Reinforcement Quotes

• What reinforcement we may gain from hope;
  If not, what resolution from despair.

  John Milton

  Hope, Despair, May

  'Paradise Lost' (1667) bk. 1, l. 190

  19 Copy quote

  Show source

• Well, you know, a lot of people look at the negative things, the things that they did wrong and - which I do. But I like to stress on the things I did right, because there are certain things that I like to look at from a positive standpoint that are just positive reinforcement.

  Tiger Woods

  Stress, People, Negative

  17 Copy quote

• If you're a short-seller, that's a cacophony of negative reinforcement. You're basically told that you're wrong in every way imaginable every day. It takes a certain type of individual to drown that noise and negative reinforcement out and to remind oneself that their work is accurate and what they're hearing is not.

  James Chanos

  Cacophony, Noise, Way

  "Interview with Jim Chanos". Graham & Doddsville, a Columbia Business School investment newsletter,

  16 Copy quote

  Show source

• I love working with an audience. I love working with actual people who, you know, if they're moved, you see it. If you say something they're stunned by, you see their jaws drop. If they're amused, they laugh - that kind of reinforcement, I totally adore.

  Jane Pauley

  People, Laughing, Who You Know

  Source: www.today.com

  16 Copy quote

  Show source

• The strengthening of behavior which results from reinforcement is appropriately called 'conditioning'. In operant conditioning we 'strengthen' an operant in the sense of making a response more probable or, in actual fact, more frequent.

  B. F. Skinner

  Facts, Behavior, Conditioning

  B.F Skinner (2012). “Science And Human Behavior”, p.65, Simon and Schuster

  226 Copy quote

  Show source

• Positive reinforcement changes behavior for the better, while criticism stabilizes negative behaviors and blocks change.

  Virginia H. Pearce

  Block, Criticism, Negative

  20 Copy quote

• The way positive reinforcement is carried out is more important than the amount.

  B. F. Skinner

  Reality, Important, Way

  "Meditations for Parents Who Do Too Much". Book by Jonathon Lazear and Wendy Lazear, p. 5, 1993.

  204 Copy quote

  Show source

• With constant repetition and reinforcement, new habits are easily formed.

  Marshall Sylver

  Habit, Repetition, Constant

  8 Copy quote

• All modern revolutions have ended in a reinforcement of the power of the State.

  Albert Camus

  Government, Revolution, Modern

  Albert Camus (2012). “The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt”, p.177, Vintage

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• Western parents try to respect their children’s individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions, supporting their choices, and providing positive reinforcement and a nurturing environment. By contrast, the Chinese believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for the future, letting them see what they’re capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits, and inner confidence that no one can ever take away.

  Amy Chua

  Children, Believe, Passion

  16 Copy quote

• People thrive on positive reinforcement. They can take only a certain amount of criticism and you may lose them altogether if you criticize them in a personal way... you can make a point without being personal. Don't insult or belittle your people. Instead of getting more out of them you will get less

  Bill Walsh

  People, Coaching, Criticism

  112 Copy quote

• Instead of yelling and spanking, which dont work anyway, I believe in finding creative ways to keep their attention - turning things into a game, for instance. And, when they do something good, positive reinforcement and praise.

  Patricia Richardson

  Believe, Yelling, Games

  30 Copy quote

• It takes energy, mental toughness and spiritual reinforcement to successfully deal with life's opportunities, and to reach your objectives.

  Zig Ziglar

  Spiritual, Opportunity, Energy

  FaceBook post by Zig Ziglar from Dec 13, 2014

  61 Copy quote

  Show source

• I will be unneeded, and gladly so, when you realize that the vitality and reinforcement and joy are your own, and rise from the fountain of your own beings; when you realize that you do not need me for protection, for there is nothing you need protect yourself against.

  Jane Roberts

  Joy, Vitality, Needs

  5 Copy quote

• To say that a man is sinful because he sins is to give an operational definition of sin. To say that he sins because he is sinful is to trace his behavior to a supposed inner trait. But whether or not a person engages in the kind of behavior called sinful depends upon circumstances which are not mentioned in either question. The sin assigned as an inner possession (the sin a person "knows") is to be found in a history of reinforcement.

  B. F. Skinner

  Men, Giving, Definitions

  23 Copy quote

• Some people are so special, so beautiful and have so much to offer this world. Sad thing is they just don’t see it. They need positive reinforcement. Tell them, 'If you could see only half of what I see in you, then one day you'd realize how truly amazing you really are.

  Marc Mero

  Beautiful, People, Special

  FaceBook post by Marc Mero from Nov 19, 2016

  54 Copy quote

  Show source

• The secret of literature, which conventional people don't guess, is that writers are forever looking for the surprising revelation - not for reinforcement of collective wisdom.

  Carol Bly

  People, Forever, Secret

  4 Copy quote

• Never mind the odds against you. If you doubled your effort, what would the odds against you do — send for reinforcements?

  Robert Breault

  Attitude, Odds, Effort

  7 Copy quote

• Positive reinforcement generates more behavior than is minimally required. We call this discretionary effort, and its presence in the workplace is the only way an organization can maximize performance.

  Aubrey Daniels

  Organization, Effort, Way

  15 Copy quote

• The one thing that I always got positive reinforcement for from teachers, who really changed my life, was the written word.

  Anna Quindlen

  Teacher, Changed, Written Word

  5 Copy quote

• It is more important that you should know about the reverses than about the successes of the war. We shall have all eternity to celebrate the victories, but we have only the few hours before sunset in which to win them. We are not winning them as we should, because the fact of the reverses is so little realized, and the needed reinforcements are not forthcoming, as they would be in the position were thoroughly understood...So we have tried to tell you the truth the uninteresting, unromantic truth.

  Amy Carmichael

  Christian, War, Inspiration

  12 Copy quote

• Another adverse factor was the way the Russians received continual reinforcements from their back areas, as they fell back. It seemed to us that as soon as one force was wiped out, the path was blocked by the arrival of a fresh force.

  Gerd von Rundstedt

  Eyebrows, Way, Path

  "The Other Side of the Hill". Book by Basil Henry Liddell Hart, p. 184, 1948.

  18 Copy quote

  Show source

• Our God is Jehovah of hosts, who can summon unexpected reinforcements at any moment to aid His people. Believe that He is there between you and your difficulty, and what baffles you will flee before Him, as clouds before the gale.

  F.B. Meyer

  Believe, Clouds, People

  32 Copy quote

• In our view any awareness is an increment to consciousness, an added light, a reinforcement of psychic coherence. Its swiftness or instantaneity can hide this growth from us. But there is a growth of being in every instance of awareness. Consciousness is in itself an act, the human act.

  Gaston Bachelard

  Light, Views, Psychics

  7 Copy quote

• With each new experience of letting God be in control, we gain courage and reinforcement for daring to do it again and again.

  Gloria Gaither

  Letting Go, New Experiences, Gains

  11 Copy quote