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Greatness is not in where we stand,
by Oliver Wendell Holmes

Greatness is not in where we stand,
but in what direction we are moving.
We must sail sometimes with the wind
and sometimes against it -
but sail we must,
and not drift, nor lie at anchor.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Related topics: Bold Choice Courage Adventure Positive Motivational

If you don't know what you want, you will probably never get it.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

A mind that is stretched by a new experience
an never go back to its old dimensions.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Apology is only egotism wrong side out.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

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Thank you for joining me on this journey we call life,
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When in doubt, do it.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

The best of a book is not the thought which it contains,
but the thought which it suggests;
just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones
but in the echoes of our hearts.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes

It is the province of knowledge to speak,
and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Fame is the scentless sunflower, with gaudy crown of gold;
But friendship is the breathing rose, with sweets in every fold.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea,
never regains its original dimensions.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Nothing is so common-place as to wish to be remarkable.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Some people are so heavenly minded
that they are no earthly good.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Alas for those that never sing,
But die with all their music in them!
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

To be seventy years young is sometimes
far more cheerful and hopeful
than to be forty years old.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

A mind, once stretched by a new idea,
never regains its original dimensions.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Old age is fifteen years older than I am.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Except in cases of necessity, which are rare,
leave your friend to learn
unpleasant things from his enemies;
they are ready enough to tell them.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

The price of greatness is responsibility.
- Winston Churchill

It's the little things you do
that can make a big difference.
What are you attempting to accomplish?
What little thing can you do today
that will make you more effective?
You are probably only one step away from greatness.
- Bob Proctor

As human beings, our greatness lies
not so much in being able to remake the world -
as in being able to remake ourselves.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

The greatness of a nation can be judged
by the way its animals are treated.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us.
- Marianne Williamson

It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.
- Edmund Hillary

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
- Lao Tzu

Everything has beauty,
but not everyone sees it.
- Confucius

We are not held back by the love we didn't receive in the past,
but by the love we're not extending in the present.
- Marianne Williamson

A bird does not sing because it has an answer.
It sings because it has a song.
- Chinese Proverb

The world is perfect. It's a mess.
It has always been a mess.
We are not going to change it.
Our job is to straighten out our own lives.
- Joseph Campbell

Riches do not exhilarate us so much with their possession
as they torment us with their loss.
- Epicurus

A good traveler has no fixed plans,
and is not intent on arriving.
- Lao Tzu

One does not discover new lands without consenting
to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.
- Andre Gide

The mind is not a vessel to be filled
but a fire to be kindled.
- Plutarch

The true meaning of life is to plant trees,
under whose shade you do not expect to sit.
- Nelson Henderson

Adventure is not outside man; it is within.
- George Eliot

The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing,
of just going along,
listening to all the things you can't hear,
and not bothering.
- A. A. Milne (Winnie-The-Pooh)

Love does not claim possession, but gives freedom.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Love means not ever having to say you're sorry.
- Erich Segal

Stand Tall, Stand Proud.
Know that you are unique and magnificent.
You do not need the approval of others.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Love one another but make not a bond of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea
between the shores of your souls.
- Khalil Gibran

Life is not supposed to be fair.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Do not blame the thistle that you see no beauty.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The question is not what you look at, but what you see.
- Henry David Thoreau

I am not afraid of storms
for I am learning how to sail my ship.
- Louisa May Alcott

A ship in harbor is safe -
but that is not what ships are for.
- John A. Shedd

To know yet to think that one does not know is best;
Not to know yet to think that one knows
will lead to difficulty.
- Lao Tzu

To the people who love you,
you are beautiful already.
This is not because they're
blind to your shortcomings
but because they so clearly see your soul.
- Victoria Moran

You do not need anyone's permission to be your true self.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Lord, grant that I might not so much
seek to be loved as to love.
- St. Francis of Assisi

Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition,
is not only a waste of energy
but the worst habit you could possibly have.
- Dale Carnegie

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations.
I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty,
believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.
- Louisa May Alcott

The essence of life is not in
the great victories and grand failures,
but in the simple joys.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Am I not destroying my enemies
when I make friends of them?
- Abraham Lincoln

The ache for home lives in all of us,
the safe place where we can
go as we are and not be questioned.
- Maya Angelou

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant.
If we did not sometimes taste of adversity,
prosperity would not be so welcome.
- Anne Bradstreet

The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.
- Oscar Wilde

You will not be punished for your anger,
you will be punished by your anger.
- The Buddha

The beauty does not live out there;
the beauty's in my eyes.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Treat those who are good with goodness,
and also treat those who are not good with goodness.
Thus goodness is attained.
Be honest to those who are honest,
and be also honest to those who are not honest.
Thus honesty is attained.
- Lao Tzu

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle,
and the life of the candle will not be shortened.
Happiness never decreases by being shared.
- The Buddha

Let parents bequeath to their children
not riches, but the spirit of reverence.
- Plato

One can not reflect in streaming water.
Only those who know internal peace can give it to others.
- Lao Tzu

When dealing with people, remember you are
not dealing with creatures of logic,
but creatures of emotion.
- Dale Carnegie

Every child comes with the message
that God is not yet discouraged of man.
- Rabindranath Tagore

"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly,
"one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower."
- Hans Christian Andersen

Sometimes we need the fog to remind ourselves
that all of life is not black and white.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The possession of knowledge does not
kill the sense of wonder and mystery.
There is always more mystery.
- Anais Nin

Do not let Sunday be taken from you.
If your soul has no Sunday, it becomes an orphan.
- Albert Schweitzer

Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek,
but a means by which we arrive at that goal.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am not a slave to my thoughts or emotions.
- Richard Carlson

Self-respect is not a function of size, age, or wealth.
Breathe deep, sing loud and sweet,
"I am me, I am unique, I am magnificent."
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

I do not need anyone's permission to be my true self.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

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May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie