“I believe in one God and no more, and I hope for happiness beyond this life. I believe in the equality of man; and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy.” —Thomas Paine”

“Do more, give more, try harder, aim higher, and give thanks. The rewards will be yours.”

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.

“With my past forgiven, my present secure, and my future irrevocably guaranteed, why shouldn’t I be enthusiastically optimistic?”

“We do not stop working and playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop working and playing.”

“Don't let the mistakes and disappointments of the past control and direct your future.”

“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.”

“Why settle for the ‘get by’ when in the long run the good costs less?” 

“If you always do what you've always done, you're always going to get what you've always gotten.”

“Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.”

“When you do the things you need to do when you need to do them, the day will come when you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them.”

“A poet stated it more succinctly when he wrote, “I hear and forget. I see and hear and I remember. However, when I see, hear and do, I understand and succeed.” Interestingly enough, you will discover that when you read this book a second time, you will get more thoughts and more ideas than you did the first time. This is especially true if you read a few minutes every day before you start your day’s activities and just before you go to sleep.”

“The seed of a bamboo tree is planted, fertilized and watered. Nothing happens for the first year. There´s no sign of growth. Not even a hint. The same thing happens - or doesn´t happen - the second year. And then the third year. The tree is carefully watered and fertilized each year, but nothing shows. No growth. No anything. For eight years it can continue. Eight years! Then - after the eight years of fertilizing and watering have passed, with nothing to show for it - the bamboo tree suddently sprouts and grows thirty feet in three months!”

“If standard of living is your major objective, quality of life almost never improves, but if quality of life is your number one objective, your standard of living almost always improves.”

“Most people have heard of Mahatma Gandhi, the man who led India to independence from British rule. His life has been memorialized in books and film, and he is regarded as one of the great men in history. But did you know Gandhi did not start out as a great hero? He was born into a middle-class family. He had low self-esteem, and that made him reluctant to interact with others. He wasn’t a very good student, either, and he struggled just to finish high school. His first attempt at higher education ended in five months. His parents decided to send him to England to finish his education, hoping the new environment would motivate him. Gandhi became a lawyer. The problem when he returned to India was that he didn’t know much about Indian law and had trouble finding clients. So he migrated to South Africa and got a job as a clerk. Gandhi’s life changed one day while riding on a train in South Africa in the first-class section. Because of his dark skin, he was forced to move to a freight car. He refused, and they kicked him off the train. It was then he realized he was afraid of challenging authority, but that he suddenly wanted to help others overcome discrimination if he could. He created a new vision for himself that had value and purpose. He saw value in helping people free themselves from discrimination and injustice. He discovered purpose in life where none had existed previously, and that sense of purpose pulled him forward and motivated him to do what best-selling author and motivational speaker Andy Andrews calls “persist without exception.” His purpose and value turned him into the winner he was born to be,”