Zig Ziglar

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

Personal discipline, when it becomes a way of life in our personal, family, and career lives, will enable us to do some incredible things.

When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal, you do not change your decision to get there.

Outstanding people have one thing in common: An absolute sense of mission.

You can accomplish anything you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.

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

Courage is on display every day, and only the courageous wring the most out of life.

When you encourage others, you in the process are encouraged because you're making a commitment and difference in that person's life. Encouragement really does make a difference.

Be grateful for what you have and stop complaining - it bores everybody else, does you no good, and doesn't solve any problems.

In the game of life, before you get anything out, you must put something in!

A narrow mind and a fat head invariably come on the same person.

You need a plan to build a house. To build a life it is even more important to have a plan or goal.

It's not what you've got, it's what you use that makes a difference.

If you want to reach a goal, you must 'see the reaching' in your own mind before you actually arrive at your goal.

Be helpful. When you see a person without a smile give them yours.

Success must never be measured by how much money you have.

Be careful not to compromise what you want most for what you want now.

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.

The six people who had the biggest impact on my life were all women. Had I been sexist, my life would have been far less fulfilling.

Send out a cheerful positive greeting and most of the time you will get back a cheerful positive greeting. Its also true that if you send out a negative greeting you will in most cases get back a negative greeting.

Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business.

For 24 years of my adult life, by choice I weighed well over 200 pounds. I say 'by choice' because I have never 'accidentally' eaten anything, so when I choose to eat too much, I have chosen to weigh too much.

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.

U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt has been described as founder of the Bull Moose Party, the man who led his troops up San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War, a big game hunter, family man, civic servant and a host of other things.

Just saying you are better than good won't make it so. But, when you understand what it takes to live the better than good life, and you apply yourself, your life will truly be better than good.

You do not pay the price of success, you enjoy the price of success.

Time well spent results in more money to spend, more money to save, and more time to vacation.

The one thing coaches cannot tolerate... is the individual who grows arrogant because he excelled at a lower level and believes he has nothing else to learn.

Hope is the foundational quality of all change, and encouragement is the fuel which keeps hope alive.

You cannot change the past, but your future is spotless. You can write on it what you will.

Kids go where there is excitement. They stay where there is love.

Reading has been the fuel of my motivation: it has changed the direction in which I have traveled, and it has enhanced my creative imagination more than any other activity I have ever pursued.

Regardless of your past, your tomorrow is a clean slate. You can choose what you want to write on that slate.

I've got to confess I'm a pragmatic optimist myself.

I'm a constant learner. You need to be a constant student because things change and you have to change and grow. And I emphasize the word 'grow.'

If people like you, they'll listen to you, but if they trust you, they'll do business with you.

The right quote can inspire people to change their ways.

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

The only thing worse than training employees and losing them is not training them and keeping them.

Money wont make you happy ... but everybody wants to find out for themselves.

Your failures wont hurt you until you start blaming them on others.

When you choose a habit you also choose the end of that habit.

Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust.

Timid salesmen have skinny kids.

I read the paper every day and the Bible every day; that way I know what both sides are up to.

Goals are dreams we convert to plans and take action to fulfill.

If you want to achieve your goals, help others achieve theirs.

Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.

Yesterday ended last night, today is a brand new day. And it's yours.

The way you see people is the way you treat them.

The elevator to success is out of order, but the stairs are always open.

Only men of character are trusted.

Make today worth remembering.

I took up an offer for me to lose 30 pounds in 30 days. It worked. I lost 30 days!

If you learn from defeat, you haven't really lost.

If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.

Any relationship primarily built on physical attractiveness is predestined to be short lived.

Motivation is the spark that lights the fire of knowledge and fuels the engine of accomplishment, it maximizes and maintains momentum.

I'm convinced that what kids need today are parents - not buddies. They need someone who will exercise mature judgment.

Research indicates that workers have three prime needs Interesting work recognition for doing a good job and being let in on things that are going on in the company.

Hope is the foundational quality of all change and encouragement is the fuel which keeps hope alive.

Many marriages would be better if the husband and the wife clearly understood that they are on the same side.

I'm so optimistic, I'd go after Moby Dick in a rowboat and take the tartar sauce with me.

Our daily objectives should include an honest effort to improve on yesterday.

The young athlete who aspires to greatness, generally speaking, learns a number of things from several different coaches. The first one taught him the fundamentals; the second one instilled discipline in him and taught him more of the techniques that must be mastered to excel.

Whether it's eight o'clock in the morning or eight o'clock at night, I always try to greet others before they have a chance to speak to me.

Nobody on the face of the earth can make you feel inferior without your permission.

It's not the situation, but whether we react negative or respond positive to the situation that is important.

People do not wander around and then find themselves at the top of Mount Everes.

You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.

Success comes from repeated efforts day in and day out. You learn from your mistakes, make adjustments and continue pressing forward until you achieve the results you desire.

We all prospect, and don't even know we're doing it. When you start the dating process, you are actually prospecting for the person you want to marry. When you're interviewing employees, you are prospecting for someone who will best fit your needs.

When you've got a solid commitment and solid objectives, you've got a much better chance of reaching your goal.

Humility will open more doors than arrogance ever will.

Honesty and integrity are by far the most important assets of an entrepreneur.

If you learn from defeat you havent really lost.

Earl Nightingale has inspired more people toward success and fortune than any other motivational speaker on the planet.

Take time to be kind and to say 'thank you.'

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

Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations. The best is yet to come.

If you want to earn more, learn more.

The basic goal-reaching principle is to understand that you go as far as you can see, and when you get there you will always be able to see farther.

Until you are happy with who you are, you will never be happy because of what you have.

You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.

A lot of people quit looking for work as soon as they find a job.

Fear has two meanings forget everything and run or face everything and rise. The choice is yours.

If you're going to have to swallow a frog, you don't want to have to look at that sucker too long!

Husbands and wives, first be faithful to each other. Second, keep the romance going all of your life by courting each other every day.

For every sale you miss because you're too enthusiastic, you will miss a hundred because you're not enthusiastic enough.

When you catch a glimpse of your potential, that's when passion is born.

It takes energy, mental toughness and spiritual reinforcement to successfully deal with life's opportunities, and to reach your objectives

A solid foundation for children involves a solid moral base.

Most of us would be upset if we were accused of being silly. But the word silly comes from the old English word selig and its literal definition is to be blessed happy healthy and prosperous.

Ability can take you the top but it takes character to keep you there.

Our favorite attitude should be gratitude.

You were designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.

Be helpful. When you see a person without a smile give him one of yours.

I was in that part of the class that made the top half possible.

Money isn't the most important thing in life, but it's reasonably close to oxygen on the "gotta have it" scale.

New information makes new and fresh ideas possible.