People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.

—Andrew S. Carnegie

Praise does wonders for our sense of hearing.

—Arnold H. Glasgow

Set your expectations high; find men and women whose integrity and values you respect; get their agreement on a course of action; and give them your ultimate trust.

—John Akers

The soul that has no established aim loses itself.

—Michel de Montaigne

We accept the verdict of the past until the need for change cries out loudly enough to force upon us a choice between the comforts of further inertia and the irksomeness of action.

—Louis L’Amour

The whole idea of motivation is a trap. Forget motivation. Just do it. Exercise, lose weight, test your blood sugar, or whatever. Do it without motivation. And then, guess what? After you start doing the thing, that’s when the motivation comes and makes it easy for you to keep on doing it.

—John Maxwell

The desire of reward is one of the strongest incentives of human conduct; ... the best security for the fidelity of mankind is to make their interest coincide with their duty.

—Alexander Hamilton

The greatest motivational act one person can do for another is to listen.

—Roy E. Moody

If you tell people where to go, but not how to get there, you’ll be amazed at the results.

—General George Patton

Motivation gets you going and habit gets you there. Make motivation a habit and you will get there more quickly and have more fun on the trip.

—Zig Ziglar

We know nothing about motivation. All we can do is write books about it.

—Peter Drucker

Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.

—Stephen R. Covey

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.

—Jim Ryun

‘Tis the motive exalts the action; ‘Tis the doing, and not the deed.

—Margaret Preston