For everyone who enjoys a good quote, here are some inspiring ones. You’re sure to find at least one you’ll enjoy.

Four Things That Never Return
“Four things that come not back,–the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity.”
–Anonymous

Growth of the Individual
“The less government we have, the better–the fewer laws, and the less confided power. The antidote to this abuse of formal government is the influence of private character, the growth of the individual.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson

The One Sole Necessity
“I realize more and more the truth that love is the one sole necessity of earth and heaven, all else can be dispensed with.”
–J. G. Whittier

One or the Other
“A man must be one of two things, either a reed shaken by the wind, or a wind to shake the reeds.”
–T. W. Handford

Mind and Money
“It is the mind that makes us richer and happy, in what condition soever we are, and money signifies no more to it than it does to the gods.”
–Seneca

I Will Not Be Unhappy
“If it be my lot to crawl, I will crawl contentedly; if to fly, I will fly with alacrity; but, as long as I can avoid it, I will never be unhappy.”
–Sydney Smith

Great and Little Men
“The real difference between men is energy. A strong will, a settled purpose, an invincible determination, can accomplish almost anything: and in this lies the distinction between great men and little men.”
–Andrew Fuller

The Cost of Idleness
“Many a young man is utterly ruined by wealth and want of occupation. It does not cost much to live a happy, honorable life, but it costs a mint of money to live and do nothing.”
–T. W. Handford

Knowledge Will Govern Ignorance
“Knowledge will ever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”
–James Madison

Desperate Masses
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
–Henry David Thoreau

Bliss
“Follow your bliss.”
–Joseph Campbell

Don’t Waste Time
“Time and tide melt the snowman.”
–7th Doctor, Doctor Who

The Crazy Ones
“…the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
–Apple Computer, Think Different ad campaign

Don’t forget about my “$15 for Fame” drawing!!!

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Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
–Mark XI:24

By thought, the thing you want is brought to you. By action, you receive it.
–Wallace D. Wattles

When you make a failure it is because you have not asked for enough. Keep on, and a larger thing than you were seeking will certainly come to you.
–Wallace D. Wattles

Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.
–Napoleon Hill

There has been much ado as of late about “The Secret.”

But, calling it “The Secret” is more a marketing ploy than a realistic description. It is no secret. It hasn’t been whispered among an elite few from generation to generation. It has been right there in the open all along, as the quotes above show.

The only secret is that there is no secret. Success requires thought and hard work.

Thought alone will not help you. Wishful thinking and daydreaming of riches and glory will never amount to anything more than that.

Hard work alone will not achieve success. Plenty of people work hard each and every day, yet never rise far above their position.

Success takes thought plus action. Neither alone will achieve success.

Think. Act. Achieve.

Or, perhaps it might be better said:

Believe. Act. Achieve.

Remember, BAA! Whenever you lose your way (like a lost sheep), remember to BAA!

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Here is a quote that I have liked for a long time:

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
–George Bernard Shaw
Maxims for Revolutionists

It’s interesting where that quote keeps popping up. Most recently, I read it in The 4-Hour Workweek, the book I won from Chris Bloczynski dot Com.

By the way, be sure you don’t forget about my “$15 for Fame” drawing!!!

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Fame

The heights by great men reached and kept
   Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they while their companions slept
   Were toiling upward in the night.

Henry W. Longfellow, in “The Ladder of St. Augustine”

Reminds me of an early book, titled Where Wizards Stay Up Late by Katie Hafner & Matthew Lyon on the origins of the Internet.

Anyway, I think it’s a nice motivational piece. It reminds us that success comes in part to those who are willing to work for it, even well into the wee hours of the morning.

What’s your favorite motivational or inspiring quote? It could be worth $15.

Write a post on your blog about your favorite motivational or inspiring quote, and link back to this post. You can leave a comment here when you’re done, just in case the trackback doesn’t work or something.

Each blog post with a linkback counts as one entry for you. Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 will be the last day for this. Then, I will count all the entries and draw a winner on August 25th, 2007.

Void where prohibited. You must be able to accept a PayPal payment. So, if you’re in a country not served by PayPal, sorry. Any applicable taxes are the responsibility of the winner. And, I reserve the right to retroactively apply any legal stuff I should have included but didn’t know I should have.

Oh, I did mention the prize is $15, sent via PayPal? If not, I’m doing so now. One prize of $15.00 (fifteen dollars). That’s in U.S. dollars, by the way. Everyone else gets that warm fuzzy feeling for sharing their favorite motivational or inspiring quote with their readers.

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I came across this poem as well, and I think it too is an inspiring piece. And, it has motivated me to set a new goal for myself and my blogging, but I’ll discuss that in a separate post.

So, without further ado or commentary, here is…

To the Man Who Fails

Let others sing to the hero who wins in the ceaseless fray,
Who, over the crushed and fallen, pursueth his upward way;
For him let them weave the laurel, to him be their paean sung.
Whom the kindly fates have chosen, who are happy their loved among;
But mine be a different message, some soul in its stress to reach;
To bind, o’er the wound of failure, the balm of pitying speech;
To whisper: “Be up and doing, for courage at last prevails”–
I sing–who have supped with Failure–I sing to the man who fails.

I know how the gray cloud darkens, and mantles the soul in gloom;
I know how the spirit harkens to voices of doubt or of doom;
I know how the tempter mutters his terrible word, “Despair!”
But the heart has its secret chamber, and I know that our God is there.
Our years are as moments only; our failures He counts as naught;
The stone that the builders rejected, perchance is the one that He sought.
Mayhap, in the ultimate judgment, the effort alone avails,
And the laurel of great achievement shall be for the man who fails.

We sow in the darkness only; but the Reaper shall reap in light;
And the day of His perfect glory shall tell of the deeds of the night.
We gather our gold, and store it, and the whisper is heard, “Success!”
But, tell me, ye cold, white sleepers, what were an achievement less?
We struggle for fame, and win it; and lo! like a fleeting breath,
It is lost in the realm of silence, whose ruler and king is Death.
Where are the Norseland heroes, the ghosts of a housewife’s tales?
I sing–for the Father heeds him–I sing to the man who fails.

Oh, men, who are labelled “failures,” up, rise up! again, and do!
Somewhere in the world of action is room; there is room for you.
No failure was e’er recorded, in the annals of truthful men,
Except of the craven-hearted who fails, nor attempts again.
The glory is in the doing, and not in the trophy won;
The walls that are laid in darkness may laugh to the kiss of the sun.
Oh, weary and worn and stricken, oh, child of fate’s cruel gales!
I sing,–that it haply may cheer him,–I sing to the man who fails.

Alfred J. Waterhouse

So, cast away the fear of failure and harken to action then!

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Now, you kids are probably saying to yourself, “Now, I’m gonna go out, and I’m gonna get the world by the tail, and wrap it around and put it in my pocket!!” Well, I’m here to tell you that you’re probably gonna find out, as you go out there, that you’re not gonna amount to Jack Squat!! You’re gonna end up eating a steady diet of government cheese, and living in a van down by the river!
Matt Foley (played by Chris Farley)
Saturday Night Live, May 8, 1993

Perhaps that’s not the best quote with which to start the Motivation category, but Chris Farley’s skits as Matt Foley were usually some funny bits. And, what’s more motivational than some humor? Who did you expect me to quote? Tony Robbins? Puh-lease.

And, you’re probably wondering what kind of title “How Did You Die?” is for a motivational post as well. It is the title of a poem by Edmund Vance Cooke, first published in 1903, I believe. Despite the title, it is quite an inspirational piece. I present it here for your own edification and without further commentary.

How Did You Die?

Did you tackle the trouble that came your way
  With a resolute heart and cheerful?
Or hide your face from the light of day
  With a craven soul and fearful?
Oh, a trouble’s a ton, or a trouble’s an ounce,
  Or a trouble is what you make it,
And it isn’t the fact that you’re hurt that counts,
  But only how did you take it?

You are beaten to earth? Well, well, what’s that?
  Come up with a smiling face.
It’s nothing against you to fall down flat,
  But to lie there–that’s disgrace.
The harder you’re thrown, why, the higher you bounce;
  Be proud of your blackened eye!
It isn’t the fact that you’re licked that counts;
  It’s how did you fight–and why?

And though you be done to the death, what then?
  If you battled the best you could,
If you played your part in the world of men,
  Why, the Critic will call it good.
Death comes with a crawl, or comes with a pounce,
  And whether he’s slow or spry,
It isn’t the fact that you’re dead that counts,
  But only how did you die?

Edmund Vance Cooke

More? You want more? Be patient!

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