Quotes by Earl Nightingale

Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal.

We become what we think about.

Creativity is a natural extension of our enthusiasm.

Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.

People with goals succeed because they know where they're going.

Never give up on a dream because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.

The key that unlocks energy is desire. It's also the key to a long and interesting life. If we expect to create any drive, any real force within ourselves, we have to get excited.

What happens inside always appears outside.

Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it's at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.

You'll find boredom when there's an absence of a good idea.

One hour per day of study in your chosen field is all it takes. One hour per day of study will put you at the top of your field within three years. Within five years you'll be a national authority. In seven years, you can be one of the best people in the world at what you do.

These people get to the top because they have to, because inside them burns a dream too big, too ever present, too demanding to be denied.

If your attitude toward the world is good, you will obtain good results. If your attitude is excellent, excellent will your results.

You must radiate success before it'll come to you.

Watch what everyone else does -- do the opposite. The majority is always wrong.

People don't have great attitudes because of great success, they have great success largely because of great attitudes.

We must radiate success before it will come to us. We must first become mentally, from an attitude standpoint, the people we wish to become.

In doing that which we most enjoy, we will probably make our most significant contribution to society, and the contribution we make to society determines our rewards.

But the 3% who have taken the time and exercised the discipline to decide on a destination and to chart a course sail straight and far across the deep oceans of life, reaching one port after another and accomplishing more in just a few years than the rest accomplish in a lifetime.

If you spend an extra hour each day of study in your chosen field you will be a national expert in that field in five years or less.

You can't get rich unless you EN-rich.

If honesty did not exist, it would have to be invented, as it is the surest way of getting rich.

Getting along well with other people is still the world's most needed skill. With it...there is no limit to what person can do. We need people, we need the cooperation of others. There is very little we can do alone.

If we can augment our gift giving by giving more of ourselves to those we love, all the time and in various ways, we will have a good chance of helping them and ourselves live happier, better lives.

If the grass is greener on the other side it's probably getting better care. Success is a matter of sticking to a set of common sense principles anyone can master.

If the average person realized the power he wields over his life and destiny, he would live in a perpetual state of wonder and thanksgiving.

Time can't be managed. I merely manage activities. Each night, I write down on a sheet of paper a list of the things I have to accomplish the next day. And when I wake up ... I do them.

Without a goal we are much like the man with a boat and nowhere to go. Goals give us the drive and energy we need to remain on track long enough for their accomplishment.

The amount of money we receive will always be in direct ratio to the demand for what we do; our ability to do it; and the difficulty in replacing us.

Your rewards in life are in direct proportion to your service.

Don't concern yourself too much with how you are going to achieve your goal -- leave that completely to a power greater than yourself. All you have to do is know where you're going. The answers will come to you of their own accord, and at the right time.

Even if our home burns down we can rebuild it. But the things that we got for nothing, we can never replace.

Every one of us is the sum total of his own thoughts.

Failures ... believe that their lives are shaped by circumstances ... by things that happen to them ... by exterior forces.

Do what experts since the dawn of recorded history have told you you must do: pay the price by becoming the person you want to become. It's not nearly as difficult as living unsuccessfully.

The only person who succeeds is the person who is progressively realizing a worthy ideal. That's the person who says, 'I'm going to become this' and then begins to work toward that goal.

Be happy now. Don't wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future.

No man can get rich himself unless he enriches others.

By being persistent, you're demonstrating faith. Persistence is simply another word for faith. If you didn't have faith, you'd never persist.

Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.

Throughout all history, the great wise men and teachers, philosophers, and prophets have disagreed with one another on many different things. It is only on this one point that they are in complete and unanimous agreement. We become what we think about.

Each of us must live off the fruit of his thoughts in the future, because what you think today and tomorrow, next month and next year, you will mold your life and determine your future. You are guided by your mind.

If a person will spend one hour a day on the same subject for five years, that person will be an expert on that subject.

If a person is working toward a predetermined goal and knows where to go, then that person is successful. If a person does not know which direction they want to go in life, then that person is a failure.

A rut is a grave with the ends kicked out.

The best way to help a man increase his output is to help build the man. Help him increase his stature as a man, and he will just naturally do better-on the job and off.

Successful people are dreamers who have found a dream too exciting, too important, to remain in the realm of fantasy. Day by day, hour by hour, they toil in the service of their dream until they can see it with their eyes and touch it with their hands.

Visualization is the human being's vehicle to the future -- good, bad, or indifferent. It's strictly in our control.

Security isn't what the wise person looks for -- it's opportunity.

The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are working for somebody else.

Don't wait for change. You change.

It's never too late, for with a purpose, a worthy goal and a motivation to reach those upper layers on the pyramid, a person can travel further in a few years than he might otherwise travel in a lifetime.

Excellence always sells.

Preparation for life is so important. Luck is what happens when preparedness meets opportunity. Opportunity is all around us. Are you prepared?

Luck is when preparedness meets opportunity.

As in all successful ventures, the foundation of a good retirement is planning.

Wherever there is danger, there lurks opportunity; wherever there is opportunity, there lurks danger. The two are inseparable.

We can help others in the world more by making the most of yourself than in any other way.

Control your thoughts. Decide about that which you will think and concentrate upon. You are in charge of your life to the degree you take charge of your thoughts.

Dream what you dare to dream. Go where you want to go. Be what you want to be.

Success is not the result of making money; earning money is the result of success -- and success is in direct proportion to our service.

You can predict a person?s future and divine his bank balance if you know two things: the books he reads, the people he associates with.

Everything begins with an idea.

All you have to do is know where you're going. The answers will come to you of their own accord.

You are, at this moment, standing, right in the middle of your own acres of diamonds.

What's going on in the inside shows on the outside.

We can let circumstances rule us, or we can take charge and rule our lives from within.

We are at our very best, and we are happiest, when we are fully engaged in work we enjoy on the journey toward the goal we've established for ourselves. It gives meaning to our time off and comfort to our sleep. It makes everything else in life so wonderful, so worthwhile.

Whenever we're afraid, it's because we don't know enough. If we understood enough, we would never be afraid.

Executive ability is deciding quickly and getting somebody else to do the work.

A great attitude does much more than turn on the lights in our worlds; it seems to magically connect us to all sorts of serendipitous opportunities that were somehow absent before the change.

Picture yourself in your minds eye as having already achieved this goal. See yourself doing the things you'll be doing when you've reached your goal.

Your problem is to bridge the gap which exists between where you are now and the goal you intend to reach.

Ideas are elusive, slippery things. Best to keep a pad of paper and a pencil at your bedside, so you can stab them during the night before they get away.

Get into a line that you will find to be a deep personal interest, something you really enjoy spending twelve to fifteen hours a day working at, and the rest of the time thinking about.