Maxwell Maltz

“Our present state of self-confidence and poise is the result of what we have "experienced" rather than what we have learned intellectually.”

“Take the trouble to stop and think of the other person's feelings, his viewpoints, his desires and needs. Think more of what the other fellow wants, and how he must feel.”

“You can always find the sun within yourself if you will only search.”

“To think, when one is no longer young, when one is not yet old, that one is no longer young, that one is not yet old, that is perhaps something.”

“It is common knowledge among psychologists that most of us underrate ourselves, short-change ourselves, sell ourselves short. Actually, there is no such thing as a superiority complex. People who seem to have one are actually suffering from feelings of inferiority; their "superior" self is a fiction, a coverup, to hide from themselves and others their deep-down feelings of inferiority and insecurity.”

“Times will change for the better when you change.”

“Close scrutiny will show that most 'crisis situations' are opportunities to either advance, or stay where you are.”

“Man maintains his balance, poise, and sense of security only as he is moving forward.”

“A human being always acts and feels and performs in accordance with what he imagines to be true about himself and his environment...For imagination sets the goal ‘picture’ which our automatic mechanism works on. We act, or fail to act, not because of ‘will,’ as is so commonly believed, but because of imagination.”

“You may live in an imperfect world but the frontiers are not closed and the doors are not all shut.”

“Accept yourself as you are. Otherwise you will never see opportunity. You will not feel free to move toward it; you will feel you are not deserving.”

“The 'self-image' is the key to human personality and human behavior. Change the self image and you change the personality and the behavior.”

“Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-brake on.”

“Our self image, strongly held, essentially determines what we become.”

“We must have courage to bet on our ideas, to take the calculated risk, and to act. Everyday living requires courage if life is to be effective and bring happiness.”

“If you make friends with yourself, you'll never be alone.”

“You will act like the sort of person you conceive yourself to be.”

“Often the difference between a successful man and a failure is not one's better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on his ideas, to take a calculated risk, and to act.”

“I have found that one of the commonest causes of unhappiness among my patients is that they are attempting to live their lives on the deferred payment plan. They do not live, or enjoy life now, but wait for some future event or occurrence. They will be happy when they get married, when they get a better job, when they get the house paid for, when they get the children through college, when they have completed some task or won some victory. Invariably, they are disappointed.”

“For imagination sets the goal picture which our automatic mechanism works on. We act, or fail to act, not because of will, as is so commonly believed, but because of imagination.”