Purpose Quotes

• The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.

  Pablo Picasso

  Inspirational, Life, Inspiring

  289 Copy quote

• It is not the purpose of a juryman's office to give justice as a favor to whoever seems good to him, but to judge according to law, and this he has sworn to do.

  Socrates

  Apology, Law, Giving

  8 Copy quote

• It is not the being seen of men that is wrong, but doing these things for the purpose of being seen of men. The problem with the hypocrite is his motivation.

  Saint Augustine

  Christian, Motivation, Hypocrite

  5 Copy quote

• People who use time wisely spend it on activities that advance their overall purpose in life.

  John C. Maxwell

  Leadership, People, Use

  7 Copy quote

• [A]ll power is originally vested in, and consequently derived from, the people. That government is instituted and ought to be exercised for the benefit of the people; which consists in the enjoyment of life and liberty and the right of acquiring property, and generally of pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. That the people have an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform or change their government whenever it be found adverse or inadequate to the purpose of its institution.

  James Madison

  Government, People, Safety

  James Madison (1999). “Writings”

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• Grief is accepting the reality of what is. That is grief's job and purpose-to allow us to come to terms with the way things really are, so that we can move on. Grief is a gift of God. Without it, we would all be condemned to a life of continually denying reality, arguing or protesting against reality, and never growing from the realities we experience.

  Henry Cloud

  Jobs, Grief, Moving

  Henry Cloud, John Townsend (2006). “God Will Make a Way: What to Do When You Don't Know What to Do”, p.210, Thomas Nelson Inc

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• Nothing has a greater tendency to lessen the reverence which mankind ought to have for the Supreme Being, than a careless repetition of his name upon every trifling occasion . . . . To prevent this profanation, such passages are selected from scripture, as contain some important precepts of morality and religion, in which that sacred name is seldom mentioned. Let sacred things be appropriated to sacred purposes.

  Noah Webster

  Names, Religion, Important

  7 Copy quote

• I am now . . . on a subject, which fills me with inexpressible concern . . . . But as it has been a kind of destiny, that has thrown me upon this service, I shall hope that my undertaking it is designed to answer some good purpose.

  George Washington

  Destiny, Answers, Revolution

  George Washington (1852). “The life of General Washington: first president of the United States”, p.123

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• I trust that the proposed Constitution afford a genuine specimen of representative government and republican government; and that it will answer, in an eminent degree, all the beneficial purposes of society.

  Alexander Hamilton

  Government, Degrees, Answers

  7 Copy quote

• To answer the purpose of the adversaries of the Constitution, they ought to prove, not merely that particular provisions in it are not the best, which might have been imagined; but that the plan upon the whole is bad and pernicious.

  Alexander Hamilton

  Answers, Might, Constitution

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (2015). “The Federalist Papers: A Collection of Essays Written in Favour of the New Constitution”, p.322, Coventry House Publishing

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• My fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe; who presides in the councils of nations; and whose providential aid can supply every human defect; that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the People of the United States, a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good.

  George Washington

  God, Government, People

  First Inaugural Address on April 30, 1789. "The Writings of George Washington", edited by John C. Fitzpatrick, Volume 30, pp. 292-293,

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• There is no greater gift you can give or receive than to honor your calling. It's why you were born. And how you become most truly alive.

  Oprah Winfrey

  Teacher, Passion, Giving

  24 Copy quote

• Effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.

  John F. Kennedy

  Inspirational, Leadership, Basketball

  John F. Kennedy's Speech at the Coliseum, Raleigh, North Carolina, September 17, 1960.

  155 Copy quote

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• Great minds have purposes; others have wishes.

  Washington Irving

  Inspirational, Positive, Meaningful

  149 Copy quote

• I believe that nothing that happens to me is meaningless and that it is good for us all that it should be so, even if it runs counter to our own wishes. As I see it, I'm here for some purpose, and I only hope I may fulfill it.

  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

  Running, Believe, Destiny

  Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2011). “Letters Papers from Prison”, p.123, Simon and Schuster

  30 Copy quote

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• Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.

  Dalai Lama

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  931 Copy quote

• If you can't figure out your purpose, figure out your passion. For your passion will lead you right into your purpose.

  T. D. Jakes

  Inspirational, Motivation, Passion

  Twitter post from Jan 18, 2017

  751 Copy quote

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• I'm doing what I think I was put on this earth to do. And I'm really grateful to have something that I'm passionate about and that I think is profoundly important.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Work, Grateful, Thinking

  15 Copy quote

• So often do you see collegians enter life with high resolve and lofty purpose and then watch them shrink and shrink to sordid, selfish, shrewd plodders, full of distrust and sneers.

  W. E. B. Du Bois

  Selfish, Learning, Watches

  15 Copy quote

• Education is the knowledge of how to use the whole of oneself. Many men use but one or two faculties out of the score with which they are endowed. A man is educated who knows how to make a tool of every faculty, how to open it, how to keep it sharp, and how to apply it to all practical purposes.

  Henry Ward Beecher

  Education, Teaching, Men

  8 Copy quote

• The only failure one should fear, is not hugging to the purpose they see as best.

  George Eliot

  Inspirational, Failure, Hug

  7 Copy quote

• Deep religious beliefs stemming from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible inspired many of the early settlers of our country, providing them with the strength, character, convictions, and faith necessary to withstand great hardship and danger in this new and rugged land. These shared beliefs helped forge a sense of common purpose among the widely dispersed colonies - a sense of community which laid the foundation for the spirit of nationhood that was to develop in later decades.

  Ronald Reagan

  Bible, God, Country

  United States. President (1981-1989 : Reagan), United States. President (1981-1989 : Reagan)., Ronald Reagan, United States. Office of the Federal Register (1982). “Ronald Reagan”

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• "Americans do not presume to equate God's purposes with any purpose of our own...."[Prayer] teaches us to trust, to accept that God's plan unfolds in his time, not our own.

  George W. Bush

  Faith, Prayer, God's Plan

  5 Copy quote

• ...the statement, "The purpose of the law is to cause justice to reign," is not a rigorously accurate statement. It ought to be stated that the purpose of the law is to prevent injustice from reigning. In fact, it is injustice, instead of justice, that has an existence of its own. Justice is achieved only when injustice is absent.

  Frederic Bastiat

  Law, Justice, Liberty

  Frederic Bastiat (2006). “The Law”, p.23, Cosimo, Inc.

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• If you want to feel connected to your own purpose, know this for certain: Your purpose will only be found in service to others, and in being connected to the something far greater than your mind/body/ego.

  Wayne Dyer

  Ego, Mind, Body

  17 Copy quote