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Never forget that the purpose for which we live is the improvement of ourselves,
so that we may go out of this world having, in our great sphere or our small
one, done some little good for our fellow creatures and labored a little
to diminish the sin and sorrow that are in the world.

William E. Gladstone

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized
by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before
you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature
instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances
complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

George Bernard Shaw

Above all be of single aim; have a legitimate and useful purpose,
and devote yourself unreservedly to it.

James Allen

What humankind wants is not talent; it is purpose.

Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

Each of our acts makes a statement as to our purpose.

Leo Buscaglia

The person without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder--a waif, a nothing,
a no body.  Have a purpose in life, and, having it, throw such strength
of mind and muscle into your work as God has given you.

Thomas Carlyle

Multitudes of people, drifting aimlessly to and fro without a set purpose,
deny themselves such fulfillment of their capacities, and the satisfying
happiness which attends it.  They are not wicked, they are only shallow.
They are not mean or vicious; they simply are empty -- shake them and
they would rattle like gourds. They lack range, depth, and conviction.
Without purpose their lives ultimately wander into the morass of
dissatisfaction.  As we harness our abilities to a steady purpose and
undertake the long pull toward its accomplishment, rich compensations
reward us. A sense of purpose simplifies life and therefore
concentrates our abilities; and concentration adds power.

Kenneth Hildebrand

There is no road to success but through a clear strong purpose.
Nothing can take its place.  A purpose underlies character,
culture, position, attainment of every part.

Thornton T. Munger

We are all designed for a specific purpose; we all have something
for which each of us, and each of us alone, is responsible.

Naomi Stephan

What allows us, as human beings, to psychologically survive
life on earth, with all of its pain, drama, and challenges,
is a sense of purpose and meaning.

Barbara De Angelis

To have a purpose that is worthwhile, and that is steadily being
accomplished, that is one of the secrets of life that is worth living.

Herbert Casson

The human heart refuses to believe in a universe without a purpose.
What are the aims which are at the same time duties?  They are
the perfecting of ourselves and the happiness of others.

Immanuel Kant

A life without purpose is a languid drifting thing.  Every day we ought
to renew our purpose, say to ourselves:  this day let us make a sound
beginning, for what we have hitherto done is naught.
Our improvement is in proportion to our purpose.

Thomas a Kempis

I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think the
purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate.
It is, above all to matter, to count, to stand for something,
to have made some difference that you lived at all.

Leo Rosten

When you have chosen a great purpose, and are certain you have
chosen well and wisely, concentrate upon it.  Bend your best energies
to it.  Guard yourself against subtle and innumerable influences that
tend to divert you from it.  Make that single great purpose the
definite aim of your daily life.  Your thought and time will be solicited
by many influences, and you will do well to take special means to
protect yourself against them.  Make your resolutions so clear and
firm that nothing can lure you from your chosen path of purpose and
duty.  Substitute doing for dreaming, and achievement for wishing.
The great things of the world are done by people who
specialize and concentrate.

Glenville Kleiser
Riches for the Mind and Spirit

Your purpose on Earth goes far beyond satisfying critics or
proving yourself according to standards others set for you.
Your purpose is to recognize the greatness within you and deliver it.

Alan Cohen
A Course in Miracles Made Easy

I am not on this earth by chance.  I am here for a purpose and that
purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand.
Henceforth will I apply all my efforts to become the highest mountain
of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy.

Og Mandino
The Greatest Salesman in the World

The purpose of life is to matter--to count, to stand for something,
to have made some difference that we lived at all.

Leo Rosten

A purpose statement is a simple, private statement that guides your daily
actions.  For example, you might write, "I help others to live happy
and healthy lives" or "I create art that brings spiritual awareness."
Do not confuse a purpose statement with a mission statement, which
is a more specific way you might fulfill your purpose.

Steve Brunkhorst

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful,
to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make
some difference that you have lived and lived well.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

One needs something to believe in, something for which
one can have whole-hearted enthusiasm.  One needs to feel
that one's life has meaning, that one is needed in this world.

Hannah Senesh

No one can tell you how to find your purpose.  It can only be found, slowly,
in your own dark sky, in whatever is sacred to you, be that church or woods.
It can't be found by searching around for a role model or learning how cultural
heroes handled their difficulties.  It is seldom found by following anyone
else's rules.  It lives in the rest in the place where music is born, the fertile
void, the silence between notes.  It is simple and basic.  It emerges slowly
as a sunrise, as we search through our gifts, our darkness, our losses and loves.
Your job and mine is to be quiet and alone from time to time.  To be present to
ourselves and the natural world, and to be in conversation with what is hidden
in us in such a way that we can explore what brings us more alive.

Dawna Markova

To exist without purpose is to be at the mercy of the chance encounter,
the chance invitation, the chance phone call, the chance event--
always being controlled by forces external to oneself.

Nathaniel Branden
Self-Esteem Every Day

Not all purposes are equal.  The key questions about any purpose
are these:  Does this serve your life and well-being?
Is this a purpose you can be proud of?

I believe that nothing that happens to me is meaningless, and that it is good
for us all that it should be so, even if it runs counter to our own wishes.  As I
see it, I'm here for some purpose, and I only hope I may fulfill it.  In the light
of the great purpose all our privations and disappointments are trivial.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Your purpose in life is intrinsically connected to your passion, and
your passion is present right where you stand. While you might argue,
“I have no passion,” or “I don’t know what my passion is,” you do
have passion—if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be alive. While part of you
may have lost touch with your passion, another part knows precisely
where it lives. Ask the part of you that knows your path and purpose
to reveal itself, and it will. If you try to grasp the Big Picture of your
entire life’s purpose, you will get muddled and confused. If you demand
to know it all now, you will become even more overwhelmed. But if you
start by acting on the passion that already exists, even if it is the tiniest
of trickles, it will expand to a stream and then a mighty river.

Alan Cohen
The Tao Made Easy

The research on happiness clearly shows that people who are deeply
committed to whatever gives their life meaning are much happier than
those who don't have this greater sense of purpose.  According to the
psychologist Edward Diener, who researches subjective well-being in
the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign, one of the vital ingredients for happiness is "having a
meaning in life. . . . and having goals embedded in your long-term values
that you're working for, but also that you find enjoyable."  Health and
longevity studies show that when people live with a sense of purpose,
no matter how big or small, they live longer and healthier lives.

Marci Shimoff
Happy for No Reason

Find a purpose in life so big it will challenge every capacity to be at your best.

David O. McKay

Have a purpose in life, and having it, throw into your work
such strength of mind and muscle as God has given you.

Thomas Carlyle

quotations - contents - welcome page - obstacles
the people behind the words - our current e-zine - articles and excerpts
Daily Meditations, Year One - Year Two - Year Three - Year Four
     
Sign up for your free daily spiritual or general quotation ~ ~ Sign up for your free daily meditation

The true purpose is to see things as they are, to observe things
as they are, and to let everything go as it goes.

Shunryu Suzuki

A productive purpose to which you give yourself fully and joyfully is one
of the great adventures of life.  It is a uniquely human source of happiness.

Nathaniel Branden
Self-Esteem Every Day

Do not allow anyone to tell you for what purpose you should live.  To be
happy and fulfilled, you do need a purpose, but let it rise out of who you are.

There is nothing that I so greatly admire as purposefulness.  I have an
enormous respect for people who know exactly what they are doing
and where they are going.  Such people are compact and integrated.
They have clear edges.  They give an impression of invulnerability
and balance, and I wish I were one of them.

Louise Dickinson Rich

When you are clear on the purpose behind your act,
you have the answer as to whether or not you should do it.

Alan Cohen
The Tao Made Easy