Orison Swett Marden Quotes (109 Quotes)

It is certain that the greatest poets, orators, statesmen, and historians, men of the most brilliant and imposing talents, have labored as hard, if not harder, than day laborers and that the most obvious reason why they have been superior to other men is that they have taken more pains than other men.

Power gravitates to the man who knows how.

Unless you have prepared yourself to profit by your chance, the opportunity will only make you ridiculous. A great occasion is valuable to you just in proportion as you have educated yourself to make use of it.

All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.

We must give more in order to get more. It is the generous giving of ourselves that produces the generous harvest.

There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something better tomorrow.

The greatest thing a man can do in this world is to make the most possible out of the stuff that has been given him. This is success, and there is no other.

Every youth owes it to himself and to the world to make the most possible out of the stuff that is in him.

No man can be ideally successful until he has found his place. Like a locomotive he is strong on the track, but weak anywhere else.

A strong, successful man is not the victim of his environment. He creates favorable conditions. His own inherent force and energy compel things to turn out as he desires.

We win half the battle when we make up our minds to take the world as we find it,including the thorns.

This force, which is the best thing in you, your highest self, will never respond to any ordinary half-hearted call, or any milk-and-water endeavor, It can only be reached by your supremest call, your supremest effort. It will respond only to the call that is backed up by the whole of you, not part of you you must be all there in what you are trying to do. You must bring every particle of your energy, unanswerable resolution, your best efforts, your persistent industry to your task or the best will not come out of you. You must back up your ambition by your whole nature, by unbounded enthusiasm and a determination to win which knows no failure... Only a masterly call, a masterly will, a supreme effort, intense and persistent application, can unlock the door to your inner treasure and release your highest powers.

The man who has no money is poor, but one who has nothing but money is poorer. He only is rich who can enjoy without owning; he is poor who though he has millions is covetous.

Joyfulness keeps the heart and face young. A good laugh makes us better friends with ourselves and everybody around us.

A will finds a way.

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Weak men wait for opportunities; strong men make them.

Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them.

The best thing about giving of ourselves is that what we get is always better than what we give. The reaction is greater than the action.

There is no stimulus like that which comes from the consciousness of knowing that others believe in us.

The Creator has not given you a longing to do that which you have no ability to do.

The Universe is one great kindergarten for man. Everything that exists has brought with it its own peculiar lesson.

It is just the little difference between the good and the best that makes the difference between the artist and the artisan. It is just the little touches after the average man would quit that makes the master's fame.

Nothing else so destroys the power to stand alone as the habit of leaning upon others. If you lean, you will never be strong or original. Stand alone or bury your ambition to be somebody in the world.

Obstacles are like wild animals. They are cowards but they will bluff you if they can. If they see you are afraid of them... they are liable to spring upon you; but if you look them squarely in the eye, they will slink out of sight.

What power can poverty have over a home where loving hearts are beating with a consciousness of untold riches of the head and heart?

What we sincerely believe regarding ourselves is true for us.

There is no law by which one can, as long as he thinks he can't.

Our destiny changes with our thought; we shall become what we wish to become, do what we wish to do, when our habitual thought corresponds with our desire.

Talk happiness. The world is sad enough without your woe.

Success is the child of drudgery and perseverance. It cannot be coaxed or bribed; pay the price and it is yours.

If you do not feel yourself growing in your work and your life broadening and deepening, if your task is not a perpetual tonic to you, you have not found your place.

Be larger than your task.

No one has a corner on success. It is his who pays the price.

Our thoughts and imagination are the only real limits to our possibilities.

There can be no great courage where there is no confidence or assurance, and half the battle is in the conviction that we can do what we undertake.

The quality of your work, in the long run, is the deciding factor on how much your services are valued by the world.

We advance on our journey only when we face our goal, when we are confident and believe we are going to win out.

Achievement is not always success, while reputed failure often is. It is honest endeavor, persistent effort to do the best possible under any and all circumstances.

A constant struggle, a ceaseless battle to bring success from inhospitable surroundings, is the price of all great achievements.

There is an infinite difference between a little wrong and just right, between fairly good and the best, between mediocrity and superiority.

The influential man is the successful man, whether he be rich or poor.

The golden rule for every business man is this: 'Put yourself in your customer's place.'

It is the youth who sees a great opportunity hidden in just these simple services, who sees a very uncommon situation, a humble position, who gets on in the world.

This is the test of your manhood How much is there left in you after you have lost everything outside of yourself.

Man becomes a slave to his constantly repeated acts.... What he at first chooses, at last compels.

All men who have achieved great things have been great dreamers.

How true it is that, if we are cheerful and contented, all nature smiles, the air seems more balmy, the sky clearer, the earth has a brighter green... the flowers are more fragrant... and the sun, moon, and stars all appear more beautiful, and seem to rejoice with us.

No man is beaten until his hope is annihilated, his confidence gone. As long as a man faces life hopefully, confidently, triumphantly he is not a failure he is not beaten until he turns his back on life.

There is genius in persistence. It conquers all opposers. It gives confidence. It annihilates obstacles. Everybody believes in a determined man. People know that when he undertakes a thing, the battle is half won, for his rule is to accomplish whatever he sets out to do.

The size of your accomplishments, the quality of your achievement, will depend very largely on how big a man you see in yourself, what sort of image you get of your possible self, yourself at your best.