Norman Vincent Peale Quotes

Our happiness depends on the habit of mind we cultivate.

Help other people to cope with their problems, and your own will be easier to cope with.

Do not be awe struck by other people and try to copy them. Nobody can be you as efficiently as you can.

Today remind yourself that nothing is too good to be true. Your great hopes can be realized. Your most wonderful dreams can come true. All that you really need, you can have. An incredible goodness is operating on your behalf. If you are living a paltry life, resolve to stop it today. Expect great things to happen.

If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

The negative principle negates. The positive principle creates. The negative principle doubts. The positive principle believes. The negative principle accepts defeat. The positive principle goes for victory.

Throw back the shoulders, let the heart sing, let the eyes flash, let the mind be lifted up, look upward and say to yourself ... nothing is impossible!

The life of inner peace, being harmonious and without stress, is the easiest type of existence.

Remember: what you think you will become - good or bad, weak or strong, defeated or victorious.

I place this day, my life, my loved ones, my work in the Lord's hands. There is no harm in the Lord's hands, only good. Whatever happens, whatever results, if I am in the Lord's hands it is the Lord's will and it is good.

It is significant that the word "holiness" derives from a word meaning "wholeness" and the word "meditation," usually used in a religious sense, closely resembles the root meaning of the word "medication." The affinity of the two words is startlingly evident when we realize that sincere and practical meditation upon God and His truth acts as a medication for the soul and body.

When fate throws a dagger at you, there are ways to catch it. If you catch it by the blade, you can harm yourself. But if you catch it by the handle, you can use it to help you fight through the obstacles ahead.

To cure worry, spend fifteen minutes daily filling your mind full of God. Worry is just a very bad mental habit. You can change any habit with God's help.

They are not easily irritated or annoyed. Some people seem to be able to rise above their irritations and they are fun to be with because they are poised and even-tempered. They seem to live on an upper level emotionally and are not easily riled up. They keep in a good humor and spirit.

Great issues develop from small beginnings.

Positive Thinkers get positive results because they appreciate the inestimable value of a day, this day, not the next day, but this day, and every day. Today offers at least sixteen waking hours that may be crammed FULL of opportunity, joy, excitement, and achievement.

If in our thoughts we constantly fix attention upon sinister expectations of dire events that might happen, the result will be constantly to feel insecure.

One of the few greatest satisfactions of this life is to handle problems efficiently and well.

Promises are like crying babies in a theater, they should be carried out at once.

You can have peace of mind, improved health and an ever-increasing flow of energy. Life can be full of joy and satisfaction.

Never react emotionally to criticism. Analyze yourself to determine whether it is justified. If it is, correct yourself. Otherwise, go on about your business.

There exists a powerful energizing force in the spiritual life principle. All energy began with the Creator, who infused it not only in all natural processes, but also into that higher form of nature called human nature. The more closely, then, that a person identifies with the Creator, the more surely that person will experience within his or her own nature the process of re-creation which operates in all creation.

You must feed your mind even as you feed your body, and to make your mind healthy, you must feed it nourishing, wholesome thoughts.

There are two primary forces in this world, fear and faith. Fear can move you to destructiveness or sickness or failure. Only in rare instances will it motivate you to accomplishment. But faith is a greater force. Faith can drive itself into your consciousness and set you free from fear forever.

If you want things to be different, perhaps the answer is to become different yourself.

We are beginning to comprehend a basic truth hitherto neglected, that our physical condition is determined very largely by our emotional condition, and our emotional life is profoundly regulated by our thought life.

Prayerize, visualize, actualize - that is the formula for successful imaging.

He was a cynic and like most cynics, totally selfish and self-indulgent.

Cushion the painful effects of hard blows by keeping the enthusiasm going strong, even if doing so requires struggle.

It is a fact that you project what you are.

A basic law: the more you practice the art of thankfulness, the more you have to be thankful for. This, of course, is a fact. Thankfulness does tend to reproduce in kind. The attitude of gratitude revitalizes the entire mental process by activating all other attitudes, thus stimulating creativity.

No sin is committed merely because a thought enters the mind, provided it is not made welcome. Perhaps we may use the figure that the thought first passes into an anteroom, where it stands before the mind acting as a judge. No matter how sordid or evil, it has not touched the personality with its infamy nor in any way laid guilt upon the soul unless and until the mind acting as judge admits it with a welcome. If the mind decides against it and dismisses it, the personality is not only unsullied but is, on the contrary, by this act of rejection stimulated and strengthened in moral power.

I firmly believe that when you die you will enter immediately into another life. They who have gone before us are alive in one form of life and we in another.

You become a worrier by practicing worry. You can become free of worry by practicing the opposite and stronger habit of faith. With all the strength and perseverance you can command, start practicing faith.

Plan your work - work your plan. Lack of system produces that 'I'm swamped' feeling.

The Gateway to Christianity is not through an intricate labyrinth of dogma, but by a simple belief in the person of Christ.

Fear is strong, but faith is stronger yet.

We live in the midst of the greatest scientific civilization in the history of the world. But the greatest wisdom walking our streets is not in any laboratory scientist, but the wisdom of Jesus Christ.

Watch your manner of speech if you wish to develop a peaceful state of mind. Start each day by affirming peaceful, contented and happy attitudes and your days will tend to be pleasant and successful.

For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. MATTHEW 18:20 OCTOBER 14 Prayer can change your life. I strongly recommend that you learn the art or science of prayer and put it to work in your life. Now this may seem to you to be just one more religious idea, without much life or sparkle to it. But that is where you would be wrong. It is the way to life itself. When I say this of prayer I do not speak of the mere mumbling of words. I do not mean formal affirmations either, although formal prayers sometimes help and some formal prayers are touched with the glory of God. What I mean is a deep, fundamental, powerful relationship of the individual to God, whereby his whole mind and heart become changed and he receives power from God within himself. I have seen such prayer change the lives of many. God's peace deeply imbedded in your mind can often have a more tranquilizing and healing effect upon nerves and tension than medicine. God's peace is itself medicinal.

You'll always get an idea if you think and don't panic.

Optimism, when applied to your life, develops strength and peace within you.

Take charge of your mind and begin to fill it with
healthy, positive, and courageous thoughts.

You do not need to let anything get you down, but if you are down you certainly need not let anything keep you down.

When a person applies enthusiasm to his job, the job will itself become alive with exciting new possibilities.

Prayer is more than words. It's listening, seeing and feeling.

Don't duck the most difficult problems. That just ensures that the hardest part will be left when you are most tired. Get the big one done - it's downhill from then on.

Frequently remind yourself that God is with you, that He will never fail you, that you can count upon him. Say these words, "God is with me, helping me."

Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities
always see them, for they're always there.

Learn from both your mistakes and successes because if you learn only from your mistakes you will only learn more errors

Old unhealthy thoughts can block off inspiration and motivation. Dropping them releases a strong flow of power through the mind.

Only the believers pick up the prizes in life.

Once we roared like lions for liberty; now we bleat like sheep for security! The solution for America's problem is not in terms of big government, but it is in big men over whom nobody stands in control but God.

If you are not getting as much from life as you want to, then examine the state of your enthusiasm.

The trouble with the average person is that he doesn't trust himself sufficiently to create and deliver ideas.

The positive thinker, on the contrary, constantly sends out positive thoughts, together with vital mental images of hope, optimism and creativity. He therefore activates the world around him positively and strongly tends to draw back to himself positive results. This, too, is a basic law of mind action.

Nothing of great value in this life comes easily. The things of highest value sometimes come hard. The gold that has the greatest value lies deepest in the earth, as do the diamonds.

A vital part of the happiness formula is self-discipline. Whoever conquers himself knows deep happiness that fills the heart with joy.

We struggle with the complexities and avoid the simplicities.

Begin where you are. Don't wait for someone else to change things for you. Do it yourself

One of the simplest things about all facts of life is that to get where you want to go, you must keep on keeping on.

We tend to get what we expect.

It takes struggle, a goal and enthusiasm to make a champion.

Life is not all fun and easy going. Far from it; there are many rough times. But, sadly, we too often let the hard times dull our enthusiasm. And that is dangerous, if not fatal, to our lives.

Don't bother. The glass is half-empty.

The man who lives for himself is a failure. Even if he gains much wealth, position or fortune, he is still a failure. The man who lives for others has achieved true success. A rich man who consecrates his wealth and his position to the good of humanity is a success.

Try, really try. Think, really think. Believe, really believe.

Faith is the one power against which fear cannot stand. Day by day, as you fill your mind with faith, there will ultimately be no more room left for fear. This is the one great fact that no one should forget. Master faith and you will automatically master fear.

The way to happiness: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Scatter sunshine, forget self, think of others. Try this for a week and you will be surprised.

In adversity keep motivated, for often the best comes from difficulty.

You are greater than anything that can happen to you. In a big and terrifying crisis, people find within themselves a power and a strength and also a wisdom they had no idea they possessed.

Many people conceive of religion as something apart from everyday affairs of the world. They think of it in terms of ceremony or ritual or sermons and often it strikes them as being dull or not particularly interesting. Religion may be described in many ways. I like to think of it as a medicine, a healing medicine for the mind.

The mind, ever the willing servant, will respond to boldness, for boldness, in effect, is a command to deliver mental resources.

A workable and effective way to meet and overcome difficulties is to take on someone else's problems. It is a strange fact but you can often handle two difficulties-your own and somebody else's-better than you can handle your own alone. That truth is based on a subtle law of self-giving or outgoingness whereby you develop a self-strengthening in the process.

It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small matters over a period of years. But the catch is that you can never know when a seemingly small decision may prove to be, from the vantage of later years, the big decision of your life.

Do not always ask when you pray, but instead affirm that God's blessings are being given, and spend most of your prayers giving thanks.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. ROMANS 12:21 NOVEMBER 22 People talk about the evils of our society - the breakdown of morality, the rising incidence of crime, the growing paganism of our generation, and the dishonesty rampant in human affairs. Sometimes people say, "It's so bad that you can never do anything about it. These things are so deeply rooted in the wickedness of human nature that you can never eradicate them. It's an impossibility." It is my humble judgment that the remedy for these social impossibilities is for individuals to be so stimulated and motivated, to become so identified with God, that they become part of His process of overcoming impossiblilities. "Here I stand; I can do no other," said Martin Luther. It was he himself, individually, who stood for principles so forcefully that he initiated great changes in the social order. Individuals overcome impossibilities.

The as if principle works. Act as if you were not afraid and you will become courageous, as if you could and you'll find you can. Act as if you like a person and you'll find a friendship.

Every problem contains the seed of it's own solution.

When obstacles or difficulties arise, the positive thinker takes them as creative opportunities.

Put God to work for you and maximize your potential in our divinely ordered capitalist system.

If you have zest and enthusiasm you attract zest and enthusiasm. Life does give back in kind.

The individual who knows the score about life sees difficulties as opportunities

Can you help me?" "Well," I said, "perhaps I can help you help yourself.

Practice hope. As hopefulness becomes a habit, you can achieve a permanently happy spirit.

Think, the successful idea is always in your mind. Think it out.

I change my thoughts, I change my world.

Nothing can stand in the way of the man who focuses his entire self on a problem.

Americans used to roar like lions for liberty; now we bleat like sheep for security.

Fill the day with enthusiasm. Give the day all you've got and it will give you all it's got, which will be plenty.

Believe you can, and you can. Belief is one of the most powerful of all problem dissolvers. When you believe that a difficulty can be overcome, you are more than halfway to victory over it already.

Infantile people complain and say that God is cruel or that there is no God. Mature people, however, know that there is wisdom and sometimes an eternal kindness in God's refusals.

Develop serenity and quiet attitudes through your conversation. Depending upon the words we use and the tone in which we use them, we can talk ourselves into being nervous, high-strung, and upset. By our speech, we can also achieve quiet reactions. Talk peaceful to be peaceful.

Remind yourself that God is with you and nothing can defeat him.

What you can image, you will be, in the long run.

The sure way to success is so simple, but it requires character, guts, persistence, the mastery of lower jobs to be ready for the better ones.

Do not exclusively say your prayers in the form of asking God for something. The prayer of thanksgiving is much more powerful.

The final and best antidote for worry is simply this: Image Jesus Christ as actually your personal friend.

Never allow sick attitudes to poison your thinking, nor let ill will make you ill. Avoid making your mind sore by that painful rehurting called resentment.

The great secret of getting what you want from life is to know whay you want and believe you can have it. Always do something for others, then ask God to help you get at it.