Striving Quotes

“Life always begins with one step outside of your comfort zone.”
― Shannon L. Alder

“Do your best, and be a little better than you are.”
― Gordon B. Hinckley

“I do the very best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.”
― Abraham Lincoln

“If you want to find the real competition, just look in the mirror. After awhile you'll see your rivals scrambling for second place.”
― Criss Jami, Killosophy

“If I cease searching, then, woe is me, I am lost. That is how I look at it - keep going, keep going come what may.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“I was taught to strive not because there were any guarantees of success but because the act of striving is in itself the only way to keep faith with life.”
― Madeleine Albright, Madam Secretary

“The comfort zone is a psychological state in which one feels familiar, safe, at ease, and secure.

If you always do what is easy and choose the path of least resistance, you never step outside your comfort zone. Great things don’t come from comfort zones.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

“We can always hope, but we must not live on hope. Let us step beyond expectations, and remain resilient. Let us breathe consciously without fright, striving to take over our grail of freedom. ("Expectations")”
― Erik Pevernagie

“Thus Gotama [Buddha] walked toward the town to gather alms, and the two samanas recognized him solely by the perfection of his repose, by the calmness of his figure, in which there was no trace of seeking, desiring, imitating, or striving, only light and peace”
― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

“All striving comes from lack, from a dissatisfaction with one's condition, and is thus suffering as long as it is not satisfied; but no satisfaction is lasting; instead, it is only the beginning of a new striving. We see striving everywhere inhibited in many ways, struggling everywhere; and thus always suffering; there is no final goal of striving, and therefore no bounds or end to suffering.”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation, Volume I

“I beheld and still behold in anger and agony the eagerness of the world to throw piles of shit on those of us who want to savage or simply cannot help but savage the norms that so desperately need savaging.”
― Maggie Nelson, The Argonauts

“In this world, you only get what you grab for.”
― Giovanni Boccaccio

“Your most important “want” should be the one you can control!”
― Shannon L. Alder

“I'd rather strive for the kind of interview where instead of me asking to introduce myself to society, society asks me to introduce myself to society.”
― Criss Jami, Killosophy

“If you always do what is easy and choose the path of least resistance, you never step outside your comfort zone. Great things don’t come from comfort zones.”
― Roy Bennett

“People are successful because they think and act like successful people.”
― Roy Bennett

“Be not virtuous beyond your powers! And seek nothing from yourselves opposed to probability!...

Shy, ashamed, awkward, like the tiger whose spring hath failed—thus, ye higher men, have I often seen you slink aside. A cast which ye made had failed...

The higher its type, always the seldomer doth a thing succeed. Ye higher men here, have ye not all—been failures?

Be of good cheer; what doth it matter? How much is still possible! Learn to laugh at yourselves, as ye ought to laugh!

What wonder even that ye have failed and only half-succeeded, ye half-shattered ones! Doth not—man's future strive and struggle in you?
Man's furthest, profoundest, star-highest issues, his prodigious powers—do not all these foam through one another in your vessel?

What wonder that many a vessel shattereth! Learn to laugh at yourselves, as ye ought to laugh! Ye higher men, Oh, how much is still possible!”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

“Infinite humiliation and grace, and then a striving born of gratitude — this is Christianity.”
― Søren Kierkegaard, Journals and Papers

“The millionaire has this advantage, that he is able to observe meanness, a perfectly disinterested, pure meanness, not based on any calculations: many know very well that they will not get anything from him and have no right to get anything, but they want to be sure at least to run ahead for him, at least to laugh, at least to doff their hats, at least to wangle themselves an invitation to dinner where they know the millionaire has been invited.”
― Nikolai Gogol, Dead Souls

“Avoiding bother was Taro's governing principle. It wasn't that he was a stick-in-the-mud. It was just that, rather than putting himself out in order to get the more pleasing or interesting things he stood to gain, he always opted for the least bothersome option. Bother still seemed to find its way into his life, however.”
― Tomoka Shibasaki, Spring Garden

“In order to be successful, you must approach the challenge with a determination to succeed.”
― Adeleke Aishat - Tashia

“Striving for the impossible is not the same as toiling in vain.”
― Rob Balder, The Battle for Gobwin Knob

“I’ve managed to convince myself that as long as I’m working, striving, helping and giving, then I can compensate for my flaws and be worthy of the love of those around me.”
― Elise Kova, A Duet with the Siren Duke

“One of the greatest disservices we do to our students is to teach them that universal physical law is something that obviously ought to be true and thus may be legitimately learned by rote. This is terrible on many levels, the worst probably being the missed lesson that meaningful things have to be fought for and often require great suffering tomorrow achieve. The attitude of complacency is also opposite to the one that brought these beautiful new ideas into the world in the first place—indeed, what brings things of great importance into the world generally.”
― Robert B. Laughlin, A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down

“I feel like I’m chasing the unattainable. Trying to catch the wind. Reaching for…I don’t know what I’m reaching for.”
― H.C. Roberts, Harp and the Lyre: Extraction

“Achieving personal growth is a journey that intertwines with staying motivated, embracing happiness, and constantly striving to be better. The key lies in understanding that motivation isn't a constant, but a flame that can be kindled through a clear vision of self-improvement. Happiness, the ultimate pursuit, is not a destination but a byproduct of aligning your actions with your authentic self. To be better and stronger requires a commitment to continuous learning, resilience in the face of challenges, and the wisdom to discern toxic influences that hinder your progress. Surrounding yourself with positive individuals and steering clear of toxic people and political ideologies is not just a choice but a necessity for creating a fulfilling and purpose-driven life.”
― James William Steven Parker

“I learned to value myself the hard way: by keeping an eye out for the things that made my heart sing and by chasing those things, by valuing process over outcome and by ignoring the modern belief that resume equals self worth. Instead of running from my creative side, I let it take me where it wanted to go, and so I met beautiful people who inspired me, and I soon came to inspire others.”
― Joshua Krook

“Insecurity is the shadow cast by our hopes and dreams. It reveals the things
we value most, the aspects of ourselves
we yearn to nurture and protect.
While it can be a source of anxiety,
it can also be a potent influencer,
pushing us to strive.”
― Monika Ajay Kaul

“Life and stuttering were similar. There were no shortcuts, and if you tried to force or blast through, you got badly injured.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, Stamerenophobia

“He could feel the persuasive pull of Education and her endless endeavours — the addictive quest for more — more knowledge, more challenges, and more of himself.”
― H.C. Roberts, Harp and the Lyre: Exchange