Ambition and Success

Don't tell me it's impossible.
Muhammad Ali

Failure is a part of success... Failure will never stand in the way of success if you learn from it.
Hank Aaron, retired baseball player

You are today where your thoughts have brought you, you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.
James Allen, author

I have heard it said that the first ingredient of success - the earliest spark in the dreaming youth - is this: dream a great dream.
John A. Appleman, lawyer

If you don't have a vision, then your reality will always be determined by other's perception.
Melanée Addison, author

Our life is what our thoughts make it.
Marcus Aurelius (121-180), Roman emperor/philosopher

Everything you want is just outside your comfort zone.
Robert Allen, author/speaker

Most of us die with our music unplayed... We should try to step out of our comfort zones and do the things we're capable of.
Mary Kay Ash (1918-2001)

Just do what you do best.
Red Auerbach, Hall of Fame basketball coach

Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success.
Dr. Joyce Brothers

The truth is that all of us attain the greatest success and happiness possible in this life whenever we use our native capacities to their greatest extent.
Smiley Blanton, psychiatrist

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you.
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887), clergyman/writer

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.
Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973), writer

A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.
John Burroughs, naturalist

The temptation when the path to success gets too bumpy is to leap back into the comfort zone. Don't. Keep pushing forward, always forward. The comfort zone is the land of dreams and wishes. Success is the land of results, where all those dreams come true.
Mark Burnett, co-founder of the Eco-Challenge

The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
Walter Bagehot

Set goals big enough that God will be proud.
Ken Blanchard, author

I will guarantee you that the day you step outside your comfort zone by making success your goal is the day you discover that adversity, risk, and daring will make life sweeter than you ever imagined.
Mark Burnett

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize?
Run in such a way that you may win.
I Corinthians 9:24

If you want to walk on water, get out of the boat!
title of book by John Ortberg (What keeps you comfortable even when it keeps you from doing something spectacular?)

Success doesn't come to you... you go to it.
Marva Collins

If you really want something, you can figure out how to make it happen.
Cher

If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your style.
Quentin Crisp

We only do well the things we like doing.
Sidonie-Cabrielle Colette, French novelist

Begin with the end in mind.
Stephen R. Covey

It's never crowded along the extra mile.
Dr. Wayne Dyer

If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results.
Jack Dixon

Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think.
Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister

Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win.
Bernadette Devlin, political activist/member of parliament

I dwell in possibility.
Emily Dickinson

I want to do it because I want to do it.
Amelia Earhart

Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
T.S. Eliot (1888-1965), writer

One of the strongest characteristics of genius is the power of lighting its own fire.
John W. Foster (1770-1843), clergyman

Be bold, be daring, and don't be afraid to raise the roof. Even if you just nailed one down.
Marlene Ferber

The ultimate goal should be doing your best and enjoying it.
Peggy Fleming

If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.
Mahatma Gandhi

If you do not think about the future, you cannot have one.
John Galsworthy (1867-1933), writer

It never occurs to me that there are things that I can't do.
Whoopi Goldberg

Success seems to be connected with action. Successful men [people] keep moving. They make mistakes but they don't quit.
Conrad Hilton

The expert at anything was once a beginner.
Hayes

Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was.
Dag Hammarskjold (1905-1961), statesman

Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.
Napoleon Hill, author

The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It's the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun.
Napoleon Hill, writer (1883-1970)

With a bit of courage and a dash of self-discipline, a small talent can go a long way.
Kitty Carlisle Hart, entertainer

Don't make excuses. Make things happen. Make changes. Then make history.
Doug Hall

If you don't make a total commitment to whatever you're doing, then you start looking to bail out the first time the boat starts leaking. It's tough enough getting that boat to shore with everybody rowing, let alone when a guy stands up and starts putting his jacket on.
Lou Holtz, college football coach

You create your opportunities by asking for them.
Patty Hansen, author

Nobody owes anybody anything; it's up to each individual to set high standards for himself or herself, and to set about working hard and creating a solid future.
Katharine Hepburn

Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only standing still.
Chinese proverb

Success is living up to your potential. That's all. Wake up with a smile and go after life. Don't just show up at the game or office. Live it, enjoy it, taste it, smell it, feel it.
Joe Kapp, former football player/coach

Don't wait for your 'ship to come in,' and feel angry and cheated when it doesn't. Get going with something small.
Irene Kassorla, psychologist

It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.
Ursula LeGuin

If a woman is sufficiently ambitious, determined, and gifted, there is practically nothing she can't do.
Helen Lawrenson

Nobody rises to low expectations.
Calvin Lloyd

Success... my nomination for the single most important ingredient is energy well directed.
Louis Lundborg, banker

Our visions begin with our desires.
Audre Lorde (1934-1992), writer/educator

The secret of all those who make discoveries is that they regard nothing as impossible.
Justus Liebig (1803-1873), chemist

I have the same goal I've had ever since I was a girl. I want to rule the world.
Madonna

Remember you will not always win. Some days, the most resourceful individual will taste defeat. But there is, in this case, always tomorrow - after you have done your best to achieve success today.
Maxwell Maltz, author

There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.
Nelson Mandela, former prime minister of South Africa

If you aren't going all the way; why go at all?
Joe Namath

The higher we soar the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly.
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, philosopher

You must have long-range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-range failures.
Charles Noble

We do not have one big success in our lives, we have many little successes that all add up.
Oxygen reader

If your ship hasn't come in yet, swim out to it!
shirt

If your success is not on your own terms, if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your heart, it is not success at all.
Anna Quindlen

Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.
Louis Pasteur, chemist

Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.
Anthony Robbins

It's hard to beat a person who never gives up.
Babe Ruth (1895-1948)

Working hard becomes a habit, a serious kind of fun. You get self-satisfaction from pushing yourself to the limit, knowing that all the effort is going to pay off.
Mary Lou Retton

Success, real success, in any endeavour demands more from an individual than most people are willing to offer - not more than they are capable of offering.
James Roche

Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.
Babe Ruth

Failure is not the only punishment for laziness; there is also the success of others.
Jules Renard

You may be disappointed if you fail but you are doomed if you don't try.
Beverly Sills, opera singer

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.
Dr. Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)

How can you keep your feet on the ground
When you know you were born to fly
"Born to Fly", Sara Evans

We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success.
Henry David Thoreau

The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.
Mark Twain

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.
Henry David Thoreau

The world belongs to those with the most energy.
Alexis de Tocqueville, author

We're almost there and nowhere near it. All that matters is we're going.
"Gilmore Girls"

Success - all it takes is all you've got.

If you don't know where you're going, then any road will take you there.

If Columbus had turned back, no one would have blamed him.
No one would have remembered him, either.

If you don't climb the mountain, you can't see the view.

Faith makes things possible, not easy.

Don't worry about what's ahead. Just go as far as you can go - from there you can see farther.

Success is not purchased at any one time, but on the installment plan.

There are two ways to reach the top of an oak tree - you climb it or sit on an acorn and wait.

They can because they think they can.
Virgil, "Aeneid", 19 B.C.

If you want a place in the sun, you have to put up with a few blisters.
Abigail Van Buren

I don't want to get into anything that would only be halfway. If we're going to commit to it, then we're going to commit to it all the way.
Al Unser, jr., racecar driver

If you can't excel with talent, triumph with effort.
Dave Weinbaum

A window of opportunity won't open itself.
Dave Weinbaum

Abolish fear and you can accomplish anything you wish.
C.E. Welch, business executive

Success means we go to sleep at night knowing that our talents and abilities were used in a way that served others.
Marianne Williamson

You have reached the pinnacle of success as soon as you become uninterested in money, compliments, or publicity.
O.A. Battista, scientist/writer

Don't let other people tell you what you want.
Pat Riley, professional basketball coach

The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made.
Jean Giraudoux

Our company has, indeed, stumbled onto some of its new products. But never forget that you can only stumble if you're moving.
Richard P. Carlton, Former CEO, 3M Corp.

Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks.
Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), bishop and orator

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

We aim above the mark to hit the mark.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are built for.
John A. Shedd

Reminding one another of the dream that each of us aspires to may be enough for us to set each other free.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

He who moves not forward goes backward.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, writer/poet

Don't wish it was easier; wish you were better.
Don't wish for less problems; wish for more skills.
Don't wish for less challenge; wish for more wisdom.
Jim Rohn, speaker/author