I was surfing the web and came across the following blog on Marc and Angle Hack Life: Practical Tips for Productive Living. Their 60 are awesome, but I added another 30 that were impactful to my thinking. I welcome, no, I strongly encourage you to PLEASE add your favorite quotes in the comments section below – let’s make this a truly life-changing list!
 60 Quotes That Will Change The Way You Think…
In your quiet moments, what do you think about? How far you’ve come, or how far you have to go? Your strengths, or your weaknesses? The best that might happen, or the worst that might come to be? In your quiet moments, pay attention to your thoughts. Because maybe, just maybe, the only thing that needs to shift in order for you to experience more happiness, more love, and more vitality, is your way of thinking.
Here are 60 thought-provoking quotes gathered from our sister site, Everyday Life Lessons, and from our blog archive that will help you adjust your way of thinking.
1. You cannot change what you refuse to confront.
2. Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.
3. Don’t think of cost. Think of value.
4. Sometimes you need to distance yourself to see things clearly.
5. Too many people buy things they don’t need with money they don’t have to impress people they don’t know. Read Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
6. No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.
7. If a person wants to be a part of your life, they will make an obvious effort to do so. Think twice before reserving a space in your heart for people who do not make an effort to stay.
8. Making one person smile can change the world – maybe not the whole world, but their world.
9. Saying someone is ugly doesn’t make you any prettier.
10. The only normal people you know are the ones you don’t know very well.
11. Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it.
12. The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too.
13. It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company.
14. As we grow up, we realize it becomes less important to have more friends and more important to have real ones.
15. Making a hundred friends is not a miracle. The miracle is to make a single friend who will stand by your side even when hundreds are against you.
16. Giving up doesn’t always mean you’re weak, sometimes it means you are strong enough and smart enough to let go and move on.
17. Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein, etc…
18. If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.
19. Don’t choose the one who is beautiful to the world; choose the one who makes your world beautiful.
20. Falling in love is not a choice. To stay in love is.
21. True love isn’t about being inseparable; it’s about two people being true to each other even when they are separated.
22. While you’re busy looking for the perfect person, you’ll probably miss the imperfect person who could make you perfectly happy.
23. Never do something permanently foolish just because you are temporarily upset.
24. You can learn great things from your mistakes when you aren’t busy denying them. Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
25. In life, if you don’t risk anything, you risk everything.
26. When you stop chasing the wrong things you give the right things a chance to catch you.
27. Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.
28. There isn’t anything noble about being superior to another person. True nobility is in being superior to the person you once were.
29. Trying to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.
30. You will never become who you want to be if you keep blaming everyone else for who you are now.
31. People are more what they hide than what they show.
32. Sometimes people don’t notice the things others do for them until they stop doing them.
33. Don’t listen to what people say, watch what they do.
34. Being alone does not mean you are lonely, and being lonely does not mean you are alone.
35. Love is not about sex, going on fancy dates, or showing off. It’s about being with a person who makes you happy in a way nobody else can.
36. Anyone can come into your life and say how much they love you. It takes someone really special to stay in your life and show how much they love you.
37. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion; today is special.
38. Love and appreciate your parents. We are often so busy growing up; we forget they are also growing old.
39. When you have to start compromising yourself and your morals for the people around you, it’s probably time to change the people around you.
40. Learn to love yourself first, instead of loving the idea of other people loving you.
41. When someone tells you, “You’ve changed,” it might simply be because you’ve stopped living your life their way.
42. Someone else doesn’t have to be wrong for you to be right.
43. Be happy. Be yourself. If others don’t like it, then let them be. Happiness is a choice. Life isn’t about pleasing everybody.
44. When you’re up, your friends know who you are. When you’re down, you know who your friends are.
45. Don’t look for someone who will solve all your problems; look for someone who will face them with you.
46. If you expect the world to be fair with you because you are fair, you’re fooling yourself. That’s like expecting the lion not to eat you because you didn’t eat him.
47. No matter how good or bad you have it, wake up each day thankful for your life. Someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for theirs.
48. The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.
49. Many people are so poor because the only thing they have is money.
50. Learn to appreciate the things you have before time forces you appreciate the things you once had.
51. When you choose to see the good in others, you end up finding the good in yourself.
52. You don’t drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.
53. It’s better to know and be disappointed than to never know and always wonder.
54. There are things that we don’t want to happen but have to accept, things we don’t want to know but have to learn, and people we can’t live without but have to let go.
55. Happiness is not determined by what’s happening around you, but rather what’s happening inside you. Most people depend on others to gain happiness, but the truth is, it always comes from within.
56. If you tell the truth, it becomes a part of your past. If you lie, it becomes a part of your future.
57. What you do every day matters more than what you do every once in a while. Read The Power of Habit.
58. You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.
59. Things turn out best for people who make the best out of the way things turn out.
60. If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.
And now to add a few of my favorites…
61. You become what you focus on and like the people you spend time with.
62. People do what seems easy and convenient, not what is best for them.
63. When values are clear, decisions are easy.
64. If you just help enough other people get what they need, you will get everything you need.
65. Build your house on the rock of learning; no one can take your education away from you.
66. Whatever you fill your brain with and whoever you spend your time with… will determine your life a decade from now.
67. Hope is NOT a strategy.
68. Successful people willingly do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do.
69. My definition of success: When your core values and self-concept are in harmony with your daily actions and behaviors.
70. To be interesting – be interested.
71. Remember: everyone you meet is fighting a mighty battle. Be kind. Be understanding.
72. The minute you stop expecting life to be simple, fair and easy… it becomes simple, fair and easy.
73. To be successful in life you must have a PLAN: PREPARE for the journey – LAUNCH into action – ADJUST as you go – NETWORK with those who know. (by Tom Morris)
74. The Seven Cs of Success (by Tom Morris)
1. A clear CONCEPTION of what we want, a vivid vision, a goal clearly imagined.
2. A strong CONFIDENCE that we can attain the goal.
3. A focus CONCENTRATION on what it takes to reach the goal.
4. A stubborn CONSISTENCY in pursuing our vision.
5. And emotional COMMITMENT to the importance of what we are doing.
6. A good CHARACTER to guide us and keep us on the proper course.
7. A CAPACITY to enjoy the process along the way.
75. The Four Agreements (by Miguel Ruiz)
1. Be Impeccable with your Word: Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the Word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your Word in the direction of truth and love.
2. Don’t Take Anything Personally: Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
3. Don’t Make Assumptions: Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
4. Always Do Your Best: Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.
76. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (by Stephen Covey)
Independence or Self-Mastery
The First Three Habits surround moving from dependence to independence (i.e., self-mastery):
Habit 1: Be Proactive
Take initiative in life by realizing that your decisions (and how they align with life’s principles) are the primary determining factor for effectiveness in your life. Take responsibility for your choices and the subsequent consequences that follow.
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Self-discover and clarify your deeply important character values and life goals. Envision the ideal characteristics for each of your various roles and relationships in life.
Habit 3: Put First Things First
Plan, prioritize, and execute your week’s tasks based on importance rather than urgency. Evaluate whether your efforts exemplify your desired character values, propel you toward goals, and enrich the roles and relationships that were elaborated in Habit 2.
 Interdependence
The next three have to do with Interdependence (i.e., working with others):
Habit 4: Think Win-Win
Genuinely strive for mutually beneficial solutions or agreements in your relationships. Value and respect people by understanding a “win” for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten his way.
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
Use empathic listening to be genuinely influenced by a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to being influenced by you. This creates an atmosphere of caring, respect, and positive problem solving.
Habit 6: Synergize
Combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals no one person could have done alone. Get the best performance out of a group of people through encouraging meaningful contribution, and modeling inspirational and supportive leadership.
Self-Renewal
The Last habit relates to self-rejuvenation:
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw
Balance and renew your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle. And learn from the mistakes.
77. Your Day Is Your Life
78. Vision = Focus / Focus = Attention / Attention = Action /Action = Results / Consistent Results = Destiny
79. Until you can see, and admit, that YOU are the problem… You will be unable to realize that YOU must be the solution.
80. We see the world not as it is, but as we are.
81. We often talk to ourselves in ways that we would never let a stranger or even a friend talk to us.
82. All that you achieve and all that you fail to achieve are the direct results of your thoughts.
83. We are the producers of our own thinking. Thought is not something that happens to us, but something that we do to ourselves.
84. Habits, good or bad, can always be traced back to your own thinking.
85. People are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves.
86. People do not attract that which they want, but that which they are.”
87. Â What you do today determines who you will be tomorrow.
88. You are the average of your five closest associates.
89. The Six Mistakes of Man
I. The illusion that personal gain is made up of crushing others.
II. The tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed or corrected.
III. Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it.
IV. Refusing to set aside trivial preferences.
V. Neglecting development and refinement of the mind, and not acquiring the habit of reading and study.
VI. Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.
–Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 B.C.–43 B.C.)
90. At the end of the day – the long day of your life – as people stand around your grave no one will talk about how big your house was, or how many cars you owned, or your boat or plane… they will only talk about ONE thing and ONE thing ONLY: LOVE!  How much you loved them and how much they loved you. So the goal then is to live a life of love. That is all. – John Spence
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I hope you found these helpful and I VERY much look forward to YOU adding your favorites.
Thanks – LOVE, John
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I have this quote on my desk to remind me…and then some.
“The difference between average and top people can be explained in three words: and then some. The top people do what is expected of them…and then some. They are thoughtful of others; they are considerate and kind…and then some. They meet their responsibilities and their obligations fairly and squarely…and then some. They are good friends to their friends, and they can be counted on in an emergency…and then some.”
I believe this is from Mary Kay Ash.
Racheal — I love that quote… and then some!!! It is soooo true — thank you very much.
I am rather addicted to quotes so thank you for sharing some that are a refreshing change from the regurgitated ones that clog social media. These are indeed keepers.
John, a few of my favorite quotes:
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death.
The best way to find your self is to lose yourself in the service of others.
Confidence is contagious. So is a lack of confidence.
Andy — GREAT to hear from you my friend – so glad you enjoyed the quotes – and I love the ones you added – thank you!!!!
Here are some of my favorites (along with a link to my shadow quotes)
I live my life in direct proportion to the commitments I make and keep
If at first you don’t succeed, try something you’ve already been successful at and become masterful at it.
What somebody else thinks of me is none of my business.
And some great Shadow quotes http://www.theshadowcoach.com/Quotes.html
As always, thank you so much for all you give …to us and the world!
It is my pleasure and my honor Donna! Thanks for your wonderful additions.
John Great collection, my friend. A couple of humorous ‘rules to live by’ for you:
Never make fun of someone else’s dog!.
Never refuse a breath mint, when offered.
Never order a coffe to go at McDonalds.
Never ever ask a lady for directions. (just kiddin’)
John-
A couple of my favorites:
“No one is in charge of your happiness but you.”
– unknown
“If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.”
– Colin Powell
As always, thanks for your ideas and your inspiration!
“You have the opportunity to choose who your children’s parents will be.”
“knowing and not doing, is as not knowing at all.”
“love is a verb… An action… To love is to do”
“money often costs too much”
“a thousand forests lies in one acorn”
Thank you, thank you, thank you David – all excellent quotes.
My favorites are the ones that remind us of personal responsibility! Thanks, John!
Hey John!!
“You have the opportunity to choose who your children’s parents will be.”
“Money often costs too much.”
“A thousand forests lies within one acorn.”
“Love is a verb..an action.. to love is to do.”
A quote should provide, if possible, the name of the person who said it.
Here are a few that resonate with me currently:
“It’s not your life. It’s how you choose to look at your life.” -Ken Block
“Today I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered.” ― Dr. Seuss
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. – Albert Einstein
Thanks John for some great ideas to think about!
“Every one wishes to have Truth on his side, but it is not everyone that sincerely wishes to be on the side of Truth” – Richard Whately
Thanks John for sending the list….KDG
3 rules to live your life by from -Lou Holt’s “Do right” seminar
1) Do what’s right.
2) Do your best.
3) Treat others how you want to be treated
“You don’t get 100% of what you don’t ask for”… unknown
“If you get a chance to sing, you should sing.”
Great quotes.
Here is mine:
“Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not break”
“A person cannot elevate themself by putting another person down”.
John
I am a sucker for great quotes- thank you. Here are some of my favorites, from the pesrspective of a therapist and occasional trainer.
“Your intent is for the future, but your attention is in the present” Depak Chopra
” The first rule of holes: when you are in one, stop digging” Molly Ivins
” My interst is in the future, because I am going to spend the rest of my life there.” Charels Kettering
“We don’t need to learn how to let things go; we just need to learn to recognize when they are already gone.” Suzuki Roshi
take care
Markus
Thanks John…I think you may have found a common link among people that aspire to do great things with this idea.
One of my favs…
“God’s gift to us is more talent and ability than we’ll ever hope to use in our lifetime. Our gift to God is to develop as much of that talent and ability as we can in this lifetime.” –Steve Bow
“People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said;
BUT, they will always remember how you made them feel.”
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.”
Worry. . . looks around
Sorry. . . looks back
Faith. . . . looks up
John:
This post was magnificent! truly enjoyed it.
Thank you once again for all the insight,
David W.
I am an educator. My favorite:
Kids don’t care what you know til they know that you care!
Thanks for all the quotes
Great site!
Thank you John, and Everybody…
A few important to me:
“There’s no scarcity of opportunĂŻty to make a living at what you love. There is only a scarcity of resolve to make it happen”……Wayne Dyer
“Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner drive, go much further than people with vastly superior talent.”…..Sophia Loren
“…. storms don’t last forever … sometimes they make a mess of things, but there always appears those rays of hope that help you put your sails back up to keep moving on …”
all excellent quotes…..john Spence
they really touches me…
and now i add some
“its better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven” john milton
“the secret of getting ahead is to getting started”
and ones again thank you so much…
and now im going to start what i learn…what i under stand…i got my way,,and the way to do
One sometimes needs to take a step back in order to move forward.
Allow your success and accomplisment become your inspiration.
Knock, knock, knock, seek, seek, seek, ask, ask, ask until a door opens and welcomes you in.
Be your own inspiration/epitome
I love inspiring quotes. Thanks for sharing some of yours! I’ll add a few:
“Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently” –Henry Ford
“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything” –Uknown
“If you don’t manage your life, your life will manage you” –St. C
” When Wealth is Lost , Nothing is Lost”
” When Health is Lost , Something is Lost”
” When Character is Lost, Everything is Lost”
As kids in the Elementary school in Guntur, India We were taught
Virtues everyday and this particular Virtue is stuck in my mind for more than 4 decades.
Excellent work John.
Here’s mine, although it’s a little long-winded (sorry about that), a relic from the late Christopher Hitchens!
“Beware the irrational, however seductive. Shun the ‘transcendent’ and all who invite you to subordinate or annihilate yourself. Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don’t be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish. Picture all experts as if they were mammals. Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence. Suspect your own motives, and all excuses. Do not live for others any more than you would expect others to live for you.”
Terrific compilation John. Let me share a few of my favorites with you:
The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it…
~ Arnold Schwarzenegger.
You can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent.
~ Arnold Schwarzenegger.
A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world.
~ Paul Dudley White.
I love posts like this. Always remind me to give thanks for what I have.
Total enjoyment!
My favorite:
Whether you think you can, or think you can’t – you’re right!
All d quotes…xceptional!
N d Last one….at d best!:)
Great list John.
‘The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going’ – Ralph Waldo Emerson.
‘Together we will heal the world’ – Me
Awesome Quotes John…!
1) Commitment means staying loyal to what you said you were going to do long after the mood you said it in has left you.
2) Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.
C.S. Lewis
Your life is your message for the world…
When A Person Is Doing Right Things, He Doesn’t Matter Which Definition Is Fit For Him.
Being Working Person Is Means Rather Then Excuse.
Great collection John – Thanks!
A few of my favs:
The way you treat people is your shield; the way we react to it is ours.
It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.”
John Wooden
Me winning isn’t, you do. I’m a veg Danny.
Ty Webb (Chevy Chase in Caddyshack)
Thanks for sharing these great quotes .AS for me, my favorite quotes are
1- if you can’t do great things ,do small thing in great way .
2- you don’t have to be a genius , you do have to have skills to set part from the crowed .
3- better late than never .
John thanks for such a great list. And thanks for allowing us to add to it. Here are some that are important to me at this time in my life.
In a world where you can be anything…be yourself! – unknown
Be the most brilliant color in the box. – Marla Rae
If you want to bring out the best in people, you must see the best in them. – Rev. Nicky Gumbel, Alpha.org
The best things in life are unseen. That’s why we close our eyes when we kiss, laugh and dream. – unknown
Dream…all things are possible. – unknown
Life is good. – unknown
To love what you do and feel that it matters…how could anything be more fun. – unknown
and this is one of my favoriten
“Sometimes, it is the people no one imagines
anything of who do the things that no one can imagine”
this qoute is from the movie “The Imitation Game”
Can you specify who quoted them and when? If its anonymous, and ‘(anonymous)’ would help as well 🙂
Thanks for sharing.
On the quotes from the other website — I have no idea. The rest of the quotes are from me.
I have recently become a member of an executive team and I still hold on dearly to this quote I was told as a part time teller…
“I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing – that it was all started by a mouse”
Walt Disney
Thank you for sharing John! Always a pleasure reading your posts!