Skip to content
Frank Ball writing in his study

The quote library

Frankisms

Short truths, collected over a lifetime of writing and teaching. Read a few, or lose an afternoon.

Collected
224
  • “Only if you stand ready to make mistakes today can you hope to move ahead tomorrow. — Dwight V. Swain”

    inspiration

  • “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. — Robert F. Kennedy”

    inspiration

  • “Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved. — Helen Keller”

    inspiration

  • “Only you have the authority to determine what matters. No one can impose that on you. — Robert Fritz”

    inspiration

  • “Opportunities are often disguised as hard work, so most people fail to recognize them. — Ann Landers”

    inspiration

  • “Opportunity knocks on the door of the man devoted to duty. — Dwight V. Swain”

    inspiration

  • “Opportunity’s favorite disguise is trouble — Frank Tyger”

    inspiration

  • “Our greatest danger in life is in permitting the urgent things to crowd out the important. — Charles E. Hummel”

    inspiration

  • “Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall. — Confucius”

    inspiration

  • “People do not lack strength. They lack will. — Hugo”

    inspiration

  • “Plough deep while sluggards sleep. — Benjamin Franklin”

    inspiration

  • “Prefer diligence before idleness, unless you esteem rust above brightness. — Plato”

    inspiration

  • “Problems are only opportunities in work clothes. — Henry J. Kaiser”

    inspiration

  • “Professionals get the work done even when they don't feel like it. — Cecil Murphey”

    inspiration

  • “Recognize that inactivity is not the goal. Doing that which excites you is. — Timothy Ferriss”

    inspiration

  • “Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. — Charles Dickens”

    inspiration

  • “Setting impossible goals creates enormous fear, which creates procrastination, which we wrongly call laziness. — Julia Cameron”

    inspiration

  • “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it, you will land among the stars. — Les Brown”

    inspiration

  • “Skill is an element you build, out of work and study and experience. — Dwight V. Swain”

    inspiration

  • “Slow and steady wins the race. — Aesop (550 BC), The Hare and the Tortoise”

    inspiration

  • “Some have been thought brave because they were afraid to run away. — Thomas Fuller, 1654–1734”

    inspiration

  • “Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns. I am thankful that thorns have roses. — Alphonse Karr”

    inspiration

  • “Sometimes what appears to be a block to your goal can be merely a test of your wits, imagination, and ability to work it out. — Ray Considine”

    inspiration

  • “Storms make trees take deeper roots. — Claude McDonald”

    inspiration

  • “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. — Mahatma Gandhi”

    inspiration

  • “Take time to deliberate. But when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in. — Andrew Jackson, 1767–1845”

    inspiration

  • “Talent is overrated. Hard work and persistence will make your work better and help you go farther. — Kim Messer”

    inspiration

  • “Thank God the public only sees the finished product. — Woody Allen”

    inspiration

  • “The best time to move ahead is just before you are ready to move ahead. — Robert Fritz”

    inspiration

  • “The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up. — Paul Valéry”

    inspiration

  • “The better you serve your followers, the more followers you will have. — Thomas Umstattd”

    inspiration

  • “The biggest problem with making a choice is simply realizing a choice can be made. — Ray Considine”

    inspiration

  • “The fear of death is more to be dreaded than death itself. — Publilius Syrus (First Century BC), Maxim 511”

    inspiration

  • “The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving. — Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr”

    inspiration

  • “The greater the difficulty, the greater the glory. — Cicero”

    inspiration

  • “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude. — William James”

    inspiration

  • “The greatest failure is the failure to try. — William A. Ward”

    inspiration

  • “The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one. — Elbert Hubbard”

    inspiration

  • “The harder you work, the luckier you get. — Gary Player”

    inspiration

  • “The key to having more time is doing less, and there are two paths to getting there, both of which should be used together: (1) Define a short to-do list and (2) define a not-to-do list. — Timothy Ferriss”

    inspiration