Men are more accountable for their motives, than for anything else; and primarily, morality consists in the motives, that is in the affections.
God made man to go by motives, and he will not go without them, any more than a boat without steam or a balloon without gas.
You cannot raise a man up by calling him down.
There are two levers for moving men -- interest and fear.
Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.
Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals and charge after them in an unstoppable manner.
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.
The ultimate inspiration is the deadline.
Nobody motivates today's workers. If it doesn't come from within, it doesn't come. Fun helps remove the barriers that allow people to motivate themselves.
If you do not wish a man to do a thing, you had better get him to talk about it; for the more men talk, the more likely they are to do nothing else.
There is only one way... to get anybody to do anything. And that is by making the other person want to do it.
Whatever touches the nerves of motive, whatever shifts man's moral position, is mightier than steam, or calorie, or lightening.
If I would be happy, I would be a bad ballplayer. With me, when I get mad, it puts energy in my body.
What comes from the heart, goes to the heart.
No one does anything from a single motive.
I want you to be everything that's you, deep at the center of your being.
Motivation is like food for the brain. You cannot get enough in one sitting. It needs continual and regular top up s.
The ones who want to achieve and win championships motivate themselves.
We know nothing about motivation. All we can do is write books about it.
Comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.
Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.
The best morale exist when you never hear the word mentioned. When you hear a lot of talk about it, it's usually lousy.
If you would lift me up you must be on higher ground.
You don't have to do anything you don't want to do.
One of the strongest characteristics of genius is the power of lighting its own fire.
The mechanics of industry is easy. The real engine is the people : Their motivation and direction.
Make sure you visualize what you really want, not what someone else wants for you.
Instruction does much, but encouragement does everything.
It is in human nature to relax, when not compelled by personal advantage or disadvantage.
Who is sure of their own motives can in confidence advance or retreat.
A message prepared in the mind reaches a mind; a message prepared in a life reaches a life.
A wife encourages her husband's egoism in order to encourage her own.
Some of us are like wheelbarrows, only useful when pushed and easily upset.
When the leader passes over all alike, not making a distinction, then the endeavors of those who are capable of exertion are entirely lost.
The inner thought coming from the heart represents the real motives and desires. These are the cause of action.
It's not my job to motivate players. They bring extraordinary motivation to our program. It's my job not to de-motivate them.
Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated.
Though a good motive cannot sanction a bad action, a bad motive will always vitiate a good action. In common and trivial matters we may act without motives, but in momentous ones the most careful deliberation is wisdom.
When the administrator feels himself to be the sole driving agency, and finds himself chiefly engaged in arousing those who apathetic and coercing those who are antagonistic, there is something vitally wrong with the administration. An executive should find himself engaged chiefly in directing the energies which create themselves naturally in all parts of the business, and in finding the proper outlet for the eager upward striving of the ranks below.
We promise according to our hopes and perform according to our fears.
We would frequently be ashamed of our good deeds if people saw all of the motives that produced them.
To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.
We talk on principal, but act on motivation.
What we see depends mainly on what we look for.
I usually need a can of beer to prime me.
One of the reasons it has seemed so difficult for a person to change his habits, his personality, or his way of life, has been that heretofore nearly all efforts at change have been directed to the circumference of the self, so to speak, rather than to the center.
Am I motivated by what I really want out of life -- or am I mass-motivated?
I've always felt it was not up to anyone else to make me give my best.
The only way to get people to like working hard is to motivate them. Today, people must understand why they're working hard. Every individual in an organization is motivated by something different.
Two purposes in human nature rule. Self-love to urge, and reason to restrain.
Don't spur a willing horse.
— Proverb
It is not the horse that draws the cart, but the oats.
All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us... they can't get away this time. [When Surrounded By 8 Enemy Divisions During WW2]
You are what you think. You are what you go for. You are what you do!
It is simpler and easier to flatter people than to praise them.
A champion needs a motivation above and beyond winning.
There's always the motivation of wanting to win. Everybody has that. But a champion needs, in his attitude, a motivation above and beyond winning.
I never criticize a player until they are first convinced of my unconditional confidence in their abilities.
We should not teach children the sciences; but give them a taste for them.
Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.
Why did I want to win? because I didn't want to lose!
We may think there is willpower involved, but more likely change is due to want power. Wanting the new addiction more than the old one. Wanting the new me in preference to the person I am now.
The most important thing about motivation is goal setting. You should always have a goal.
I still feel like I gotta prove something. There are a lot of people hoping I fail. But I like that. I need to be hated.
Next to excellence, comes the appreciation of it.
Help people become more motivated by guiding them to the source of their own power.
The most important thing about a man is what he believes in the depth of his being. This is the thing that makes him what he is, The thing that organizes him and feeds him; the thing that keeps him going in the face of untoward circumstances; the thing that gives him resistance.
We must treasure the achievers of our land because it's they who raise the sights of all the others.
There is nothing that fear and hope does not permit men to do.
You must rouse into people's consciousness their own prudence and strength, if you want to raise their character.
I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn.
I have always been pushed by the negative. The apparent failure of a play sends me back to my typewriter that very night, before the reviews are out. I am more compelled to get back to work than if I had a success.
Education is not the filling of the pail, but, the lighting of the fire.
People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing-that's why we recommend it daily.