Orison Swett Marden

“Poverty itself is not so bad as the poverty thought. It is the conviction that we are poor and must remain so that is fatal.”

“Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Weak men wait for opportunities; strong men make them.”

“History furnishes thousands of examples of men who have seized occasions to accomplish results deemed impossible by those less resolute. Prompt decision and whole-souled action sweep the world before them.”

“Discouragement, fear, doubt, lack of self-confidence, are the germs which have killed the prosperity and happiness of tens of thousands of people.”

“No man can stand still; the moment progress is not made, retrogression begins. If the blade is not kept sharp and bright, the law of rust will assert its claim.”

“Put variety into your mental bill of fare as well as into your physical. It will pay you rich returns.”

“It is psychological law that whatever we desire to accomplish we must impress upon the subjective or subconscious mind.”

“What we do when defeat stares us in the face is the real touchstone of character. But the very fact that success has time and again proved the means of awakening people to the knowledge of greater ability than they ever before dreamed they possessed, ought to hearten and encourage us to keep on no matter how often we fail. If we brace ourselves and continue to push forward we will ultimately win out. (From Everybody ahead, or getting the most out of life)”

“More men are ruined by underestimating the value of money than by overestimating it. Let us, then, abandon the affectation of despising money, and frankly own its value.”

“The hand cannot reach higher than does the heart.”

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

“Our visions are the plans of the possible life structure, but they will end in plans if we do not follow them up with a vigorous effort to make them real, just as the architect's plans will end in his drawings if they are not followed up and made real by the builder.”

“The size of your accomplishments, the quality of your achievement, will depend very largely on how big a man you see in yourself, what sort of image you get of your possible self, yourself at your best.”

“He who improves an opportunity sows a seed which will yield fruit in opportunity for himself and others.”

“With five chances on each hand and one unwavering aim, no boy, however poor, need despair. There is bread and success for every youth under the American flag who has energy and ability to seize his opportunity.”

“There is nothing in this world which men desire and struggle for, and that is good for them, of which there is not enough for everybody.”

“The golden rule for every business man is this: 'Put yourself in your customer's place.'”

“Wisdom is knowledge which has become a part of one's being.”

“A will finds a way.”

“To many a man, and sometimes to a youth, there comes the opportunity to choose between honorable competence and tainted wealth. The young man who starts out to be poor and honorable, holds in his hand one of the strongest elements of success.”