Dick Gregory
One of the things I keep learning is that the secret of being happy is doing things for other people.
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Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light.
When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.
You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.
A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron.
We have merely scratched the surface of the store of knowledge which will come to us. I believe that we are now, a-tremble on the verge of vast discoveries - discoveries so wondrously important they will upset the present trend of human thought and start it along completely new lines.
Persistence is what makes the impossible possible, the possible likely, and the likely definite.
My precious.
We feel good about ourselves to the exact degree we feel in control of our lives.
Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.
The thing I lose patience with the most is the clock. Its hands move too fast.
Happiness is a choice.
I'm going to stop procrastinating once I get around to it.
Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend.
We struggle with the complexities and avoid the simplicities.
There is no greatness without a passion to be great, whether it's the aspiration of an athlete or an artist, a scientist, a parent, or a businessperson.
Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter can not understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.
If I'm ever on a life-support system I choose to be unplugged, but not until Im down to a size eight!
Do not wait for ideal circumstances, they will never come, nor for the best opportunities.
Admission of ignorance is often the first step in our education.
Strike while the iron is hot.
The harder you fall the higher you bounce.
When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.
This world will always continue to be a mixture of good and evil. Our duty is to sympathize with the weak and to love even the wrongdoer.
You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.
This kind of certainty comes but just once in a lifetime.
Non !
A fellow doesn't last long on what he has done. He has to keep on delivering.
Every man has in himself a continent of undiscovered character. Happy is he who acts as the Columbus to his own soul.
We learn by example and by direct experience because there are real limits to the adequacy of verbal instruction.
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost , that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
Laws alone can not secure freedom of expression, in order that every man present his views without penalty, there must be spirit of tolerance in the entire population.
The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human body, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.
The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.
A good idea is never lost. Even though its originator or possessor may die, it will someday be reborn in the mind of another.
Look back on times of adversity with hope for the future, not regret for the past. Look not mournfully into the past, it comes not back again. Wisely improve the present, it is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future without fear and with a manly heart.
A lie has speed, but truth has endurance.
It's kind of fun to do the impossible.
Only after you challenge your biases and stereotypes-- what Francis Bacon called the 'idols which beset men's minds'--can you help others do the same.
Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination, full of hope.
Happiness is the indication that man has found the answer to the problem of human existence the productive realization of his potentialities and thus, simultaneously, being one with the world and preserving the integrity of his self.
Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street.
One only gets to the top rung on the ladder by steadily climbing up one at a time, and suddenly, all sorts of powers, all sorts of abilities which you thought never belonged to you suddenly become within your own possibility and you think, 'Well, I'll have a go, too.'
All the technology in the world will never replace a positive attitude.
To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe.
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius.
Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night.
It is quite possible to work without results, but never will there be results without work.
The several tribes of indians inhabiting the regions of the upper missouri, and of whom I spoke in my last letter, are undoubtedly the finest looking, best equipped, and most beautifully costumed of any on the continent.
We are so lazy, we do not want to do anything ourselves. We want a personal god, a savior or a prophet to do everything for us. Long as we believe ourselves to be even the least different from god, fear remains with us, but when we know ourselves to be the one, fear goes, of what can we be afraid ?
Where can we go to find god if we cannot see him in our own hearts and in every living being.
I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is often a step forward.
Opportunities multiply as they are seized ; they die when neglected. Life is a long line of opportunities.
The man who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore.
Why is it that the more mistakes people make, the more paranoid they become about other people's mistakes ?
What we see depends mainly on what we look for.
When I hear somebody sigh, life is hard, I am always tempted to ask, compared to what ?
When you face your fear, most of the time you will discover that it was not really such a big threat after all. We all need some form of deeply rooted, powerful motivation - it empowers us to overcome obstacles so we can live our dreams.
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.
Almost all of the world-class athletes and other peak performers are visualizers. They see it , they feel it, they experience it before they actually do it. They began with the end in mind. You can do it in every area of your life. Before performance, a sales presentation, a difficult confrontation, or the daily challenge of meeting a goal, see it clearly, vividly, relentlessly, over and over again. Create an internal "comfort zone''. Then, when you get into the situation, it isn't foreign. It doesn't scare you.
Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They're what make the instrument stretch-what make you go beyond the norm.
Nothing is predestined The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings.
Above all, beware of compromises. I do not mean that you are to get into antagonism with anybody, but you have to hold on to your own principles in weal or woe and never adjust them to others "fads" through the greed of getting supporters.
Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love.
Our real problem is not our strength today ; it is rather the vital necessity of action today to ensure strength tomorrow.
Fortune and love favor the brave.
Honesty pays, but it doesn't seem to pay enough to suit some people.
In nothing do men more nearly approach the gods than in giving health to men.
I want everyone to be the way I strive to become -- to be himself in his truth. Do not follow me, follow yourself ! is the existential challenge. Self-being awakens self-being but does not force itself on it.
The most elusive and desired quality of leadership is vision. Vision is the perfume of the mind.
Without a general an army is lost.
Love's greatest gift is its ability to make everything it touches sacred.
Take advantage of every opportunity to practice your communication skills so that when important occasions arise, you will have the gift, the style, the sharpness, the clarity, and the emotions to affect other people.
Defeat is not defeat unless accepted as a reality in your own mind.
There is a law that man should love his neighbor as himself. In a few hundred years it should be as natural to mankind as breathing or the upright gait, but if he does not learn it, he must perish.
There is always room for those who can be relied upon to delivery the goods when they say they will.
Press forsake! Go ahead and press 'forsake now' !
Work and lovethese are the basics. Without them there is neurosis.
Try, try, try, and keep on trying is the rule that must be followed to become an expert in anything.
Don't dream it be it.
We are ever free if we would only believe it, only have faith enough. You are the soul, free and eternal, ever free, ever blessed. Have faith enough and you will be free in a minute.
Have you checked the children lately ?
Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.
They merit more praise who know how to suffer misery than those who temper themselves in contentment.
It is seldom indeed that one parts on good terms, because if one were on good terms one would not part.
There is no surprise more magical than the surprise of being loved , it is God's finger on man's shoulder.
Few people think more than two or three times a year. I have made an international reputation by thinking once or twice a week.
If a profound gulf separates my neighbor's belief from mine, there is always the golden bridge of tolerance.
Watch the skies, everywhere, keep looking ! Keep watching the skies !
Trouble is only opportunity in work clothes.
There is no substitute for hard work.
The more you venture to live greatly, the more you will find within you what it takes to get on top of things and stay there.
I'll be taking these huggies and whatever cash you got.
Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.
It is love that makes the impossible possible.
If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have the capacity at the beginning.
Our schools and are not teaching students to think. It is astonishing how many young people have difficulty in putting their brains definitely and systematically to work.
In the space age the most important space is between the ears.
A heart can be broken, but it keeps beating just the same.
If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it.