Quotes & Sayings About Improvement

If you want something from someone, you have to give that person something they want. — Amish Tripathi

Without a goal, discipline is nothing but self-punishment. — Auliq Ice

Do not let the fear of unknown deter you from trying.
Keep trying until you succeed. — Lailah Gifty Akita

Leaders don't fall in love with mediocrity. The status quo isn't their desire to maintain but to improve. — Israelmore Ayivor

To improve the world start by improving yourself. — Matshona Dhliwayo

If what you achieve today is equal to what you achieved yesterday, then you are at a loss. And if what you have achieved today is less than what you achieved yesterday, then you are deprived from the Almighty's blessings. Anyone who is not progressing, is in fact regressing, and if you are regressing, then you might as well be dead. — Ali Ibn Abi Talib

Repetition. "Don't look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That's the only way it happens - and when it happens, it lasts," he wrote in The Wisdom of Wooden. — Daniel Coyle

You must purge yourself before finding faults in others.
When you see a mistake in somebody else, try to find if you are making the same mistake.
This is the way to take judgment and to turn it into improvement.
Do not look at others' bodies with envy or with superiority.
All people are born with different constitutions.
Never compare with others.
Each one's capacities are a function of his or her internal strength.
Know your capacities and continually improve upon them. — B.K.S. Iyengar

If we lack either self-awareness or confidence in who we are, we run the risk of allowing others to define who we are or who we should be. — Lisa Locke

If you do not change, you can become extinct ! — Spencer Johnson

Focus only on your successes and you will never know failure ... — Stephen Richards

Natural selection is daily and hourly scrutinizing, throughout the world, every variation, even the slightest; rejecting that which is bad, preserving and adding up all that is good; silently and insensibly working, whenever and wherever opportunity offers, at the improvement of each organic being. — Richard Dawkins

From reading over the notes for each session it was apparent that there had been improvement by more or less regular steps from almost complete terror at sight of the rabbit to a completely positive response with no signs of disturbance. — Mary C. Jones

The purpose of my work is not to educate people, rather it is to enrich human life with self-awareness. — Abhijit Naskar

Life does not end when a relationship ends, just like life doesn't start when a relationship starts. — Mary Mihalic

The test of a progressive policy is not private but public, not just rising income and consumption for individuals, but widening the opportunities and what Amartya Sen calls the 'capabilities' of all through collective action. But that means, it must mean, public non-profit initiative, even if only in redistributing private accumulation. Public decisions aimed at collective social improvement from which all human lives should gain. That is the basis of progressive policy - not maximising economic growth and personal incomes. Nowhere will this be more important than in tackling the greatest problem facing us this century, the environmental crisis. Whatever ideological logo we choose for it, it will mean a major shift away from the free market and towards public action, a bigger shift than the British government has yet envisaged. And, given the acuteness of the economic crisis, probably a fairly rapid shift. Time is not on our side. — Eric Hobsbawm

Medicine today invests heavily in information technology, yet the promised improvement in patient safety and productivity frankly have not been realized, — Peter Pronovost

Judging a person's maturity by the number of years they've lived is misleading. This is because people mature at different rates. — Innocent Mwatsikesimbe

The pursuit of perfection often impedes improvement. — George Will

You cannot stay at the same level as when you first practiced your truth, life won't let you. — Kamal Ravikant

Operating under the conscious capitalism model will show that businesses are the true value creators that can push all of humanity upward for continuous improvement. — John Mackey

[...] if truth be told, evolution hasn't yielded many practical or commercial benefits. Yes, bacteria evolve drug resistance, and yes, we must take countermeasures, but beyond that there is not much to say. Evolution cannot help us predict what new vaccines to manufacture because microbes evolve unpredictably. But hasn't evolution helped guide animal and plant breeding? Not very much. Most improvement in crop plants and animals occurred long before we knew anything about evolution, and came about by people following the genetic principle of 'like begets like'. Even now, as its practitioners admit, the field of quantitative genetics has been of little value in helping improve varieties. Future advances will almost certainly come from transgenics, which is not based on evolution at all.
[review of The Evolving World: Evolution in Everyday Life, Nature 442, 983-984 (31 August 2006)] — Jerry A. Coyne

Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility, or so I thought until I cast my mind back to my own graduation. The commencement speaker that day was the distinguished British philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock. Reflecting on her speech has helped me enormously in writing this one, because it turns out that I can't remember a single word she said. This liberating discovery enables me to proceed without any fear that I might inadvertently influence you to abandon promising careers in business, the law, or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard.
You see? If all you remember in years to come is the 'gay wizard' joke, I've come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock. Achievable goals: the first step to self-improvement. — J.K. Rowling

Real improvement is of slow growth only. — Seneca The Younger

Under chronic stress, your body is more apt to enter a state of dis-ease. Unable to achieve its natural balance, it can't function the way it should. The ripple effects can be profound. And yet Western medicine has trained us to focus on symptomsrather than root causes like stress. Page 71 — Nick Ortner

Most of these alternative arrangements, so-called, arise out of the ruins of marriages, not as an improvement of old fashioned marriage. — Christopher Lasch

We may have a perfectly adequate way of doing something, but that does not mean there cannot be a better way. So we set out to find an alternative way. This is the basis of any improvement that is not fault correction or problem solving. — Edward De Bono

Awareness makes us emotionally brilliant. — Lorii Myers

The empirical fact is that self-actualizing people, our best experiencers, are also our most compassionate, our great improvers and reformers of society, our most effective fighters against injustice, inequality, slavery, cruelty, exploitation (and also are best fighters for excellence, effectiveness, competence). And it also becomes clearer and clearer that our best 'helpers' are the most fully human persons. What I may call the bodhisattvic path is an integration of self-improvement and social zeal, i.e., the best way to become a better 'helper' is to become a better person. But one necessary aspect of becoming a better person is via helping other people. So one must and can do both simultaneously. — Abraham H. Maslow

There is only one way under high heaven to get the best of an argument - and that is to avoid it . — Dale Carnegie

Life is spiritual warfare. — Lailah Gifty Akita

Love coming out of you makes you happy. The whole world can love you, but that love will not make you happy. What will make you happy is to share all the love you have inside you. That is the love that will make a difference. — Miguel Angel Ruiz

The new light above my table is a great improvement. With all this darkness around me I feel less alone. (Pause.) In a way. (Pause.) I love to get up and move about in it, then back here to ... (hesitates) ... me. (Pause.) — Samuel Beckett

Unplanned process improvement is wishful thinking. — Watts Humphrey

In order to answer the question "Where am I going?" one needs to work for self-improvement, to possess decisiveness, to have a will to win and dedication to achieve the goal at all cost — Sunday Adelaja

We must accept the reality that the causes of impatience travel a two-way street. — Allan Lokos

If you don't mind them and accept that they don't like you, you'll see that you won't return the negativity. — Innocent Mwatsikesimbe

WE ALREADY HAVE everything we need. There is no need for self-improvement. All these trips that we lay on ourselves - the heavy-duty fearing that we're bad and hoping that we're good, the identities that we so dearly cling to, the rage, the jealousy and the addictions of all kinds - never touch our basic wealth. They are like clouds that temporarily block the sun. But all the time our warmth and brilliance are right here. This is who we really are. We are one blink of an eye away from being fully awake. — Pema Chodron

To discern the Zeitgeist you need to read widely. You need to systematically scan all possible sources of information. You also need to gauge the moods and emotions triggered by the happenings at that point in time. But if you can get a good sense on Zeitgeist you can get immense control on shaping new ideas for others and you can even control others! — Abhishek Ratna

From the earliest days of Unitarianism and Universalism, these traditions have advocated for the compatibility of science and religion. Both traditions encourage the use of reason, the search for truth, and the improvement of human nature and society through learning and the discoveries of science. Some, especially those called humanists, eschew Biblical revelation and supernaturalism and believe that science and technology will eventually solve all the major problems facing humankind. — Mark W. Harris

This is certainly one of the best ways to ensure failure. Make excuses, don't take action! — Abhishek Ratna

Utopia's quite another land;
In her enterprising movements,
She is England
with improvements — W.S. Gilbert

We had the great depression, we had two world wars, we had the flu epidemic. We had oil shock. We had all these terrible things happen. But something about the American system unleashed more and of a potential to human beings over that hundred years so that we had a seven for one improvement in - there's never been any - I mean, you have centuries where if you've got a 1 percent improvement, then it's something. So we've got a great system. And we've got more productive capacity now than we ever have. — Howard Warren Buffett

Water is a pioneer which the settler follows, taking advantage of its improvements. — Henry David Thoreau

Education develops the intellect; and the intellect distinguishes man from other creatures. It is education that enables man to harness nature and utilize her resources for the well-being and improvement of his life — Haile Selassie

You can't improve anything if you don't first know what needs to be improved. — Bohdi Sanders

The best jury of your peers that you'll ever find is ... well, you. Only you know what you're capable of and what you want to be. — Richelle Mead

What inspires you to do what you do is the reason why you persist, even in the face of trouble. — Innocent Mwatsikesimbe

One of the very few valid criticisms of Queen Victoria is that she was not sufficiently concerned with improvement of the conditions in which a great mass of her subjects passed their lives. She lived through an age of profound social change, but neither public health, nor housing, nor the education of her people, nor their representation, engaged much of her time. — Cecil Woodham-Smith

Major improvements don't happen over night. Their are many moments inching towards improvement. The difference between those who make major improvements in their lives are the ones who embrace patience and wait through the darkness as long as it takes. — Matthew Donnelly

That which does not kill us makes us stronger," Jesse deadpans.
"Exactly. Exactly."
Self-improvement through adversity... it isn't bullshit. Exhibit A: my little brother. I can see every muscle in his stomach and shoulders. — Hannah Moskowitz

It is only those who know how to feel that "this is not good" who devise improvements. — Friedrich Nietzsche

In search of myself, I have created myself. — Ljupka Cvetanova

Just as energy is the basis of life itself, and ideas the source of innovation, so is innovation the vital spark of all human change, improvement and progress. — Theodore Levitt

Dedicate time to yourself and do things that help you grow — Sunday Adelaja

The capital ... shall form a fund, the interest of which shall be distributed annually as prizes to those persons who shall have rendered humanity the best services during the past year ... One-fifth to the person having made the most important discovery or invention in the science of physics, one-fifth to the person who has made the most eminent discovery or improvement in chemistry, one-fifth to the one having made the most important discovery with regard to physiology or medicine, one-fifth to the person who has produced the most distinguished idealistic work of literature, and one-fifth to the person who has worked the most or best for advancing the fraternization of all nations and for abolishing or diminishing the standing armies as well as for the forming or propagation of committees of peace. — Alfred Nobel

If you cannot do great things in life, make sure you do the small things in a great way. — Habeeb Akande

It's much easier on the emotions when one sees life as an experiment rather than a struggle for popularity. — Criss Jami

When Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962, only five Americans had previously been so honored. Accepting the prize in Stockholm, he gave an impassioned speech in which he argued that "the ancient commission of the writer has not changed. He is charged with exposing our many grievous faults and failures, with dredging up to the light our dark and dangerous dreams for the purpose of improvement. — John Steinbeck

Making changes requires making new and different choices, choices that are more conscious, and more life-supporting. Continuing to do what we have been doing so far is also a choice, but not one that will bring any meaningful improvement. I would suggest that before we can intelligently make new choices, a thorough re-evaluation is in order. We need to look more carefully at what we value, what we have, and what we desire to make sure these are really important to us and represent what we truly want. — Ilchi Lee

Greatness is only achieved by those who strive constantly for improvement — Carey Decevito

Self-improvement without self-love is like building a house upon sand. You can build and build, but it will always sink. — Vironika Tugaleva

Except for a handful, chess players don't have such illusions. The game has a severe analytic quality that makes self-deception difficult. Unlike the undiscovered poet who, despite the harsh criticism of his peers, lives on his fantasies for the day that he will be recognized as the next Dylan Thomas, even a young chess player can usually gauge his talent. When Josh was six, he played several games against a pudgy thirteen-year-old who was the top player on his high school team. He beat Josh every time, but a couple of the games were close, and afterwards the boy seemed gloomy about his performance. He explained that if he didn't make significant improvement during the next year, he would wind up as just another wood-pusher. Despite his celebrity in school, he seemed to know that he didn't have it. While — Fred Waitzkin

He comes to us in the brokenness of our health, in the shipwreck of our family lives, in the loss of all possible peace of mind, even in the very thick of our sins. He saves us in our disasters, not from them. He emphatically does not promise to meet only the odd winner of the self-improvement lottery. He meets us all in our endless and inescapable losing. — Robert Farrar Capon

Although life is filled with twists and turns, only you have the ability to make positive changes to your life. You can do it. One day at a time! ~ Taken from "Words of Wisdom for Warriors" by EM.EM.Genesis — E.M. E.M. Genesis

Like David: Let not your age limit what God can do. Go confront the Goliaths of life. — Ikechukwu Joseph

Self-love is having appreciation for oneself, respecting oneself, and caring for oneself, and the actions that help us mature also help it grow. — Tisha Marie Payton, MHR

Perspective alone can make an experience positive or negative, but regardless of which you let it become, it can only have as much power over your outlook on life as you give it. — A.J. Darkholme

Introspection is self-improvement and therefore introspection is self-centeredness. Awareness is not self-improvement. On the contrary, it is the ending of the self, of the "I," with all its peculiar idiosyncrasies, memories, demands, and pursuits. In introspection there is identification and condemnation. In awareness there is no condemnation or identification; therefore, there is no self-improvement. There is a vast difference between the two. — Jiddu Krishnamurti

Doubt, the essential preliminary of all improvement and discovery, must accompany the stages of man's onward progress. The faculty of doubting and questioning, without which those of comparison and judgment would be useless, is itself a divine prerogative of the reason. — Albert Pike

Focus forward, not around you.
In the moment;
Not behind you.
Don't grimace in the whys,
Relish in 'Yes-es;' - Be Positive ...
When you amplify the goods,
you'll see bads as infinitesimally minuscule.
Glorify and Cleanse ... first and foremost ,
YOUR perception.
#levitate — Tiffany Luard

It occurred to me that when a person chooses certain behaviors, they have complete, 100% control over their choices. But once the behavior is chosen, therein lies the extent of the effects of that choice. One has 0% control over what happens to them or to their body as a result of that choice. You can choose how you respond to the consequences, but control is relinquished. Choose carefully! — Mary L. Page

If you never leave where you come from, I don't think you'll ever figure out who you are, because how much is forced on you? How much of your personality is imposed instead of created? That's why I left. I think people need to leave in order to find their potential. — Katie Kacvinsky

You can't change the past, you know? You can't change who you were, but you can change who you're going to be. — Rose Christo

Making an effort is the firm foundation to your success. You are worth the effort. — Regina R. Carver

Compare yourself to no one else but yourself. It's not about anybody else's anything. It's about YOU. Are you the best you? That's all you need to worry about. Imagine how awesome it would be if everyone just worried about making themselves the best they could be! — Beth Ramsay

Enlightenment is beyond self-improvement and spiritual seeking. It is the final resolution of a case of mistaken identity. It is the direct recognition of your eternal nature and the seeing through of who you have falsely believed yourself to be. — Gary Crowley

It has been demonstrated through years of workshops that the Artist Within tends to make the same mistakes as the artist within everybody else. — Howard Mittelmark

The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all, even the most barbarian, nations into civilization. The cheap prices of its commodities are the heavy artillery with which it batters down all Chinese walls, with which it forces the barbarians' intensely obstinate hatred of foreigners to capitulate. It compels all nations, on pain of extinction, to adopt the bourgeois mode of production; it compels them to introduce what it calls civilization into their midst, i.e., to become bourgeois themselves. In one word, it creates a world after its own image. — Karl Marx

The backbone of any improvement of governance, its development as well as its protection from any form of wastage or excessiveness, is a mechanism to place laws under the microscope of revision and modernization until they resonate in tune with the methodological development and new administrative technologies. — Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Being a part of the finesse and physicality of box lacrosse has been a great experience for me. I feel that I have learned and improved as an overall lacrosse player. Learning to adapt in tight space while reading defenders and offensive players has been the biggest improvement in my game. — Paul Rabil

Nothing is finished unless it is started. So just start where you are. — Innocent Mwatsikesimbe

Life will either shrink or expand based on your decision to have courage. — Shannon L. Alder

Love is not a purpose, it's a paradox; it's not an end-goal, it's an auxiliary fuel source to help get there. — A.J. Darkholme

All failure is failure to adapt, all success is successful adaptation. — Max McKeown

Humanity may endure the loss of everything; all its possessions may be turned away without infringing its true dignity - all but the possibility of improvement. — Johann Gottlieb Fichte

Generally speaking, we are w-a-y too hard on ourselves!
I used to place enough pressure on myself to crush an elephant! — Daniel Petra

A person can transfigure the disquiet of solitude in a positive or negative manner. Periods of enforced solitude can cause a person to develop eccentricities of conduct and character, parley with a number of mental aberrations, partake in self-destructive diversions, or use their time productively to contemplate worldly issues and diligently work on self-improvement. — Kilroy J. Oldster

Stephens resumed speaking as the crowd quieted. He referred to one final "improvement" the Confederate Constitution had introduced, a brief but crucial clause that banned forever any "bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves." "The new Constitution has put at rest, forever, all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institutions - African slavery as it exists among us - the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization." This question, Stephens baldly admitted, "was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution."20 Stephens then referenced — Don H. Doyle

Depression has its degrees which should be clearly marked. There is an absolute depression, when the very foundation of the psychic mechanism is damaged by pressures and we find it very difficult to recover the joy of life. Quite different is a temporary depression which may, at times, be quite poorly directed, like a wind into the human sails. In order to distinguish between the two we might use the test of human reaction to a material improvement. — Valerian Pidmohylny

Who should open the door of success for you...you that's who! — Jerry Gladstone

Jessie rummaged through her purse for the necessary equipment. If there were one thing, Baley had once said solemnly, that had resisted mechanical improvement since medieval times, it was a woman's purse. — Isaac Asimov

There are many things to learn, when will I finish? — Lailah Gifty Akita

All intellectual improvement arises from leisure. — Samuel Johnson

I want to become the favorite song of my own uprising. I want to see the most forgotten, unused part of my soul the one which for years I kept closed out of spite, find the courage to go up to my mind and start writing liberation slogans across its highest fences. — Angelos Michalopoulos

Our focus should be on making the most of our own lives, regardless of whether we start at the bottom or the top- not on envying the advantages and achievements of others. — Yaron Brook

I am the product of any imperfection of mine I have never used to make my life better. — Angelos Michalopoulos

You are addressed by the way you dress. Your attire reflects your sense of value or taste and of course, your speech either makes or mars you. — Jaachynma N.E. Agu

Character is the real you-"the you in you that makes you the you, you are". "the hidden man of the heart — Ikechukwu Joseph

At times, look back towards your ancient days, drink deep from the eternal fountain of wisdom long gone, and then look ahead. — Abhijit Naskar