Zig Ziglar

To be candid, some people have given positive thinking a bad name. I can’t stand to hear some gung-ho individual say that with positive thinking you can just do ‘anything.’ If you think about that one for a moment, you recognize the absurdity of it.

A productive employee who is kept busy working at his or her job is far more likely to be happy at that job and less likely to look for employment elsewhere.

Success occurs when opportunity meets preparation.

You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.

Fortunately, problems are an everyday part of our life. Consider this: If there were no problems, most of us would be unemployed.

My first professional job was to sell heavy-duty waterless cookware.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word: excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.

Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us.

Remember this: Nothing worth doing ever, ever, ever came easy. Following your convictions means you must be willing to face criticism from those who lack the same courage to do what is right.

I like to think of the word FOCUS as Follow One Course Until Successful.

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.

If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.

All men are created equal. No matter how hard they try, they can never erase those words. That is what America is about.

I maintained my edge by always being a student; you will always have something new to learn.

The greatest effort is not concerned with results.

Vision doesn’t usually come as a lightening bolt. Rather it comes as a slow crystallization of life challenges that we one day recognize as a beautiful diamond with great value to ourselves and others.

All of our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.

New research shows that you will be dead longer than you will be alive.

You cannot tailor-make the situations in life but you can tailor-make the attitudes to fit those situations.