In this article, we will discuss the best 112 quotations that can inspire you and motivate you to greatness.
Would you like a daily “vitamin” that inspires you and motivate you to greatness? I can remember clearly how scared I was the first day I started my first project when nothing was certain. I was alone and started my company with just a phone, a cheap laptop, and an alarm clock on my desk.
Whenever I needed a dose of motivation – which was frequent in the early days – I would randomly open YouTube to watch a motivational video or maybe open a motivational book to read a sentence or two.
So, if you are anything like me and looking for the daily vitamin dose that can inspire you to move forward in your journey, then you are in the right place.
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. – Steve Jobs
Also Read: Mindfulness Exercises for Mental Health
Table of Contents
Best Albert Einstein Quotations
Albert Einstein was the embodiment of pure intellect, the bumbling professor with the German accent, a comic cliché in a thousand films. Instantly recognizable, like Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp, Albert Einstein’s shaggy-haired visage was as familiar to ordinary people as to the matrons who fluttered about him in salons from Berlin to Hollywood.
Yet he was unfathomably profound — the genius among geniuses who discovered, merely by thinking about it, that the universe was not as it seemed.
Quotes:
- The person who reads too much and uses his brain too little will fall into lazy habits of thinking.
- Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.
- Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.
- The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.
- I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.
- Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.
- Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds.
- Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
- The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.
- We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.
- Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.
- Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you, mine are still greater.
- Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.
- I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.
- To form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep.
- The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there’s no risk of accident for someone dead.
- The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking… the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.
- Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.
- Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.
- I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
- If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.
- Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.
- The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible.
- Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.
- Try not to become just a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.
- It´s not that I´m so smart; it´s just that I stay with problems longer.
- Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning.
- I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.
- The person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.
- An example isn’t another way to teach, it is the only way to teach.
Best Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam Quotations
Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam born on 15th October 1931 at Rameswaram, in Tamil Nadu, specialized in Aero Engineering from Madras Institute of Technology.
Before his term as India’s president, he worked as an aeronautical engineer with DRDO and ISRO. He is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work on the development of ballistic missiles and space rocket technology. In India, he is highly respected as a scientist and as an engineer.
Quotes:
- Dream, Dream, Dream, Dreams transform into thoughts, and thoughts result in action.
- It Is Very Easy To Defeat Someone, But It Is Very Hard To Win Someone.
- For great men, religion is a way of making friends; small people make religion a fighting tool.
- Dreams are not those which come while we are sleeping, but dreams are those when you don’t sleep before fulfilling them.
- Don’t take a rest after your first victory because if you fail in the second, more lips are waiting to say that your first victory was just luck.
- As a child of God, I am greater than anything that can happen to me.
- Climbing to the top demands strength, whether it is to the top of Mount Everest or the top of your career.
- In India, we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime.
- To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal.
- Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work.
- If we are not free, no one will respect us.
- Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow.
- India can live without nuclear weapons. That’s our dream, and it should be the dream of the U.S. also.
- Unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. In this world, fear has no place. Only strength respects strength.
Best Bhagavad Gita Quotations
The Bhagavad Gita is known as the Song Celestial. It is the most important sacred text in the Hindu tradition. The Bhagavad Gita is some 700 verses and is a part of the great epic Mahabharata.
The backdrop to the Bhagavad Gita is the battle of Kurukshetra between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Arjuna finds himself reluctantly fighting for the Pandavas against his cousins the Kauravas. Before the start of the battle, Arjuna is given a choice between having the help of either his beloved friend Krishna or the entire army of Krishna.
Without hesitation, Arjuna chose to have Sri Krishna as an adviser, rather than his army. Most of the Bhagavad Gita comprises the discourse that Sri Krishna gave to his disciple Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurushetra. The battle becomes a synopsis for life and provides Sri Krishna the opportunity to explain to Arjuna the philosophy of Yoga and Vedanta, in a practical and meaningful way.
The Gita begins with Sri Krishna explaining the essence of man is not the body but the immortal soul. On the eve of battle, Arjuna is filled with deep misgivings; he feels to killing his relatives and friends would be a great sin. But Sri Krishna replies that Arjuna should not see himself as the doer. It is only God who gives and takes life away. Furthermore, the death of the body does not harm the soul. As the immortal quote of the Gita runs.
“The soul migrates from body to body. Weapons cannot cleave it, nor fire consumes it, nor water drenches it, nor wind dries it. This is the soul, and this is what is meant by the existence of the soul.”
Quotes:
- Whatever you do, make it an offering to be — the food you eat, the sacrifices you make, the help you give, even your sufferings.
- It is better to live your destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection.
- A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and the right place, and when we expect nothing in return.
- No one who does good work will ever come to a bad end, either here or in the world to come.
- I have become Death, the destroyer of worlds.
- As a man can drink water from any side of a full tank, the skilled theologian can rest from any scripture that will serve His purpose.
- Balance of mind is called Yoga.
- The mind is indeed restless and difficult to control. But it can be conquered, through regular practice and detachment. Those who lack self-control will find it difficult to progress in meditation; but those who are self-controlled, striving earnestly through the right means, will attain the goal.
- Knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the knower are the three factors, which motivate action; the senses, the work, and the doer comprise the threefold basis of action.
- For certain is death for the born… And certain is birth for the dead… Therefore, over the inevitable Thou shouldst not grieve.
- Neither in this world nor elsewhere is there any happiness in store for him who always doubts.
- The mind is restless and difficult to restrain, but it is subdued by practice.
- There has never been a time when you and I have not existed, nor will there be a time when we will cease to exist. As the same person inhabits the body through childhood, youth, and old age, so too at the time of death he attains another body. The wise are not deluded by these changes.
- Those who eat too much or eat too little, who sleep too much or sleep too little, will not succeed in meditation. But those who are temperate in eating and sleeping, work, and recreation, will come to the end of sorrow through meditation.
- Still your mind in me, still yourself in me, and without a doubt, you shall be united with me, Lord of Love, dwelling in your heart.
- Be free from fear. Be fearless and have faith in the divine.
- Not by refraining from action does man attain freedom from action. Not by mere renunciation does he attain supreme perfection.
- As a person abandons worn-out clothes and acquires new ones when the body is worn out a new one is acquired by the Self, who lives within.
- Out of compassion, I destroy the darkness of their ignorance. From within them I light the lamp of wisdom and dispel all darkness from their lives.
- No work stains a man who is pure, who is in harmony, who is master of his life, whose soul is one with the soul of all.
- The happiness which comes from long practice, which leads to the end of suffering, which at first is like poison, but at last like nectar – this kind of happiness arises from the serenity of one’s mind.
- The knowledge sacrifice is superior to any material sacrifice.
- No one is even equal to You in the three worlds how can there be one greater than You O Being of Incomparable Glory.
- But, you are not able to see Me with your physical eye therefore, I give you the divine eye to see My majestic power and glory.
When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect on how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous. – Albert Einstein
Best Buddha Quotations
You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished for your anger.
Siddhartha was born in northern central India, in the year of 567 B.C. He was born into the Kshatriya caste. His was birth preceded by a series of visions seen by his mother and prophecies made to his father. The prophecies made to his father stated that he wouldn’t be a maharajah but a great religious leader.
When he was born his father shielded him from the awareness of the world’s realities. He was trained in the Hindu faith. Something unusual that happened before his birth was when a sacred white elephant, which touched his mother’s side with a lotus, impregnated her.
Siddhartha grew up in luxury, securely protected from anything unpleasant. He later married beautiful princess Yasodarah, the daughter of a neighboring maharajah. They had a son and named him prince Rahula. His tutor was Channah, his father’s most trusted servant. He was advised to tutor and guard Siddhartha and to teach him to exercise constant vigilance so that Siddhartha may never experience the realities of life (the predictions).
Siddhartha began taking trips to a nearby city with a servant, and for the first time saw the reality of life. Three things that Siddhartha saw that deeply disturbed him were an old lady bent over with age, a man whose body was ravaged with leprosy, and a funeral cart carrying a dead body.
Siddhartha could not get the “meaning of life” question “why do people suffer”? Out of his head. He spent many hours a day trying to find the answer in the Vedas but failed miserably.
To find the answers to his questions, he first tried to follow the path of asceticism, by denying him physical pleasures and by eating a single grain of rice a day. This failed when he collapsed from anemic exhaustion. He then tried to study. He spent many hours a day reading the Vedas, looking for clues on life’s mysteries. During this period Siddhartha’s life was very boring and simple. He was not successful in finding answers because he was looking in the wrong places.
Siddhartha was almost about to give up when he decides to meditate under a tree for as long as it would take for him to become enlightened. He spent forty-nine days and forty-nine nights meditating, on the fiftieth day he awoke enlightened. He was now known as Buddha the enlightened one.
This was the beginning of a new religion. He wanted to share his insight with everyone. The monks that abandoned him back in his ascetic period re-joined him. Buddha died when he was more than eighty years old, of food poisoning.
Quotes:
- Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.
- Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
- An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.
- The tongue is like a sharp knife… Kills without drawing blood.
- There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.
- Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.
- We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.
- Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
- It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.
- However, many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?
- In the sky, there is no distinction between east and west; people create distinctions out of their minds and then believe them to be true.
- I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.
- There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; and it is a sword that kills.
- Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.
- Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
- A jug fills drop by drop.
- Without health life is not life; it is only a state of languor and suffering – an image of death.
- It is better to travel well than to arrive.
- He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.
- Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
- Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.
- The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.
- Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.
- Hatred does not cease through hatred at any time. Hatred ceases through love. This is an unalterable law.
- You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.
- Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.
Best Benjamin Franklin Quotations
Franklin was a statesman, diplomat, writer, scientist, and inventor, one of the most versatile and talented men in colonial America and a leading figure in the American struggle for independence.
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on 17 January 1706. He attended school only briefly, and then helped his father, who was a candle and soap maker. He was apprenticed to his brother, a printer, and began writing anonymously for his brother’s newspaper.
Franklin and his brother quarreled, and in 1723 Franklin ran away to Philadelphia. After 18 months in London, Franklin settled in Philadelphia, establishing himself as a printer. He bought the ‘Pennsylvania Gazette’, which he edited and which became one of the American colonies’ major newspapers. He also wrote and published ‘Poor Richard’s Almanack’, an astronomy journal.
By 1748, Franklin had made enough money to retire from business and concentrate on science and inventing. His inventions included the Franklin stove and the lightning rod. He demonstrated that lightning and electricity are identical to his famous kite experiment.
Franklin also became more active in politics. He was clerk of the Pennsylvania Assembly (1736-1751), a member of the Assembly (1750-1764), and deputy postmaster for the Colonies (1753-1774), reorganizing the postal service to make it efficient and profitable.
Franklin was also involved in many public projects, including founding the American Philosophical Society, a subscription library, and, in 1751, an academy that later became the University of Pennsylvania.
Quotes:
- Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.
- A countryman between two lawyers is like a fish between two cats.
- A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things. There will be sleeping enough in the grave.
- A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.
- A penny saved is a penny earned.
- At twenty years of age, the will reign; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment.
- Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead.
- Eat to please thyself, but dress to please others.
- Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it is.
- He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.
- I saw few dies of hunger; of eating, a hundred thousand.
- I wake up every morning at nine and grab for the morning paper. Then I look at the obituary page. If my name is not on it, I get up.
- In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.
- It is the eye of other people that ruin us. If I were blind I would want, either fine clothes, fine houses, or fine furniture.
- Life’s Tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.
- Tell me, and I forget. Teach me, and I remember. Involve me, and I learn.
- The first mistake in public business is going into it.
- There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one’s self.
- There was never a good war or a bad peace.
Related: Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev Quotes
Pingback: 29 Positive Affirmations for Women - BEaYOUtilicious