quotations about motivation
What makes life dreary is the want of motive.
GEORGE ELIOT
Daniel Deronda
It is not the motive, properly speaking, that determines the working of the will; but it is the will that imparts strength to the motive.
JAMES MCCOSH
attributed, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers
Motivation is simple. Eliminate those who aren't motivated.
LOU HOLTZ
attributed, 1001 Motivational Messages and Quotations for Athletes and Coaches
If we could see the secret motives that prompt even the good actions of men, we should see more to reprove than to admire.
H. W. SHAW
attributed, Day's Collacon
Of course motivation is not permanent. But then, neither is bathing; but it is something you should do on a regular basis.
ZIG ZIGLAR
Raising Positive Kids in a Negative World
In weighing one's acts, motives are specially to be looked at; if it is necessary to impugn the motives and disown the acts of a commanding officer in the field, I bow to the mandate of "state necessity" without a murmur.
B. F. BUTLER
attributed, Day's Collacon
Mark a man's motives.
CONFUCIUS
attributed, Day's Collacon
Great interests make great motives.
NIGU
attributed, Day's Collacon
Nothing is so rare as a single motive--almost all our motives are compound ones; and if we examine our own hearts and actions with that accuracy and diffidence which become us as finite and responsible beings, we shall find that, of our motives to bad actions, temper is often a principal ingredient, and that it is not unfrequently one incitement to a good one.
E. NEWBERRY
attributed, Day's Collacon
Men's minds are as variant as their faces. Where the motives of their actions are pure, the operation of the former is no more to be imputed to them as a crime, than the appearance of the latter; for both, being the work of nature, are alike unavoidable.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
attributed, Maxims of Washington: Political, Social, Moral, and Religious
There is no offense by which we are excited to a livelier or more just indignation, than by the misinterpretation of our own motives.
F. WAYLAND
attributed, Day's Collacon
The whole motivation for any performer is "Look at me, Ma."
LENNY BRUCE
attributed, The Harper Book of Quotations
Motivations are built-in psychological needs. Sh*t we want. Some are physical--you need them to survive--and some exist only in your mind. All are important.
JOEL MARSH
Ux for Beginners
It is very easy to discern flattery in most people, but to discern its motives requires an uncommon depth of penetration.
NORMAN MACDONALD
Maxims and Moral Reflections