Orison Swett Marden

All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.

Deep within humans dwell those slumbering powers; powers that would astonish them, that they never dreamed of possessing; forces that would revolutionize their lives if aroused and put into action.

Every great man has become great, every successful man has succeeded, in proportion as he has confined his powers to one particular channel.

The beginning of a habit is like an invisible thread, but every time we repeat the act we strengthen the strand, add to it another filament, until it becomes a great cable and binds us irrevocably in thought and act.

Nothing but the best can win your own approval.

To the man who is determined to get on in the world, every circumstance in life may be turned to advantage.

How long and how hard can you stick to one thing? Your success in life will depend largely on this.

It is every one’s sacred duty to keep himself up to the highest possible standard, physically and mentally, otherwise he cannot deliver to the world the divine message entrusted to him by his creator.

But how can one attain such serenity, such marvelous self-poise? Simply by mastering the secret of right thinking. The man who has once learned to control his thought forces, knows that true self-mastery becomes a matter of course.

If you would make the most of yourself, cut away all of your vitality sappers, get rid of everything which hampers and holds you back, everything which wastes your energy, cuts down your working capital.

He makes the most of life who makes the most of each passing instant.

‘The truest help we can render one who is afflicted,’ said Bishop Brooks, ‘is not to take his burden from him, but to call out his best energy, that he may be able to bear.’

Persistency of purpose is a power. It creates confidence in others. Everybody believes in the determined man.

The man of iron will is cool in the hour of danger.

History furnishes thousands of examples of men who have seized occasions to accomplish results deemed impossible by those less resolute.

You will find the whole world will change to you when you change your attitude toward it. You will be surprised to see how quickly you can materially improve your mind after you have made a vigorous resolve to do so.

No matter how humble your work may seem, do it in the spirit of an artist, of a master.

A great opportunity confronts you. What will you do with it?

The magnet that brings success and happiness must be charged with a positive, optimistic, enthusiastic force.

It is only when we do our best, when we put joy, energy, enthusiasm and zeal into our work, that we really grow; and this is the only way we can keep our highest self-respect.

Wisdom will not open her doors to those who are not willing to pay the price in self-sacrifice, in hard work. Her jewels are too precious to scatter before the idle, the ambitionless.

Any kind of a human being can wish for a thing, and desire it; but only strong, vigorous minds with great purpose can do things.

Believe with all your heart that you will do what you were made to do.

It is not difficult to shut out poisonous thoughts from the mind. All one need do is to substitute the opposite thought to that which produces the fatal poison, for it will always furnish the antidote.

The man who can smile when everything seems to go against him shows that he is made of winning material, for no ordinary man can do this.

If we were all properly trained and were large enough to see that nothing outside of ourselves can work us harm, we would have no fear of anything.

Our life is grand or ordinary, large or small, in proportion to the insight and strength of our faith.

It is of infinitely more value for a student or youth to know how to keep his mind up to its maximum creative power, by keeping it positive and avoiding everything which would make it negative and unproductive, than to learn all the Latin and Greek and philosophies in the world.

I have never known a man who believed in himself and constantly affirmed his ability to do what he undertook, who always kept his eye constantly on his goal and struggled manfully toward it, who did not make a success in life. Aspiration becomes inspiration and then realization.