Brennan Manning Quotes

A human being is like a seed. Either you can keep it as it is, or you can make it grow into a wonderful tree with flowers and fruits.

Those who follow the part of themselves which is great are great men; those who follow the part which is little are little men.

The best kind of politics is when you help people become their own best selves.

Man, unlike anything organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments.

Man's nature is fundamentally good, or perhaps it is neither good nor evil. In any case, man is something to work on. We must hold fast to this fact - man is something to work on.

I think that we all have within us the potential for almost anything. If we play close attention to our lives, then we can get at it somehow.

Knowledge has value only insofar as it contributes to the all-round development of the whole nature of man.

Every man has at times in his mind the Ideal of what he should be, but is not. This ideal may be high and complete, or it may be quite low and insufficient; yet in all men, that really seek to improve, it is better than the actual character... Man never falls so low, that he can see nothing higher than himself.

There are so many things that we are capable of, that we could be or do. The potentialities are so great that we never, any of us, are more than one-fourth fulfilled.

All progress and power are already in every man; perfection is man's nature, only it is barred in and prevented from taking its proper course.

Most people are just trying to get through the day. Sophisticated people learn how to get from the day.

The great majority of those who speak of perfectibility as a dream, do so because they feel that it is one which would afford them no pleasure if it were realized.

Man can acquire accomplishments or he can become an animal, whichever he wants. God makes the animals, man makes himself.

I don't believe in bad people. I believe that people, somewhere inside, have the potential to realize themselves.

As human beings we are made to surpass ourselves and are truly ourselves only when transcending ourselves.

People are the common denominator of progress; no improvement is possible with unimproved people.

Coaching doesn't make sick people well...it helps healthy people become extra-ordinary.

Man, as man, has never realized himself. The greater part of him, his potential being, has always been submerged. What is history if not the endless story of his repeated failures?

Nobody can decide for himself whether he is going to be a human being. The only question open to him is whether he will be an ignorant undeveloped one or one who has sought to reach the highest point he is capable of attaining.

Your value depends on what you make of yourself. Make the most of yourself for that is all there is of you.

Each man is perfect by his nature; prophets have manifested this perfection, but it is potential in us.

We don't see what we could be. We should be looking at our potential, stretching ourselves into everything we can become.

The real Tragedy is the tragedy of the man who never in his life braces himself for his one supreme effort-he never stretches to his full capacity, never stands up to his full stature.

People have several times more potential for growth when they invest energy in developing their strengths instead of correcting their deficiencies.

The most important investment you can make is in yourself. Very few people get anything like their potential horsepower translated into the actual horsepower of their output in life. Potential exceeds realization for many people...The best asset is your own self. You can become to an enormous degree the person you want to be.