Orison Swett Marden Quotes - Page 5

Be larger than your task.

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

Poverty often hides her charms under an ugly mask; yet thousands have been forced into greatness by their very struggle to keep the wolf from the door.

One of the best strengtheners of character and developers of stamina ... is to assume the part you wish to play; to assert stoutly the possession of whatever you lack.

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.

The first part of success is 'Get-to-it-iveness'; the second part of success is 'Stick-to-it-iveness'.

Our trials, our sorrows, and our grieves develop us.

Power gravitates to the man who knows how.

The world makes way for the man with an idea.

You have not found your place until all your faculties are roused, and your whole nature consents and approves of the work you are doing.

How can I develop myself into the grandest possible manhood?

Put the uncommon effort into the common task... make it large by doing it in a great way.

There is no medicine like hope.

The glow of satisfaction which follows the consciousness of doing our level best never comes to a human being from any other experience.

Opportunity is latent in the very foundation of human society. Opportunity is everywhere about us. But the preparation to seize upon the opportunity, and to make the most of it, is to be made by every one for himself ... he will be self-made or never made.

Deep within man dwell those slumbering powers; powers that would astonish him, that he never dreamed of possessing; forces that would revolutionize his life if aroused and put into action.

There is only one thing for us to do, and that is to do our level best right where we are every day of our lives; To use our best judgment, and then to trust the rest to that Power which holds the forces of the universe in his hands.

We fail to see that we can control our destiny; make ourselves do whatever is possible; make ourselves become whatever we long to be.

Keep fear out of your child's mind, as you would keep poison out of his body; for fear is the deadliest of mental poisons.

Play is as necessary to the perfect development of a child as sunshine is to the perfect development of a plant.

We cannot separate our lives from time. Why is it that we are so extravagant, so thoughtless, in our waste of time, especially in youth, when we cling so tenaciously to life? You cannot separate a wasted hour from the same duration of your life. If you waste your time, you must waste your life. If you improve your time, you cannot help improving your life.

Laughter brightens the eye, increases the perspiration, expands the chest, forces the poisoned air from the least-used cells, and tends to restore that exquisite poise or balance which we call health.

We do not know what we can bear until we are put to the test. Many a delicate mother, who thought that she could not survive the death of her children, has lived to bury her husband and the last one of a large family, and in addition to all this has seen her home and last dollar swept away; yet she has had the courage to bear it all and to go on as before. When the need comes, there is a power deep within us that answers the call.

The successful men of today are men of one overmastering idea, one unwavering aim, men of single and intense purpose.

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