Norman Vincent Peale Quotes (89 Quotes)


    Promises are like crying babies in a theater, they should be carried out at once.

    Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities always see them, for they're always there.

    John Burroughs, one of the greatest naturalist this country ever had, said he felt that there are just two classes of people in the world.... By 'the quick,' he meant people who look at the world and see it people who listen to the world and hear it people who get a message from it. The quick are people who are sensitized the send out antennae. They get the meaning of the world. In other words, they are alive, they are alert, they are vibrant. As for 'the dead people, while they arent dead physically, they are dead from the standpoint of sensitivity. They never grapple with ideas, or try new ways of doing things. They are dead in the spirit. They live on the surface.

    Get the heat and emotion out worry, and put cold, ruthless scrutiny onto the problem, and worry loses its power. When we are worried and filled with apprehension, we become panicky and are likely to see only gloom and failure. There isnt any situation so bad that it wont become a lot better when you think rationally and spiritually about it. God gives you the ability to think rationally about things by filling you with peace and faith.

    Believe you are defeated, believe it long enough, and it is likely to become a fact.


    Cushion the painful effects of hard blows by keeping the enthusiasm going strong, even if doing so requires struggle.

    When you pray for anyone you tend to modify your personal attitude toward him.

    Problems are to the mind what exercise is to the muscles, they toughen and make strong


    Help us to be thankful for this day and every day and treat each one as a preciousgem to be filled to the full with meaning and with love.

    The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have.

    Once we roared like lions for liberty now we bleat like sheep for security The solution for America's problem is not in terms of big government, but it is in big men over whom nobody stands in control but God.

    God in His answers to prayer often says 'Yes.' Sometimes He says 'Wait.' Often He says 'No.' In any case, His will is done, and true faith is to believe that what happened has happened for the best. If one does not take that attitude, he is setting his personal desire against the wisdom of God. Oftentimes we confuse with faith merely that which we desire.

    Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you don't have any problems, you don't get any seeds.

    The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.

    Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.

    Resentment or grudges do no harm to the person against whom you hold these feelings but every day and every night of your life, they are eating at you.

    The secret of achievement is to hold a picture of a successful outcome in mind.

    People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success.

    We've all heard that we have to learn from our mistakes, but I think it's more important to learn from successes. If you learn only from your mistakes, you are inclined to learn only errors.

    When you become detached mentally from yourself and concentrate on helping other people with their difficulties, you will be able to cope with your own more effectively. Somehow, the act of self-giving is a personal power-releasing factor.

    Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture... Do not build up obstacles in your imagination.

    Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all.


    In every difficult situation is potential value. Believe this, then begin looking for it.


    There is no sound basis upon which it may be assumed that all poor men are godly and all rich men are evil, no more than it could be assumed that all rich men are good and all poor men are bad.

    Think positively about yourself, keep your thoughts and actions clean, ask God who made you to keep on remaking you.

    Religious faith may very well be considered a science, for it responds invariably to certain formulae. Perform the technique of faith according to the laws which have been proved workable in human experience and you will always get a result of power.

    The Gateway to Christianity is not through an intricate labyrinth of dogma, but by a simple belief in the person of Christ.


    Drop the idea that you are Atlas carrying the world on your shoulders. The world would go on even without you. Don't take yourself so seriously.

    Joy increases as you give it, and diminishes as you try to keep it for yourself. In giving it, you will accumulate a deposit of joy greater than you ever believed possible.

    Don't duck the most difficult problems. That just insures that the hardest part will be left when you're most tired. Get the big one done - it's downhill from then on.


    Understanding can overcome any situation, however mysterious or insurmountable it may appear to be.

    You would think that economy would be one of the easiest habits in the world to break but it isn't.

    Just as we may learn from our successes (how to do it) so also can we learn from our mistakes (how not to do it). It just isnt in the cards that anybody should get by forever without making mistakes and perhaps sometimes making costly ones.

    Our happiness depends on the habit of mind we cultivate. So practice happy thinking every day. Cultivate the merry heart, develop the happiness habit, and life will become a continual feast.


    Related Authors


    Norman Vincent Peale - Buddha - Timothy Radcliffe - Sun Myung Moon - Robert H. Schuller - Richard Cardinal Cushing - Pope Benedict XVI - Ignatius Loyola - Cardinal Richelieu - Cardinal De Retz


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