Joseph Joubert Quotes

I've been pretending to be a man that I'm not my entire life. I've been pretending to be strong when I felt weak, confident when I felt insecure and tough when really I was hurting. And I can tell you right now that it is exhausting.

So long as one's just dreaming about what to do, one can soar like an eagle and move mountains, it seems, but as soon as one starts doing it one gets worn out and tired.

Ambition, old as mankind, the immemorial weakness of the strong.

You can't keep a star from shining and my star's going to shine bright.

The most important thing for me is the thing I strive for. But I also hope when I play my songs for people - adult, children, mostly children - that they feel mighty, they feel noble, they feel like warriors. And they feel like they can do anything in the world because that's how I feel.

The more I thought about myself, the weaker I got. The more I recognized that I was serving a purpose larger than myself, the stronger I got.

Sometimes you are strong, sometimes you are weak.

Full of hopes beyond their power though not beyond their ambition.

And truly it is a very natural and ordinary thing to desire to acquire, and always, when men do it who can, they will be praised or not blamed; but when they cannot, and wish to do it anyway, here lies the error and the blame.

My plans have always exceeded my capacities and energies

Dream big . . . don't let anybody or anything break your wishbone. Stay strong, full of faith, and courageous... keep that backbone straight. And along the way, don't forget to laugh and enjoy the journey.

Believe in yourselves. Dream. Try. Do good.

Do not cry for me, Azrael. Do not waste your tears. You made your decision. And this is mine. Sacrifice seems to be my destiny. A funny thing for a selfish man, isn't it? They always called me weak back then.

Give us the strength, give us the wisdom, and give us tomorrow.

It's the people who seem weak who are always suprisingly strong, and the ones who seem strong who are unexpectledly weak.

The people dreamed and fought and slept as much as ever. And by habit they shortened their thoughts so that they would not wander out into the darkness beyond tomorrow.

I had repeatedly accepted inappropriate burdens, stepping in to do what needed to be done. In retrospect, I think I carried them well, but the cost was that I was chronically overloaded, weary, and short of time for politicking, smoothing ruffled feathers, and simply resting.

She asked if we were calm enough for her to take off the cuffs, and McMurphy nodded. He had slumped over with his head hung and his elbows between his knees and looked completely exhausted--it hadn't occurred to me that it was just as hard for him to stand straight as it was for me.

What is this I hear of sorrow and weariness, Anger, discontent and drooping hopes? Degenerate sons and daughters, Life is too strong for you— It takes life to love Life.

Who shoots at the mid-day sun, though he be so sure he shall never hit the mark, yet as sure as he is, he shall shoot higher than he who aims at a bush.

My strengths make me contemptuous. My weaknesses make me charitable.

Dreams die hard and we watch them erode, but we cannot be denied the fire inside.

It's not a bad thing, is it, to be strong in some ways and fragile and vulnerable in others?

In what grade do we stop believing in ourselves? I asked. In what grade do we stop believing, period? I mean, SOMEONE has to be a Nobel Peace Prize winner. SOMEONE has to be a ballerina. Why not us?

Hope animates the wise, and lures the presumptuous and indolent who repose inconsiderately on her promises.