Life must needs be disgusting alike to the idle rich man as to the idle poor man, who has no work to do, or, having work, will not do it.
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Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half awake.
Most of us continue living unnecessarily near our surface.
We are all to some degree oppressed, unfree. We don't come to our own. It is there, but we don't get at it. The threshold must be made to shift.
God helps them that help themselves, as Poor Richard says.
Attribution contested
Quoted constantly as scripture. It is nowhere in the Bible, which says something close to the opposite in several places. Franklin printed it in Poor Richard's Almanack and gathered it here in 1758, but he did not coin it either: he presents it as an existing proverb, and versions of it appear in Algernon Sidney's Discourses in 1698 and, earlier still, in Aesop.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Attribution contested
The letter opens by naming Paul and the catalogue records that, because it is the only claim the text itself makes. Authorship is disputed: on vocabulary, style and the situation it addresses, many scholars hold it was written in Paul's name by someone in his circle after his death. That was an ordinary practice at the time and is not the same thing as forgery — but it does mean the name on the letter is not settled.
I won't have a problem with you if you aim high and miss, but I will have a real problem if you aim low and hit.
Unverified attribution
Wording taken from a viewer's transcription of the video; no published transcript exists that we could find. Attributed to the speech, in which Rigsby is quoting his father.
Do something today to get closer to your goals. Even if something goes wrong, you will learn and recover. You don't have to figure out your entire life today. Make that one call. Go for that one discussion. Step out and show up. That's enough for today.
Unverified attribution
Account attribution and wording were supplied by a user. The account is identified as the reported sharer; original authorship and the direct post have not been independently verified. The publication date is unknown. This is a complete-sentence excerpt of the supplied transcription.
To compare yourself against others only exhausted and stresses you. You are growing at your pace. Your goals are different from others. Your circumstances are unique. Your timeline is only yours. Focus on improving yourself each day, no matter what's happening around you.
Unverified attribution
Account attribution and wording were supplied by a user. The account is identified as the reported sharer; original authorship and the direct post have not been independently verified. The publication date is unknown.
You don't need more time to chase your dreams. You need to spend less time on people and things that aren't supporting your growth. You don't need to rush. Just shift your focus away from distractions. Time is precious. Invest it on the right things.
Unverified attribution
Account attribution and wording were supplied by a user. The account is identified as the reported sharer; original authorship and the direct post have not been independently verified. The publication date is unknown.
The good plan itself, this comes not of its own accord; it is the fruit of “genius” (which means transcendent capacity of taking trouble, first of all)
Attribution contested
Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains is one of the most quoted sentences in English and Carlyle did not write it. This is what he wrote, and the differences are real: transcendent, not infinite; trouble, not pains; and first of all, which concedes that taking trouble is only where genius starts. The familiar wording appears later in the century in other hands and is usually traced to Jane Ellice Hopkins in 1870. Carlyle got the credit because he got there first with the thought.
A stitch in time saves nine.
Look before you leap.
Many hands make light work.
Practice makes perfect.
Drive thy business, let not that drive thee; and early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise, as Poor Richard says.
Attribution contested
Franklin made the proverb famous and is now given it outright, but he did not write it. It is recorded in English more than a century before he was born, in the Book of St Albans in 1496 and in John Clarke's proverb collection of 1639. Franklin's own contribution is the half nobody quotes: drive thy business, let not that drive thee.
Dreams without goals are just dreams, and they ultimately fuel disappointment.
Unverified attribution
Wording taken from a viewer's transcription of the video. This is the Dillard address, not the Pennsylvania one: Dillard has published no transcript we could reach — its site returns 403 to scripts and its archived pages are announcements rather than text — so the phrasing, including the comma, is unconfirmed.
If you’re going to do a job, do it right.
Unverified attribution
Wording taken from a viewer's transcription of the video, not from a published transcript — we searched and found none: Cal Maritime's own newsroom carries only a pre-event announcement, which is where the 22 April 2017 date comes from. The words are Rigsby's father's, recounted by Rigsby, so the attribution here is to the speech rather than to either man directly.
A better life starts with small, consistent, boring actions you repeat day after day, even when you don't feel like it. One day you turn back and realise you have come farther than you could imagine. Allow life to change for the better.
Unverified attribution
Account attribution and wording were supplied by a user. The account is identified as the reported sharer; original authorship and the direct post have not been independently verified. The publication date is unknown.
When you take ownership of your future, things start happening. Excuses build bridges to nowhere. Don't wait for someone to rescue you. Don't wait for circumstances to be perfect. Be messy, be slow but be consistent. That's the secret to making it big.
Unverified attribution
Account attribution and wording were supplied by a user. The account is identified as the reported sharer; original authorship and the direct post have not been independently verified. The publication date is unknown.
There is a bit of homely philosophy, quoted by Squire Bill Widener, of Widener's Valley, Virginia, which sums up one's duty in life: Do what you can, with what you've got, where you are.
Wrongly attributed
Roosevelt did not coin this. He quotes it in his Autobiography and names its author: Squire Bill Widener of Widener's Valley, Virginia, a neighbour with no other claim on posterity. It is now printed on posters and mugs as Roosevelt's own, usually shortened to Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. The sentence around it is the evidence that it was never his.
Rather be an hour early than a minute late.
How you do anything is how you do everything.
If you want a thing done, do it yourself.