A library of wisdom
Quotes — every concept, every voice
622 hand-picked quotes from the world's wisdom traditions, each linked to its source concept. Filter by concept below, or scroll through the whole library.
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner ey…”
“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
“If it is endurable, then endure it. Stop complaining.”
“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”
“He who fears death will never do anything worth of a man who is alive.”
“Many things in life will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart. Pursue those.”
“Define your fears, instead of your goals. The hard choices — what we most fear doing, asking, saying — are very often what we most need to do.”
“Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life. Most people get this backwards.”
“A persons success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.”
“When you want to quit, you are only forty percent done.”
“The most important conversations you will ever have are the ones you have with yourself.”
“You have to build calluses on your mind, just like you would on your hands.”
“What would you do if you werent afraid?”
“Done is better than perfect.”
“I want every little girl whos told shes bossy to be told instead, she has leadership skills.”
“I projected myself forward to age 80 and looked back. I knew at 80 I would not regret having tried this. The framework made the decision incredibly easy.”
“Most people overestimate what they can do in one year, and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to ones courage.”
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
“Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
“Courage is grace under pressure.”
“I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.”
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didnt do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.”
“Feel the fear and do it anyway.”
“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”
“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”