Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top.
Then you will see how low it was.
Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step;
only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road.
Life yields only to the conqueror. Never accept what can be gained by giving in. You will be living off stolen goods, and your muscles will atrophy.
Never be afraid to sit awhile and think.LORRAINE HANSBERRY, from the character Asagai,
in the 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun
Never be afraid to dare.VLADIMIR HOROWITZ
Never give up on anybody.HUBERT H. HUMPHREY
Never ruin an apology with an excuse.KIMBERLY JOHNSON
Never regret the time that was needed for doing good.JOSEPH JOUBERT
Never succumb to the temptation of becoming bitter.MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., in a 1956 sermon
Never walk away from failure. On the contrary,
study it carefully—and imaginatively—for its hidden assets.MICHAEL KORDA
Never allow the integrity of your own way of seeing things and saying things
to be swamped by the influence of a master, however great.GEORGE PARSONS LATHROP
Never pretend to be something you’re not.RICHARD LEDERER,
in A Treasury for Dog Lovers (2009)
Lederer, who is best known for his books on words and language, has recently turned his attention to the world of pets. He offered this thought in a chapter titled “All I Need to Know I Learned from My Dog.” The saying is not original to Lederer; he was simply passing along a principle that human beings can learn from dogs. He also offered one other example of canine wisdom: “Never pass up an opportunity to go for a joy ride.”
Live each day of your life in a day-tight compartment.
Always go the extra mile, at home, at work, at play.
Never neglect the little things.
Never let anyone push your kill switch.
Never hide behind busy work.OG MANDINO, in The Spellbinder’s Gift (1994)
These five principles come from the spellbinding orator in Mandino’s 1994 parable. He continues: “If you follow these five, then the final rule of life I have for you will be easy. Never commit an act that you will have to look back on with tears and regret.”
Never let the odds keep you from pursuing
what you know in your heart you were meant to do.LEROY “SATCHEL” PAIGE
Never tell people how to do things.
Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.GEORGE S. PATTON JR.,
in War As I Knew It (1947)
This became a popular quotation after the publication of Patton’s autobiography, but it became a signature line after it appeared in the 1970 film Patton, with George C. Scott in the title role. When speaking to troops, Patton often spoke neveristically. In his 1996 biography Patton: A Genius for War, Carlo D’Este wrote about the iconic generaclass="underline" His exhortations were a series of “nevers”: Never give up; never dig in; never defend, always attack; never worry about defeat, think of and plan only for victory; you win by never losing. He would caution that to win a battle a man had to make his mind run his body because the body will always give up from exhaustion. But when you are tired, the enemy is just as exhausted: “Never let the enemy rest.”
Never think you know all.
Though others may flatter you, retain the courage to say, “I am ignorant.”
Never be proud.IVAN PAVLOV, in a 1936 magazine article
aimed at Russian science students
Never react emotionally to criticism.NORMAN VINCENT PEALE, from
The Positive Principle Today (2003)
Peale added: “Analyze yourself to determine whether it is justified. If it is, correct yourself. Otherwise, go on about your business.” The book also included these additional attempts at dissuasion:
Never use the word “impossible” seriously again.
Toss it into the verbal wastebasket.
Never think negatively,
for the negative thinker does a very dangerous thing.
He pumps out negative thoughts into the world around him
and thus activates the world negatively.
Never forget that all the enthusiasm you need is in your mind.
Let it out—let it live—let it motivate you.
Never let your ego get so close to your position
that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.COLIN POWELL, citing a valuable maxim
I’ve seen this quotation attributed to Powell for so many years that I was surprised to discover he did not author it. In his 1995 autobiography My American Journey, he wrote that he first heard the saying in 1979, while he was helping his old boss Charles Duncan make the transition from Deputy Secretary of Defense to Secretary of Energy in the Carter administration. During a heated debate, a lawyer on the transition team walked off in a huff after losing an argument. Powell watched as Bernard Wruble, another lawyer on the team, walked over to the man and said: “You forgot what you learned in law school. Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.” The saying resonated with Powell—who later adopted it as a motto—and he credited Wruble with making “a permanent contribution to my philosophy.” The original author of the saying is not known, but Powell gets credit for popularizing it. In a 1988 Working Woman article, Van Gordon Sauter, the former president of CBS News, offered a similar thought:
Never allow your sense of self to become associated with your sense of job.
If your job vanishes, your self doesn’t.
One must never fail to pronounce moral judgment.AYN RAND, in The Virtue of Selfishness (1964)
Writing in an era when “being judgmental” was disparaged, Rand offered a powerful challenge, arguing that the very idea of neutrality in the realm of human behavior and moral values was “an abdication of moral responsibility.” As a replacement for the biblical precept “Judge not, that ye be not judged,” Rand suggested a pithy alternative: “Judge, and be prepared to be judged.”
Never lose interest in life and the world.
Never allow yourself to become annoyed.JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER
These were two of ten “Rules of Living” that the sixty-year-old Rockefeller formulated in 1899 (others included, “Get plenty of sleep” and “Don’t overdo things”). He guided his life by the rules until his death in 1937 at age ninety-seven.
Never be above asking for advice from those competent to give it . . .
and never affect to understand what you do not understand thoroughly.CHARLES ARTHUR RUSSELL,
Lord Chief Justice of England (1894–1900)
Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore.ALBERT SCHWEITZER, in The Schweitzer Album (1965)
Schweitzer, one of the foremost ethical leaders of the twentieth century, added: “There is always something to make you wonder, in the shape of a leaf, the trembling of a tree.”
Never stagnate.
Life is a constant becoming: all stages lead to the beginning of others.GEORGE BERNARD SHAW,
in an 1897 letter to Ellen Terry
Here is a psychological suggestion for acquiring peace of soul.
Never brag, never talk about yourself,
never rush to first seats at table or in a theater,
never use people for your own advantage,
never lord it over others as if you were better than they.FULTON J. SHEEN, in On Being Human:
Reflections of Life and Living (1982)