Self-improvement

Explore 29 quotes about Self-improvement

We learn an art or craft by doing the things that we shall have to do when we have learnt it.

Aristotle

The Nicomachean Ethics

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Topic

Practice Learning Self-improvement

Author

Aristotle

Source

The Nicomachean Ethics

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

322 BC 320s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aristotle. Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, Ēthika Nikomacheia [Nicomachean Ethics]. c. 322 BC.

Current Citation

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics, translated by Terence Irwin. Hackett Publishing, 2019, bk. 2.

Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.

Marcus Aurelius

Meditations

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Topic

Words vs. actions Taking action Self-improvement Personal growth

Author

Marcus Aurelius

Source

Meditations

Medium

Personal journal

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Advice

Language

Greek

Time

180 180s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations. c. 180, bk. 10.

Current Citation

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations, edited and translated by Martin Hammond. Penguin Classics, 2015, bk. 10.

You make me want to be a better man.

As Good As It Gets

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Topic

Self-improvement Relationships

Speaker

Melvin Udhall

Actor

Jack Nicholson

Source

As Good As It Gets

Medium

Film

Genre

Romantic comedy (film) Comedy drama (film) Romantic comedy Comedy drama

Language

English

Time

1997 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

As Good As It Gets. Directed by James L. Brooks, TriStar Pictures/Gracie Films, 1997.

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low-vaulted past!

Oliver Wendell Holmes

The Chambered Nautilus

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Topic

Self-improvement Formation of character

Author

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Source

The Chambered Nautilus The Atlantic

Medium

Poem Magazine

Language

English

Time

1858 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr. "The Chambered Nautilus." The Atlantic Monthly. Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, Feb. 1858, st. 5.

Is Goodness indeed so far away? If we really wanted Goodness, we should find that it was at our very side.

Confucius

Quoted in Analects

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Topic

Personal growth Self-improvement

Speaker

Confucius

Source

Analects

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Chinese

Time

221 BC 220s BC 3rd century BC

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Confucius. 論語 [The Analects]. c. 479 BCE.

Current Citation

Confucius. The Analects, edited and translated by Annping Chin. Penguin Classics, 2014.

The good of man is the active exercise of his soul's faculties in conformity with excellence or virtue... Moreover this activity must occupy a complete lifetime; for one swallow does not make spring, nor does one fine day; and similarly one day or a brief period of happiness does not make a man supremely blessed and happy.

Aristotle

The Nicomachean Ethics

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Topic

Purpose of life Incremental improvement Self-improvement Personal growth

Author

Aristotle

Source

The Nicomachean Ethics

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

322 BC 320s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aristotle. Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, Ēthika Nikomacheia [Nicomachean Ethics]. c. 322 BC.

Current Citation

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics, translated by Terence Irwin. Hackett Publishing, 2019, bk. 1.

Neither by nature, then, nor contrary to nature do the virtues arise in us; rather we are adapted by nature to receive them, and are made perfect by habit.

Aristotle

The Nicomachean Ethics

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Topic

Habits Virtue Self-improvement Personal growth Human nature

Author

Aristotle

Source

The Nicomachean Ethics

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

322 BC 320s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aristotle. Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, Ēthika Nikomacheia [Nicomachean Ethics]. c. 322 BC.

Current Citation

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics, translated by Terence Irwin. Hackett Publishing, 2019, bk. 2.

Each year one vicious habit rooted out, in time might make the worst man good throughout.

Poor Richard (Benjamin Franklin)

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Topic

Breaking bad habits Bad habits Incremental improvement Habits Self-improvement

Author

Poor Richard (Benjamin Franklin)

Source

Poor Richard's Almanack

Medium

Almanac

Statement Type

Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Language

English

Time

1738 1730s 18th century

Era

Colonial America

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Franklin, Benjamin [published as Richard Saunders]. Poor Richard's Almanack. Philadelphia, 1738.

Current Citation

Franklin, Benjamin. "Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1738." Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography, Poor Richard, and Later Writings, edited by J. A. Leo Lemay. Library of America, 2005.

Never complain of that of which it is at all times in your power to rid yourself.

Adam Smith

The Theory of Moral Sentiments

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Topic

Locus of control Self-improvement Personal growth

Author

Adam Smith

Source

The Theory of Moral Sentiments

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1759 1750s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Smith, Adam. The Theory of Moral Sentiments. London: Andrew Millar/Edinburgh: Alexander Kincaid and J. Bell, 1759, pt. 7, sect. 2, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Smith, Adam. The Theory of Moral Sentiments, edited by Ryan Patrick Hanley. Penguin, 2010, pt. 7, sect. 2, ch. 1.

How few there are who have courage enough to own their Faults, or resolution enough to mend them!

Poor Richard (Benjamin Franklin)

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Topic

Self-awareness Self-improvement Personal growth Courage

Author

Poor Richard (Benjamin Franklin)

Source

Poor Richard's Almanack

Medium

Almanac

Statement Type

Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Language

English

Time

1743 1740s 18th century

Era

Colonial America

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Franklin, Benjamin [published as Richard Saunders]. Poor Richard's Almanack. Philadelphia, 1743.

Current Citation

Franklin, Benjamin. "Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1743." Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography, Poor Richard, and Later Writings, edited by J. A. Leo Lemay. Library of America, 2005.

Virtue shuns ease as a companion... It demands a rough and thorny path.

Michel de Montaigne

Essays

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Topic

Virtue Self-improvement Personal growth

Author

Michel de Montaigne

Source

Of Cruelty Essays

Medium

Essay

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

French

Time

1580 1580s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

De Montaigne, Michel. "De La Cruaute [Of Cruelty]." Essais [Essays]. Paris: Simon Millanges and Jean Richer, 1580.

Current Citation

De Montaigne, Michel. "On Cruelty." The Complete Essays, edited and translated by M. A. Screech. Penguin Classics, 1993.

All experience is an arch, to build upon.

Henry Adams

The Education of Henry Adams

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Topic

Self-improvement Personal growth Life experience

Author

Henry Adams

Source

The Education of Henry Adams

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1907 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Adams, Henry. The Education of Henry Adams. 1907, ch. 6.

Current Citation

Adams, Henry.Adams, Henry. "The Education of Henry Adams." Henry Adams: Democracy, Esther, Mont Saint Michel and Chartres, The Education of Henry Adams, edited by Ernest Samuels and Jayne Samuels. Library of America, 1983, ch. 6.

If you are under the impression you have already perfected yourself, you will never rise to the heights you are no doubt capable of.

Kazuo Ishiguro

The Remains of the Day

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Topic

Self-improvement Personal development

Speaker

Mr. Stevens

Author

Kazuo Ishiguro

Source

The Remains of the Day

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. Faber & Faber, 1989.

The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands.

Robert M. Pirsig

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence

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Topic

Change starts at home Changing the world Self-improvement

Author

Robert M. Pirsig

Source

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1974 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Pirsig, Robert M. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. William Morrow and Company, 1974.

I'm proud of you for the times you came in second, or third, or fourth, but what you did was the best you had ever done.

Fred Rogers

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Topic

Doing one's best Second place Self-improvement

Author

Fred Rogers

Source

The World According to Mister Rogers

Language

English

Time

2003 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Rogers, Fred. The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember. Hachette Books, 2019, p. 39.

I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God's business.

Michael J. Fox

More information about this quote

Topic

Perfectionism Excellence Personal development Self-improvement

Speaker

Michael J. Fox

Source

The Most Important Thing I Know

Language

English

Time

1997 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Fox, Michael J. Quoted in The Most Important Thing I Know. Compiled by Lorne A. Adrain. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1997.

Of all means to regeneration Remorse is surely the most wasteful. It cuts away healthy tissues with the poisoned. It is a knife that probes far deeper than the evil.

E.M. Forster (Edward Morgan Forster)

Howards End

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Topic

Remorse Regrets Guilt Self-improvement Personal growth

Author

E.M. Forster (Edward Morgan Forster)

Source

Howards End

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1910 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Forster, E.M. Howards End. Edward Arnold, 1910, ch. 41.

In the presence of a good man, think all the time how you may learn to equal him. In the presence of a bad man, turn your gaze within.

Confucius

Quoted in Analects

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Topic

Positive influences Negative influences Self-improvement

Speaker

Confucius

Source

Analects

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Advice

Language

Chinese

Time

221 BC 220s BC 3rd century BC

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Confucius. 論語 [The Analects]. c. 479 BCE.

Current Citation

Confucius. The Analects, edited and translated by Annping Chin. Penguin Classics, 2014.

If you find a man who points out faults and who reproves, follow such a wise person as you would a guide to hidden treasure.

Gautama Buddha

More information about this quote

Topic

Self-improvement Openness to criticism Criticism

Author

Gautama Buddha

Source

The Dhammapada

Medium

Scripture

Genre

Religious literature

Language

Pali

Time

520 BC 520s BC 6th century BC

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Dhammapada. c. 550 BC, v. 76.

Current Citation

The Dhammapada, edited and translated by Valerie Roebuck. Penguin Classics, 2010, v. 76.

I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor.

Henry David Thoreau

Walden

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Topic

Personal growth Self-improvement

Author

Henry David Thoreau

Source

Where I Lived, And What I Lived For Walden

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1854 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. "Where I Lived, And What I Lived For." Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1854.

Current Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. "Where I Lived, And What I Lived For." Walden and Civil Disobedience. Signet, 2012.