves.
— Jack Gardner, Words Are Not Things
[Dona Maria] saw that the people of this world moved about in an armor of egotism, drunk with self-gazing, athirst for compliments, hearing little of what was said to them, unmoved by the accidents that befell their closest friends, in dread of all appeals that might interrupt their long communion with their own desires.
— Thornton Wilder, The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Huxley: "Tell me something Bryce, do you know the difference between a Jersey, a Guernsey, a Holstein, and an Ayershire?"Bryce: "No."Huxley: "Seabags Brown does."Bryce: "I don't see what that has to do..."Huxley: "What do you know about Gaelic history?"Bryce: "Not much."Huxley: "Then why don't you sit down one day with Gunner McQuade. He is an expert. Speaks the language, too."Bryce: "I don't..."Huxley: " What do you know about astronomy?"Bryce: "A little."Huxley: "Discuss it with Wellman, he held a fellowship." Bryce: "This is most puzzling."Huxley: "What about Homer, ever read Homer?"Bryce: "Of course I've read Homer."Huxley: "In the original Greek?"Bryce: "No"Huxley: "Then chat with Pfc. Hodgkiss. Loves to read the ancient Greek."Bryce: "Would you kindly get to the point?"Huxley: "The point is this, Bryce. What makes you think you are so goddam superior? Who gave you the bright idea that you had a corner on the world's knowledge? There are privates in this battalion who can piss more brains down a slit trench then you'll ever have. You're the most pretentious, egotistical individual I've ever encountered. Your superiority complex reeks. I've seen the way you treat men, like a big strutting peacock. Why, you've had them do everything but wipe your ass.
— Leon Uris
But if it is true that human minds are themselves to a very great degree the creations of memes, then we cannot sustain the polarity of vision we considered earlier; it cannot be "memes versus us," because earlier infestations of memes have already played a major role in determining who or what we are. The "independent" mind struggling to protect itself from alien and dangerous memes is a myth. There is a persisting tension between the biological imperative of our genes on the one hand and the cultural imperatives of our memes on the other, but we would be foolish to "side with" our genes; that would be to commit the most egregious error of pop sociobiology. Besides, as we have already noted, what makes us special is that we, alone among species, can rise above the imperatives of our genes— thanks to the lifting cranes of our memes.
— Daniel C. Dennett, Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life
Self-consciousness of the manner is the expensive substitute for simplicity.
— George Eliot, Middlemarch
You're thinking that people don't keep up old jealousies for twenty years or so. Perhaps not. Not just primitive, brute jealousy. That means a word and a blow. But the thing that rankles is hurt vanity. That sticks. Humiliation. And we've all got a sore spot we don't like to have touched.
— Dorothy L. Sayers, Whose Body?
The most important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one's work seriously and taking one's self seriously. The first is imperative, and the second disastrous.
— Margot Fonteyn
Judgment…is one of the ego’s tools to foster separation through comparison.
— Peter Santos, Everything I Wanted To Know About Spirituality But Didn't Know How To Ask: A Spiritual Seekers Guidebook
And they can’t understand, what hurts more— Missing the other person, or pretending not to.
— Khadija Rupa, Unexpressed Feelings
She tapped out a beat on the edge of the piano as I tripped and plummeted through the refrain of “Spacebar,” trying to translate the synth chords into a piano bit on the fly. It had been a million years since I’d played it.But it was still catchy.Whoever had written this song had known what they were doing.
— Maggie Stiefvater, Sinner
If you think you're smart,think twice to be smarter.
— Toba Beta, Master of Stupidity
...the human being to lack that second skin we call egoism has not yet been born, it lasts much longer than the other one, that bleeds so readily.
— José Saramago, Blindness
I like the moment when I break a man's ego
— Bobby Fischer
You need nothing more than the experience you are having right now. It is enough. It is plenty. It is perfect just as it is. It was designed for you, given to you for your experience. All you have to do, and all you have ever had to do is accept this gift. Take it and let it in. Let yourself experience the present moment just as it is. It doesn't get any better than this. This is the simple truth the ego refuses to accept, and it will suffer as long as that is the case.
— Gina Lake, What about Now?: Reminders for Being in the Moment
If you like it, you'll find a way to justify it.But if you don't , you'll find ways to falsify it.
— Toba Beta, My Ancestor Was an Ancient Astronaut
If we take memetics seriously then the 'me' that could do the choosing is itself a memetic construct: a fluid and ever-changing group of memes installed in a complicated meme machine.
— Susan Blackmore, The Meme Machine
The poor girl ws keeping that student's letter as a precious treasure, and had run to fetch it, her only treasure, because she did not want me to go away without knowing that she, too, was honestly and genuinely loved; that she, too, was addressed respectfully. No doubt that letter was destined to lie in her box and lead to nothing. But none the less, I am certain that she would keep it all her life as a precious treasure, as her pride and justification, and now at such a minute she had thought of that letter and brought it with naive pride to raise herself in my eyes that I might see, that I, too, might think well of her.
— Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground, White Nights, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and Selections from The House of the Dead
The goal of individuation is wholeness, as much as we can accomplish, not the triumph of the ego.
— James Hollis, The Middle Passage: From Misery to Meaning in Midlife
You bruised my ego, you see, and there’s just not enough money in the world to soothe my ego when it gets bruised
— Jennifer Estep, Wasted
Being efficient is the easy part. Suppressing one's ego completely for hours at a time is really hard.
— Colin Clark, The Prince, the Showgirl, and Me: Six Months on the Set With Marilyn and Olivier
Very well, young man, very well," Treville went on, "I know those airs. I came to Paris with four ecus in my pocket, and I'd have fought with anybody who told me I was in no condition to buy the Louvre.
— Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers
I spend my life constantly calling in ‘imaginary’ debts that aren’t owed to me in order to avoid the ‘real’ debts that I owe to others, and so everybody ends up bankrupt.
— Craig D. Lounsbrough
A critic is a man created to praise greater men than himself, but he is never able to find them.
— Richard Le Gallienne
Such an ego simply forbade certain lines of thought.
— Stephen King, Misery
I'm pretty much a goddess around here.
— Christopher Healy, The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle
Some little pieces of sand are so full of ego that they see themselves as a giant rock! But then the wind blows, the big ego flies in the air!
— Mehmet Murat ildan
The taste for glory can make ordinary men behave in extraordinary ways.
— Tahir Shah, House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City
Distance starts in hearts,confirms in mind & actions from tongue....
— Adil Adam Memon
Amazing, life-altering anonymous picture quotes on FaceBook: Are they created by graphic designers who steal quotes or don't bother to research the author, or are they original and just have exceptionally less ego than I do? Cos if I ever write something that brilliant it's gonna have flashing headlights.
— Fierce Dolan
oh God! what am I to do if I love nothing but fame and men's esteem?
— Leo Tolstoy
Critics! Appalled I ventured on the name.Those cutthroat bandits in the paths of fame.
— Robert Burns
If your ego is in good shape you will pretend you're surprised if a National Chairman calls you to tell you his party wants to nominate you for President of the United States, but you're not really surprised.
— Rex Stout, Champagne for One
There was always a grandeur and a nobility in my megalomania. And also something cheap and loathsome that I could not help.
— Pat Conroy, The Lords of Discipline
The Bear had once confided to me that Durrell's ego could fit snugly in the basilica of St. Peter's in Rome but in very few other public places. This runaway megalomania marked him as a blood member of the fraternity of generals. If looks alone could make generals, Durrell would have been a cinch. He was built lean and slim and dark, like a Doberman. A man of breeding and refrigerated intelligence, he ordered his life like a table of logarithms.
— Pat Conroy, The Lords of Discipline
...killing Dirk, killing anybody, was not going to change anything apart from Francisco's f***ing ego, which was already large enough to house the world's poor twice over, with a few million bourgeoisie in the spare-room.
— Hugh Laurie, The Gun Seller
Don't believe everything you think!
— Melody Haines
Farang, I'll bet you Wall Street against a Thai mango he'll be back, if for no other reason than to play the card of virile youth against Hudson's superior rank and thus restore his ego after that humiliating reprimand.
— John Burdett, Bangkok Tattoo
The need has to be defined by an Individual. If the basic need of quenching thirst can be met by a glass of water, everything beyond that is indulgence. Ego makes organizations sell products and services that deviate from servicing the needs to making higher profits. The further away you get from fulfilling a need and into making people believe that they need to buy a certain product or services as a necessity, the more tension builds into the system.
— Ajay Chaturvedi, Lost Wisdom of the Swastika: Turiya Tales
I was not born to impress youI am not here to stroke your egoI am going to strip you and expose you and when I'm done, you will be staring at your own naked truth
— Evy Michaels
In life,” he said, “there are no essentially major or minor characters. To that extent, all fiction and biography, and most historiography, are a lie. Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story. Hamlet could be told from Polonius’s point of view and called The Tragedy of Polonius, Lord Chamberlain of Denmark. He didn’t think he was a minor character in anything, I daresay. Or suppose you’re an usher in a wedding. From the groom’s viewpoint he’s the major character; the others play supporting parts, even the bride. From your viewpoint, though, the wedding is a minor episode in the very interesting history of your life, and the bridge and groom both are minor figures. What you’ve done is choose to play the part of a minor character: it can be pleasant for you to pretend to be less important you know you are, as Odysseus does when he disguises as a swineherd. And every member of the congregation at the wedding sees himself as the major character, condescending to witness the spectacle. So in this sense fiction isn’t a lie at all, but a true representation of the distortion that everyone makes of life.	“Now, not only are we the heroes of our own life stories–we’re the ones who conceive the story, and give other people the essences of minor characters. But since no man’s life story as a rule is ever one story with a coherent plot, we’re always reconceiving just the sort of hero we are, and consequently just the sort of minor roles that other people are supposed to play. This is generally true. If any man displays almost the same character day in and day out, all day long, it’s either because he has no imagination, like an actor who can play only one role, or because he has an imagination so comprehensive that he sees each particular situation of his life as an episode in some grand over-all plot, and can so distort the situations that the same type of hero can deal with them all. But this is most unusual.	“This kind of role-assigning is myth-making, and when it’s done consciously or unconsciously for the purpose of aggrandizing or protecting your ego–and it’s probably done for this purpose all the time–it becomes Mythotherapy. Here’s the point: an immobility such as you experienced that time in Penn Station is possible only to a person who for some reason or other has ceased to participate in Mythotherapy. At that time on the bench you were neither a major nor a minor character: you were no character at all. It’s because this has happened once that it’s necessary for me to explain to you something that comes quite naturally to everyone else. It’s like teaching a paralytic how to walk again.
— John Barth