M Maltz Quotes & Sayings

You may live in an imperfect world but the frontiers are not closed and the doors are not all shut. — Maxwell Maltz

The "Success-type" personality is composed of: S-ense of direction U - nderstanding C-ourage C-harity E-steem S-elf-Confidence S-elf-Acceptance. — Maxwell Maltz

I may be a mistake maker, but I'm also a mistake breaker. — Maxwell Maltz

Your automatic guidance system cannot guide you when you're standing still. — Maxwell Maltz

If you intend to insist on justice in order to live a successful and happy life, you will not do so in this lifetime, on this planet. — Maxwell Maltz

Failure feelings - fear, anxiety, lack of self-confidence - do not spring from some heavenly oracle. They are not written in the stars. They are not holy gospel. Nor are they intimations of a set and decided fate which means that failure is decreed and decided. They originate from your own mind. — Maxwell Maltz

It is the job of conscious rational thought to decide what you want, select the goals you wish to achieve-and concentrate upon these rather than upon what you do not want. To spend time and effort concentrating upon what you do not want is not rational. — Maxwell Maltz

An idea accepted as true from any source can be every bit as powerful as hypnosis. — Maxwell Maltz

We must have courage to bet on our ideas, to take the calculated risk, and to act. Everyday living requires courage if life is to be effective and bring happiness. — Maxwell Maltz

The biggest secret of self-esteem is this: Begin to appreciate other people more; show respect for any human being merely because he is a child of God and therefore a thing of value. — Maxwell Maltz

Do not say to yourself, 'I am going to act this way tomorrow.' Just say to yourself - 'I am going to imagine myself acting this way NOW - for 30 minutes - today.' — Maxwell Maltz

This is where you will win the battle - in the playhouse of your mind. — Maxwell Maltz

It takes 21 days to develop a habit. — Maxwell Maltz

True success and true happiness not only go together but each other enhances the other. — Maxwell Maltz

When you believe you can ... you can! — Maxwell Maltz

Happiness is native to the human mind and its physical machine. We think better, perform better, feel better, and are healthier when we are happy. — Maxwell Maltz

Forgiveness is a scalpel that removes emotional scars. — Maxwell Maltz

Self-discipline is the golden key; without it, you cannot be happy. — Maxwell Maltz

You are not your mistakes. Just because you have done something stupid does not make you stupid. — Maxwell Maltz

Develop an enthusiasm for life, create a need for more life, and you will receive more life. — Maxwell Maltz

The greatest miracle you can hope for is self-acceptance. — Maxwell Maltz

We, whoever we are, must have a daily goal in our lives, no matter how small or great, to make that day mean something. — Maxwell Maltz

Realizing that our actions, feelings and behaviour are the result of our own images and beliefs gives us the level that psychology has always needed for changing personality. — Maxwell Maltz

To change a habit, make a conscious decision, then act out the new behavior. — Maxwell Maltz

Adopt the motto - It doesn't matter who's right, but what's right. — Maxwell Maltz

One's capacity for friendship, which can be developed, is basic to one's capacity for happiness. — Maxwell Maltz

The most delightful surprise in life is to suddenly recognize your own worth. — Maxwell Maltz

I have found that one of the commonest causes of unhappiness among my patients is that they are attempting to live their lives on the deferred payment plan. They do not live, or enjoy life now, but wait for some future event or occurrence. They will be happy when they get married, when they get a better job, when they get the house paid for, when they get the children through college, when they have completed some task or won some victory. Invariably, they are disappointed. — Maxwell Maltz

This Creative Mechanism within you is impersonal. It will work automatically and impersonally to achieve goals of success and happiness, or unhappiness and failure, depending upon the goals which you yourself set for it. Present it with success goals and it functions as a Success Mechanism. Present it with negative goals, and it operates just as impersonally, and just as faithfully as a Failure Mechanism. — Maxwell Maltz

I am a firm believer in 'negative thinking' when used correctly. We need to be AWARE of negatives so that we can steer clear of them. A golfer needs to know where the bunkers and sand traps are - but he doesn't think continuously about the bunker - where he doesn't want to go. His mind glances at the bunker, but he DWELLS upon the green. — Maxwell Maltz

It is common knowledge among psychologists that most of us underrate ourselves, short-change ourselves, sell ourselves short. Actually, there is no such thing as a superiority complex. People who seem to have one are actually suffering from feelings of inferiority; their "superior" self is a fiction, a coverup, to hide from themselves and others their deep-down feelings of inferiority and insecurity. — Maxwell Maltz

His experiments proved that the best way to break a habit is to form a clear mental image of the desired end result, and to practice without effort towards reaching that goal. Dunlap found that either "positive practice" (refraining from the habit) or "negative practice" (performing the habit consciously and voluntarily) would have beneficial effect provided the desired end result was kept constantly in mind. — Maxwell Maltz