Good Motivation Quotes & Sayings

While I don't think sociopaths have any sort of moral urge to do good things, I think they can and do act morally in the context of pursuing their own advantage. A good analogy would be a corporation. There are a lot of corporations that do things that you like, maybe even good things, like produce vaccines or electric cars, although the primary motivation is to make a profit. But just because you are trying to make a profit doesn't mean you can't do it by doing things you like, or that you are good at, or that comport with the way you see the world, or want the world to see you. — M.E. Thomas

Mistakes and miscalculations are human and normal, and viewed in the long run they have not damaged the company. I do not mind taking responsibilty for every managerial decision I have made. But if a person who makes a mistake is branded and kicked off the seniority promotion escalator, he could lose his motivation for the rest of his business life and depreive the company of whaever good things he may have to offer later. If the casues of the mistake are clarified and made public, the person who made the mistake will not forget it and others will not make the same mistake. I tell our people Go ahead and do what you think is right. If you make a mistake, you will learn form it. Just don't make the same mistake twice. — Akio Morita

A writer can't just be well-educated or good at research; to build a living, breathing world with interesting characters, you have to write from the gut. I'm not saying you have to live your life like a fantasy adventure. The trick is the ability to synthesize your own everyday experiences into your fiction. Infuse your characters with believable emotions and motivations. Infuse your world with rich sensory detail. For that you have to be in touch with your own existence and your own soul, the dark and the light of it. — Lynn Flewelling

In getting good results team leaders become conductor rather than driver, enabling others to play the right music, not by hands-on domination of all decisions and execution, but by providing inspiration, motivation and stimulus. — Robert Heller

You have to see the good in yourself before expecting someone else to see the good in you. Be aware of who you are and what you can truly be. — Blaque Diamond

You need to feel good about yourself, the motivation has to come from within. You have nobody to fall back on except yourself. — Dana Hill

We were taught to be good, and we were taught to be careful. But in this world, sometimes, I do not think we can be the two at once. — Marguerite Bennett

The wise leader settles for good work and then lets others have the floor. — Laozi

Hire and promote first on the basis of integrity; second, motivation; third, capacity; fourth, understanding; fifth, knowledge; and last and least, experience. Without integrity, motivation is dangerous; without motivation, capacity is impotent; without capacity, understanding is limited; without understanding, knowledge is meaningless; without knowledge, experience is blind. Experience is easy to provide and quickly put to good use by people with all the other qualities. — Dee Hock

Government has three primary functions. It should provide for military defense of the nation. It should enforce contracts between individuals. It should protect citizens from crimes against themselves or their property. When government
in pursuit of good intentions tries to rearrange the economy, legislate morality, or help special interests, the cost come in inefficiency, lack of motivation, and loss of freedom. Government should be a referee, not an active player. — Milton Friedman

Since procrastination is a message from our natural willpower via low motivation, the cure is changing the environment, or one's profession, by selecting one in which one does not have to fight one's impulses. Few can grasp the logical consequence that, instead, one should lead a life in which procrastination is good, as a naturalistic-risk-based form of decision making. — Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Most of my teachers wanted to send me to the principal's office. But my fourth-grade teacher once put her arms around me and said, 'You sure write well.' And I've had good penmanship until this day. She was the only one who ever said anything nice to me. That's the kind of motivation that students need. — Andrew Young

Never forget the life experiences;
Aloneness and companionship.
Cold and warmth.
Hard times and good times.
Failure and success.
Pain and healing.
Planting and harvesting.
Poverty and prosperity.
Searching and finding.
Sorrow and happiness.
Tears and joy. — Lailah Gifty Akita

I was going to buy a copy of The Power of Positive Thinking, and then I thought: What the hell good would that do? — Ronnie Shanks

You're only as good as your last fight. It's just the way things are. It's the way that the sport is built. — Andre Ward

What a wonderful life; to be blessed with many sacred brothers and sisters? — Lailah Gifty Akita

Aquinas said if you have knowledge you don't need faith, and I think he was on to something, but for now all I can do is find the Church of Inadvertent Joy, and if and when I do, I'll stumble in and drop fifty cents in the brass-plated poor box, ignite a beeswax candle and confess myself at the crossroads. Having professed my faithlessness, I will be blessed, and the psoriasis or eczema that's thickened my feet and shattered the skin of my hands will instantly melt, for confession is good for the sole and fine for the fingers. Aquinas also said evil is a privation, ergo hell is a place that's a void. The heavenly need for placement being motivation for all maps, including a face. — Vanessa Place

I don't care where people come from. It is not important to me. If you are good people will like you, if you're not, they won't. It is simple. — Wladimir Klitschko

He's an old good fighter, he's an intelligent fighter but I wouldn't say he's the best I've ever fought. — Joe Calzaghe

Every new morning brings new strength, new hope and new vision. — Lailah Gifty Akita

May God continue to give you much more grace for every great deed. — Lailah Gifty Akita

Reality isn't a particularly good guide to human happiness. — Rory Sutherland

After the failure in '92, my goal was to be a good pole vaulter. I used that as motivation. — Dan O'Brien

You're so good at what you do, keep pushing, success is on the table at all times! — Sereda Aleta Dailey

Dreams are blueprints and what good are blueprints until a carpenter goes to work? Dream big, and bold and brazen, but then get off your butt and do the work to realize your own dreams. — Toni Sorenson

Let go of a need for personal recognition. Heap kudos on others and they'll perform even better next time. Leaders are only as good as those who follow them and followers are at their best when leaders are quick to give credit for successes. — Steve Goodier

A good motivation is what is needed: compassion without dogmatism, without complicated philosophy; just understanding that others are human brothers and sisters and respecting their human rights and dignities. That we humans can help each other is one of our unique human capacities. — Dalai Lama

Sometimes we get so afraid of hitting bad shots (making bad pitches), we don't let ourselves hit (pitch) good ones. — Butch Harmon

Though reason must guide us in laying down standards and laws regarding animals, and in examining the arguments of those who reject such standards, it is usually best in any moral inquiry to start with the original motivation, which in the case of animals we may without embarrassment call love. Human beings love animals as only the higher love the lower, the knowing love the innocent, and the strong love the vulnerable. When we wince at the suffering of animals, that feeling speaks well of us even when we ignore it, and those who dismiss love for our fellow creatures as mere sentimentality overlook a good and important part of our humanity. — Matthew Scully

I grew up when I was 15 when I had my first opportunity in movies. I watched every great movie for a year and a half, and since then I've asked myself how I can emulate such artistry. That's really my motivation. I want to do something as good as my heroes have done. — Leonardo DiCaprio

Tired? I don't think so. I'm in such good shape that I could box even 25 rounds. — Vitali Klitschko

There's very good evidence that the average cat in Europe has a larger environmental footprint in its lifetime than the average African. — Jason W Clay

For the first time I was beginning to discern a God whom I actually wanted to live for. I was beginning to discover the motivation of Paul when he proclaimed, "Christ's love compels us" (2 Cor. 5: 14). All my life I'd tried to be good to avoid hell, or the ugly-stick flogging, or my stepmother's beatings with a two-by-four. But while most people would undoubtedly be better at behaving well with these frightful motivations than I ever was, no one could ever be transformed by these sorts of motivations. Threatening motivations address behavior, but they can never transform our identity. They motivate people to change as a means of protecting themselves, but for this reason they can never move us beyond ourselves to become someone fundamentally different from who we currently are. And threatening motivations can certainly never transform us into people with an other-oriented, self-sacrificial, loving character. Only a motivation that is anchored in love can do this. — Gregory A. Boyd

May you life be sparkle with love, joy and hope. — Lailah Gifty Akita

One Crack On A Mirror Can Ruin The Beauty of It But Most Importantly, It Ruins The Reflection of The Individual, By Making It Twisted, Zigzag And Ugly. Character Is Like A Mirror. So Build Your Character In Such A Way That It Reflects All The Good In Others Who Follows You Or Treat You As An Idol ... — Muhammad Imran Hasan

But the other half of my motivation came from farther back in my brain, in the curious part that I inherited. It came from the spot in my skull that feels the burning need to unravel puzzles, finish crosswords, indulge in Internet games, and read all the mystery books I can get my grubby little paws on. Like it or not, need it or not, and want it or not, I can't leave a good mystery alone. — Cherie Priest

It's not my place to say how good I was because the thing is, every champion from every era is a great fighter and it's up to one person's interpretation to who is actually the best. — Joe Calzaghe

That's universal - we all want to bring every good thing to our children. But what's not universal is our ability to provide every good thing. — Melinda Gates

I'm Blunt because God rolled me that way — Kalon Jackson

I tried to instill a different motivation, to give them the security and the conviction that they were doing something good, something necessary, something useful - if you want to use a grandiose expression, that they were doing something for peace. — Markus Wolf

Forget your environmental footprint. Think about your ethical footprint. What good is it to build a zero-carbon, energy efficient complex, when the labor producing this architectural gem is unethical at best? — Cameron Sinclair

It's good to express our gratitude to others. It's helpful to express our appreciation of others. But if we do that with the motivation of wanting them to like us, we can remember this slogan. We can thank others, but we should give up all hope of getting thanked in return. Simply keep the door open without expectations. — Pema Chodron

To be world champion brings fame. The fame brings good things and bad things too. I try to take the good with calmness. — Sergio Martinez

You have to believe in its principles. Anything is possible, as long as it's for the good of the world. Make the exception. Live exceptionally. And if you can't do that, maybe we should consider whether you're right for the project. Think about it, then let's talk tomorrow. — Amy Tan

The temptation many creative people I know have is to strive for popularity. To make, do, and say things that other people like in the hopes of pleasing them. This motivation is nice. And sometimes the end result is good. But often what happens in trying so hard to please other people, especially many other people, the result is mediocre. — Scott Berkun

Neither formal education, desire, hard work, nor being a good person guarantees success... the most important key to success is self-motivation. And a consciously chosen vision of the future is a powerful aid to motivate yourself. — Phil Laut

You should never settle for what you think is just good. You should drive the editors and writers and everybody nuts until it's great. And if you don't go for great, you won't end up with good. You've got to go beyond your wildest dreams because the exigencies of filmmaking are going to smash you into the ordinary. — Fred Schepisi

It is a sacred gladness for us to celebrate the holy birth of Jesus Christ. — Lailah Gifty Akita

No matter how good you are at planning, the pressure never goes away. So I don't fight it. I feed off it. I turn pressure into motivation to do my best. — Ben Carson

Don't despise your contributions to Humanity. Every little kind deed counts. — Lailah Gifty Akita

Getting more exercise isn't only good for your waistline. It's a natural anti-depressant, that leaves you in a great mood. — Auliq Ice

It is not important how successful you are, the only thing that matters is how good a person you are... — Vedang Sati

Good deeds are seeds of generosity. — Lailah Gifty Akita

A dream is just as good, and will go as far as an action. — Anthony Liccione

Sometimes a hero is unbelievably good for so many but terribly bad for someone else. — Amit Kalantri

You can't look good everytime, even if you try to no matter what. — Nonito Donaire

Shoes Use: Peace that comes from the Good News Application: The devil wants us to think that telling others the Good News is a worthless and hopeless task - the size of the task is too big and the negative responses are too much to handle. But the shoes God gives us are the motivation to continue to proclaim the true peace that is available in God - news — Anonymous

The issue isn't, Am I good enough? No. The issue is, Do I not have any other choice? Will and desire don't matter. Ability doesn't matter. Need is the only thing that matters. — Dana Spiotta

There is also the professional mentor, a person whose success in his or her career can be a source of practical wisdom and inspiration. This success might be mea sured in material gain or far-reaching influence, or in lives touched and relationships fostered. These mentors can offer a model for good business, ethical practices, and effective work habits, and they often provide the motivation we need to seize whatever opportunities come our way. — John Wooden

Every new morning brings new freshness and new renewal. — Lailah Gifty Akita

I learned a lot of different things from different schools. MIT is a very good place ... . It has developed for itself a spirit, so that every member of the whole place thinks that it's the most wonderful place in the world - it's the center, somehow, of scientific and technological development in the United States, if not the world ... and while you don't get a good sense of proportion there, you do get an excellent sense of being with it and in it, and having motivation and desire to keep on — Richard P. Feynman

A good tree bears good fruits. — Lailah Gifty Akita

Most people do a good deal of whatever they do motivated by love. For me, few stories are truly complete without it. — Sara Sheridan

motivation for not eating meat and dairy is to maintain optimal health, not to rid myself of the obsession and compulsion that are the hallmark of addiction. If obsession and compulsion are the issue - smoking cigarettes, not being able to stop texting your toxic ex, self-harm - and you want to get past it, you need a Bright Line. If health is your objective, there is no evidence that perfect is better than "really good." Seriously. You can comply with a health goal 95 percent of the time, and it will benefit you as much as 100 percent perfection. — Susan Peirce Thompson

My motivation for being a good drummer was born out of fear, which, in a way, seems so antithetical to what art should be. — Damien Chazelle

I'd believed I needed to be steady in myself before I could function with others - but surviving alone no longer felt like a good way either. — Aspen Matis

For what prevents us from saying that the happy life is to have a mind that is free, lofty, fearless and steadfast - a mind that is placed beyond the reach of fear, beyond the reach of desire, that counts virtue the only good, baseness the only evil, and all else but a worthless mass of things, which come and go without increasing or diminishing the highest good, and neither subtract any part from the happy life nor add any part to it?
A man thus grounded must, whether he wills or not, necessarily be attended by constant cheerfulness and a joy that is deep and issues from deep within, since he finds delight in his own resources, and desires no joys greater than his inner joys. — Seneca.

There's one thing I remember about Muhammad Ali. He said "I don't like my condition, but if this is what the Good Lord has planned for me to deal with, I'm happy with that." You have to understand, that comes from my idol, one of the guys that got me started in boxing. — Roy Jones Jr.

...an external reward can affect one's interpretation of one's own motivation, and interpretation that comes to be self-fulfilling. A similar effect may account for the familiar fact that when someone turns his hobby into a business, he often loses pleasure in it. Likewise, an intellectual who pursues an academic career gets professionalized, and this may lead him to stop thinking. This line of reasoning suggests that the kind of appreciative attention where one remains focused on what one is doing can arise only in leisure activities. Such a conclusion would put pleasurable absorption beyond the ken of any activity that is undertaken for the sake of making money, because although money is undoubtedly good, it is not intrinsically so. — Matthew Crawford

The challenges that I face today are the same challenges we all face. Trying to balance your life between work, family, loved ones, your husband, your wife - boyfriend or girlfriend. If you have kids - balancing that, balancing your work with the time you spend with your kids. The idea of wanting to be a good parent and then the motivation to be a great parent. Whether you're black, white, any color. Rich, poor, regardless of religion, cousins of culture, we go through those. We have the same challenges. — Dwayne Johnson

We must continually abide in the vine, so that we can keep bearing lasting fruits — Lailah Gifty Akita

Everybody's got skeletons in the closets. Every once in a while, you've got to open up the closet and the let the skeletons breathe. Half the time, the very thing you think is gonna destroy you or ruin you is the very thing that nobody cares about. My advice to people with skeletons is to dust them off every now and then
as long as your closet's aint full of them. It's not good to have more than two or three. — Tyler Perry

Premillennialists tended to have an even more melancholy view of nonChristians than had prevailed among their predecessors; sometimes this view was applied even to those who professed to be Christians but clearly had a different understanding of the gospel. All reality was, in essentially Manichean categories, divided into neat antitheses: good and evil, the saved and the lost, the true and the false (cf Marsden 1980:211). "In this dichotomized worldview, ambiguity was rare" (:225). Conversion was a crisis experience, a transfer from absolute darkness to absolute light. The millions on their way to perdition should therefore be snatched from the jaws of hell as soon as possible. Missionary motivation shifted gradually from emphasizing the depth of God's love to concentrating on the imminence and horror of divine judgment. — David J. Bosch

It makes me feel good. Being a foreigner, (the American fans) they make me feel like I'm a citizen of this country. — Sergio Martinez

No man ever became great or good except through many and great mistakes. — William Ewart Gladstone

He seemed touched by a larger spirit, his course guided by something beyond him, so talented, so able, so good-natured that he did not even inspire envy in a city rich with envy. — David Halberstam

Whatever phase of life you are in, make time to pause and reflect where you are heading to. It is a good time to insert a comma now and realign yourself to your inner self before your life ends in a full stop. — Roopleen

If only you knew how beautiful you are unconditionally. Don't you know it's enough if all you do is breathe? — Brittany Burgunder

Excellent is prasie worthy. — Lailah Gifty Akita

While girls average a healthy five hours a week on video games, boys average 13. The problem? The brain chemistry of video games stimulates feel-good dopamine that builds motivation to win in a fantasy while starving the parts of the brain focused on real-world motivation. — Warren Farrell

Your opinions about me does not change who I am. I am God's special possession. — Lailah Gifty Akita

The whole system was based upon getting kids to a certain standard and packing their minds with information so they could go on to a good university ... The great failure in education, much of the time, is a lack of excitement and stimulus. — Bill Bryson

To be taken seriously about doing something creative and probably travel a lot. That was my motivation. I knew I was good, I knew I could write. I also knew you could get laid really easily. — David Bowie

He's a good sportsman but his best at world trash talking. — Vitali Klitschko

You must realize one thing. In every little village in the world there are great potential champions who only need motivation, development and good exercise evaluation. — Arthur Lydiard

As far as I am concerned, any deed done with good motivation is a religios one. — Dalai Lama XIV

He had a vision for changing our Medicare system, for bringing more people into the reality that our government should be a partner in preventing people from getting sick ... and that was part of our motivation for changing the Medicare system, and we are in the midst of a revolution in Medicare that will, for many, many generations have real results that will be good for America and good for American citizens. — Andrew Card

I turned from my window. Suddenly it seemed odd for my neighbors on both sides to have visitors while I had none. For the first time, I felt lonely at 'Sconset.
"Let's cook," Frannie said energetically. "We will smell so good that they'll all come running." She picked up a bowl, filled it with apples from the barrel, and immediately began to cut them up. I put water to boil, got out cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, lard, flour, sugar, salt, saleratus, vinegar, and all the other things for apple pies. We both laughed happily. How easy it is, we thought, to make a decision, to implement a remedy, to act. — Sena Jeter Naslund

Do the good work, with the resources you have. — Lailah Gifty Akita

Whether it is preached from good motivation or bad, Word is what "works," not the messenger. — Paul Silway

I thought of how many women told me dispiritedly about how their husbands waited for them to ask - or to make a list - and how demoralizing that was for them. I could not help thinking that there was some element of passive aggression in this recurrent theme of nice men, good, playful dads, full of initiative and motivation at work, who "waited to be asked" to do the more tedious baby-related work at home, until the asking was finally scaled back or stopped. — Naomi Wolf

In your career you have a lot of good moments and bad ones. The important thing is to have enough motivation to keep working all the days with humility and trying to be a better player than before. I am going to try to continue doing this. — Rafael Nadal

It's the same thing: I would think, "If I can't go out and pull some teenager tonight, maybe I'm no good on stage anymore." And you start to think that you even need it as a motivation. I did, anyway. — Iggy Pop

It didn't matter how good I was. It was always, 'You're a girl. You can't play with the guys.' It's always been motivation for me. — Sheryl Swoopes

It takes fifteen pounds of wild fish to get you one pound of farm tuna. Not very sustainable. It doesn't taste very good either. — Dan Barber

An applause is not just the recognition of good performance, but its proof of being different than the crowd. — Amit Kalantri

It's perhaps easier now than ever before to make a good living; it's perhaps harder than ever before to stay calm, to be free of career anxiety. — Alain De Botton

Good things come to those who wait, but better things come to those who work for it!! — Sam Houssami

Motivation is the key to success in whatever you're doing in life. It comes a lot easier when you're doing something you love and have passion for. My goal is to have a good time and a hot run. And I'm not afraid of disappointment
it only makes me work harder. — Missy Giove

There is only one motive for writing a novel: to be published and read. To me there is no distinction between the mystery novel and the novel, only between good books and bad books. A good book takes the reader into a new world of experience; it is an experiment. A bad book, unless the writing is inept, reinforces the intransigent attitude of the reader not to experiment with a new world. Since there are criminals and psychopaths and sociopaths in all my novels they are in a way psychological thrillers. — John Franklin Bardin