Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered—either by themselves or others.

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.

To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end in life.

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.

Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.

There has never been another you. With no effort on your part you were born to be something very special and set apart. What you are going to do in appreciation of that gift is a decision only you can make.

Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another you have only an extemporaneous half possession.

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle.

The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.

What's terrible is to pretend that the second-rate is first-rate. To pretend that you don't need love
when you do; or you like your work when you know quite well you're capable of better.

Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' Vanity asks the question, 'Is it popular?' But conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one's conscience tells one that it is right.

The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic, and self-complacent
is erroneous; on the contrary, it makes them, for the most part, humble, tolerant, and kind.

It's kind of fun to do the impossible.

You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.

Great people are those who make others feel that they, too, can become great.

Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre minds. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.

The school of ignorance is the most expensive school but some will learn in no other.

Little minds are interested in the extraordinary; great minds in the commonplace.

Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people.

The problem with the world is that the stupid are cocksure, and the intelligent are full of doubt.

How do I work? I grope.

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.

I think and think for months and years, ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.

Whenever I go on a ride, I'm always thinking of what's wrong with the thing and how it can be improved.

Fantasies are more than substitutes for unpleasant reality, they are also dress rehearsals; plans.
All acts performed in the world begin in the imagination.

The great mind knows the power of gentleness.

I do not like to repeat successes, I like to go on to other things.

If you cannot be a poet, be the poem.