Orison Swett Marden

The inspiration of a single book has made preachers, poets, philosophers, authors, and statesmen. On the other hand, the demoralization of a…

— Orison Swett Marden

The giants of the race have been men of concentration, who have struck sledge-hammer blows in one place until they have accomplished…

— Orison Swett Marden

“We long for freedom, we want to soar, to try the wings God gave us; yet we are losing our power because…

— Orison Swett Marden

No matter how humble your work may seem, do it in the spirit of an artist, of a master. In this way…

— Orison Swett Marden

Your expectations opens or closes the doors of your supply, If you expect grand things, and work honestly for them, they will…

— Orison Swett Marden

“That disables a lot of people from achieving goals, it is simply, a lack of willingness to pay for these goals, a…

— Orison Swett Marden

“Specialties facilitate commerce, and promote efficiency in the professions, but are often narrowing to individuals. The spirit of the age tends to…

— Orison Swett Marden

“Read or Starve." Show me a man who has made fifty thousand dollars, and I will show you in that man an…

— Orison Swett Marden

“The most of us make our backs ache carrying useless, foolish burdens. We carry luggage and rubbish that are of no earthly…

— Orison Swett Marden

“The habit of thinking of ourselves as sublime, or having a lofty conception of our possibilities, of imagining ourselves as being commanded…

— Orison Swett Marden

We lift ourselves by our thought, we climb upon our vision of ourselves. If you want to enlarge your life, you must…

— Orison Swett Marden

“Never allow yourself to dwell on your weaknesses, your failures, your unhappy condition. Hold firmly the ideal of your efficiency, your competency,…

— Orison Swett Marden

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

— Orison Swett Marden

“If we were all in our right places, doing the thing nature planned us to do, our work would be almost like…

— Orison Swett Marden

“I rave no more 'gainst Time or Fate, For lo, my own shall come to me. Asleep, awake, by night or day,…

— Orison Swett Marden

“The only way to be happy is to take advantage of the little opportunities that come to us to brighten life as…

— Orison Swett Marden

A strong, successful man is not the victim of his environment. He creates favorable conditions. His own inherent force and energy compel…

— Orison Swett Marden

“The world is a looking-glass which flings back to us the reflection of ourselves. If we laugh it laughs back at us.…

— Orison Swett Marden

“Industry conduces to longevity. It is the ship at the wharf, not the ship at sea, that rots fastest;—the still pool, not…

— Orison Swett Marden

“deep within man dwell those slumbering powers; powers that would astonish him, powers that he never dreamed of possessing; forces that would…

— Orison Swett Marden

“Growth everywhere neutralizes decay. So long as we keep growing, renewing the mind, constantly reaching out for the new and progressive, the…

— Orison Swett Marden

There never will be a trust in excellence or a combination in superiority. As long as you can do a thing a…

— Orison Swett Marden

Every experience in life, everything with which we have come in contact in life, is a chisel which has been cutting away…

— Orison Swett Marden

“The world takes us at our own valuation. It believes in the man who believes in himself, but it has little use…

— Orison Swett Marden

“Fun is the cheapest and best medicine in the world for your children as well as for yourself. Give it to them…

— Orison Swett Marden

Nothing else so destroys the power to stand alone as the habit of leaning upon others. If you lean, you will never…

— Orison Swett Marden

“The great majority of men and women who have given civilization a great uplift started poor, and for many dark years saw…

— Orison Swett Marden

A lobster, when left high and dry among the rock, does not have the sense enough to work his way back to…

— Orison Swett Marden

“Saturate yourself with the ideals, with the convictions which you long to come true. Keep your mind filled with them and they…

— Orison Swett Marden

“I know of no one thing that will have a greater influence upon your life than the forming of the habit of…

— Orison Swett Marden

“There is no suffering, except remorse, so fatal as that which comes from the consciousness of strangled ambition, blasted hope, stifled aspiration.…

— Orison Swett Marden

The sculptor will chip off all unnecessary material to set free the angel. Nature will chip and pound us remorselessly to bring…

— Orison Swett Marden

Society is to the individual what the sun and showers are to the seed. It develops him, expands him, unfolds him, calls…

— Orison Swett Marden

There is a legend that when God was equipping man for his long life journey of exploration, the attendant good angel was…

— Orison Swett Marden

“Always carry yourself as though you were marching to victory, make this impression upon everyone who sees you. Let victory stand out…

— Orison Swett Marden

“Nothing is more foolish, nothing more wicked than to drag the skeletons of the past, the hideous images, the foolish deeds, the…

— Orison Swett Marden