Famous motivational quotes and where they actually come from
Online, every nice-sounding line ends up with a famous name attached — often the wrong one. Below are motivational quotes that have a real source: a book, a letter or a treatise you can open and check. At the end are a few hugely popular “quotes” the credited people never said.
On getting started
- “While we are postponing, life speeds by.” — Seneca, Letters to Lucilius, Letter 1. The whole first letter is about time being the only thing that is truly ours.
- “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” — Seneca, Letter 104.
- “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” — Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 64. The original says it begins “beneath your feet” — right where you stand.
- “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” — Goethe, Wilhelm Meister’s Journeyman Years.
On fear and worry
- “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” — Seneca, Letter 13. The same letter adds that much of what we fear never happens.
- “Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views they take of them.” — Epictetus, Enchiridion, chapter 5. Two thousand years later, cognitive therapy grew out of this very idea.
On meaning and patience
- “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” — Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols, “Maxims and Arrows”, 12. The psychiatrist Viktor Frankl quoted it often.
- “Very little is needed to make a happy life.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 7.
- “Seize the day.” — Horace, Odes, I.11. In full: “seize the day, trusting as little as possible in tomorrow.”
These texts exist in many translations, so the exact wording in your copy may differ a little — the meaning is the same.
What they never said
You’ll find these in almost every quote roundup, but not in the work of the people they’re credited to:
| “Quote” | Usually credited to | Where it really comes from |
|---|---|---|
| “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” | Aristotle | Philosopher Will Durant summarizing Aristotle (1926) |
| “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” | Einstein | Not found in Einstein’s writings; appears in print in the 1980s |
| “Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” | Churchill | Not found in Churchill’s writings or speeches |
| “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” | Gandhi | A shortened paraphrase; Gandhi’s own words are longer and different |
| “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, but the most adaptable to change.” | Darwin | A management professor paraphrasing Darwin (1963) |
| “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do…” | Mark Twain | Not found in Twain; known from a 1990s book |
The ideas aren’t worse for it — they just shouldn’t carry someone else’s name.
How to check a quote in a minute
- Look for the source, not the phrase: a book, letter or speech, and a year. A roundup with no sources is a red flag.
- The more modern an “ancient philosopher’s” line sounds, the more likely it’s a paraphrase.
- Quote Investigator is a great site for this: it traces the history of popular quotes through old newspapers and books.
How quotes actually help
A quote won’t do the work for you, but it can remind you why you started and interrupt the familiar “later.” It works best when the line shows up at the right moment instead of getting lost in saved posts. That’s what Temfy - Motivation & Quotes is for: pick your topics — confidence, calm, success and more — swipe through a feed of quotes, save favorites, get a quote of the day as a notification and put a quote widget on your home screen. Available for iPhone and Android, free to download.
In short
- A real quote has a source — a book, a letter, a speech.
- Many “Einstein” and “Aristotle” quotes are paraphrases or fakes.
- A quote works as a reminder when it’s in front of you at the right moment.
A daily quote on iPhone and Android
Temfy - Motivation & Quotes is a feed of quotes from great minds built around the topics you pick, with Favorites, a quote of the day notification and a home screen widget. Free to download.