474 quotes
Some ways of using our thinking are really inspiring. There are people who use their thinking to race cars. People use their thinking to build rockets to the moon. It's all just a use of your thinking.
Michael Nesmith
Musician · American · b. 1942
When inspiration does not come, I go for a walk, go to the movie, talk to a friend, let go... The muse is bound to return again, especially if I turn my back!
Judy Collins
Musician · American · b. 1939
I get my inspiration from everyone when I need it and how I need it.
Picabo Street
Athlete · American · b. 1971
To succeed, you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you.
Tony Dorsett
Athlete · American · b. 1954
For hundreds of years people have talked about artists having inspiration, but often, some persons would say, write us a symphony or write us a song, on commission. The artists would come up with a masterpiece without waiting to have their muse inspire them.
Tom Glazer
Musician · American · 1914 – 2003
If you wait for inspiration you'll be standing on the corner after the parade is a mile down the street.
Ben Nicholas
Actor · Australian · b. 1987
I have to report to those of you who think diamonds make a difference that I cannot tell what it is. Seriously, as you all know, they make no difference at all. They just make the flute look a little more special.
James Galway
Musician · Irish · b. 1939
Insomnia is my greatest inspiration.
Jon Stewart
Entertainer · American · b. 1962
An artist's duty is rather to stay open-minded and in a state where he can receive information and inspiration. You always have to be ready for that little artistic Epiphany.
Nick Cave
Musician · Australian · b. 1957
Inspiration is the key to everything.
Olivia Wilde
Actress · American · b. 1984
In English, the sounds and melodies I created were an inspiration to me, and words came to me as I explored the sounds, and from there I was able expand on the meaning.
Utada Hikaru
Musician · Japanese · b. 1983
My inspiration was the game itself, not any individual player in it.
Nomar Garciaparra
Athlete · American · b. 1973
When Maurice touched a keyboard, it was like something from a movie, magical. He would always give you something from a movie, and you'd go, what did you just play... immediately inspirational writings, amazing. That's what we're going to miss.
Robin Gibb
Musician · English · b. 1949
Not exactly but I get inspiration from stories which are unconventional.
Anil Kapoor
Actor · Indian · b. 1959
I came back to performing with a different attitude about performing and myself. I wasn't expecting perfection any more, just hoping for an occasional inspiration.
Neil Diamond
Musician · American · b. 1941
Testifying has helped me understand that one individual's behavior and actions make a difference. That my actions are important to people other than myself.
Anita Hill
Celebrity · b. 1956
I would like to be called an inspiration to people, not a role model - because I make mistakes like everybody else. When I'm offstage, I'm just like everybody else.
Britney Spears
Musician · b. 1981
I get a lot of inspiration from the audience feedback to our live shows.
Donnie Iris
Musician · American · b. 1943
Before my accident I was a little too... selfish and self-absorbed and for me, to now be at the place where I can kinda give back and inspire people. I'm blessed. I'm really blessed.
Rick Allen
Musician · b. 1963
I think the inspiration came from the fans. Whenever I'm online or whenever I get a chance to really communicate with the fans and the audience, they always say that they would love to have all of the remixes on one CD.
Deborah Cox
Musician · Canadian · b. 1973
I would love to meet Kelly Clarkson and if I get the chance to I would tell her thank you so much for the inspiration.
Thia Megia
Musician · American · b. 1995
Technique is what you fall back on when you run out of inspiration.
Rudolf Nureyev
Dancer · Russian · 1938 – 1993
My brother was always in bands and on the road when I was a kid and he was my inspiration. He never made it with a big band, in fact he never made a record. Here he is fifty-something years old.
Jimmy Chamberlin
Musician · American · b. 1964
When I started studying tenor saxophone as a kid in Belfast, I did so with a guy named George Cassidy, who was also a big inspiration.
Van Morrison
Musician · British · b. 1945
I always start from scratch with a character - they're never based on anyone else. You get ideas of what people look like, and I'm a great people watcher. You can draw inspiration from people.
Amanda Burton
Actress · Irish · b. 1957
I'm not the same person I was. I used to act dumb. It was an act. I am 26 years old, and that act is no longer cute. It is not who I am, nor do I want to be that person for the young girls who looked up to me. I know now that I can make a difference, that I have the power to do that.
Paris Hilton
Celebrity · American · b. 1981
I always get inspiration from whatever characters say about my character.
Robert Englund
Actor · American · b. 1949
I think you grow through your experiences; you get better as you grow and I'm not nearly where I think I'm going to be eventually where I inspire to be and hopefully the opportunities will continue to come.
Nia Long
Actress · American · b. 1970
If the script is telling the story well, that is your inspiration, and you do not need to go somewhere else.
Tom Wilkinson
Actor · British · b. 1948
I play with feeling so I need to hear what is coming out of the amplifier to inspire me; I don't just play mechanically. I need to hear what I am doing in order to create the next note. If I don't hear it then I can't feed myself.
Michael Schenker
Musician · German · b. 1955
It makes me feel wonderful that people still care for me... that I have so many fans among young people, who write to me and tell me I have been an inspiration.
Bettie Page
Model · American · 1923 – 2008
Another inspiration that has helped me get through has been Lance Armstrong's story. My cancer is not nearly as bad as his, but I believe in staying motivated and keeping as fit as you can.
Grete Waitz
Athlete · Norwegian · b. 1953
Every piece has its own identity which we develop by the rule 'We know no limits.' We follow the inspiration of the moment and don't worry if what we're playing is alternative, progressive or fusion rock.
Page McConnell
Musician · American · b. 1963
It is the inspiration of the Olympic Games that drives people not only to compete but to improve, and to bring lasting spiritual and moral benefits to the athlete and inspiration to those lucky enough to witness the athletic dedication.
Herb Elliott
Athlete · Australian · b. 1938
So I just had to step up how I was doing it and the moment that I stepped up and the moment I focused all my energy on that is when things started to happen. So there's a direct relationship between my inspiration and my output.
Talib Kweli
Musician · American · b. 1975
I've done a lot of albums and I kinda know when I'm onto something that was inspirational for me to record and create, and this was one of those projects where I really enjoyed making the album.
Lee Ritenour
Musician · American · b. 1952
Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand.
Thomas Aquinas
Theologian · Italian
If you cannot inspire a woman with love of you, fill her above the brim with love of herself; all that runs over will be yours.
Charles Caleb Colton
Writer · English
The men who have furnished me with my greatest inspiration have not been men of wealth, but men of deeds.
James Cash Penney
Businessman · American · 1875 – 1971
In economics, hope and faith coexist with great scientific pretension and also a deep desire for respectability.
John Kenneth Galbraith
Economist · American · 1908 – 2006
Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.
Plato
Philosopher · Greek
Enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration, motivation, and a pinch of creativity.
Bo Bennett
Businessman · American · b. 1972
A lot of people do not muster the courage to live their dreams because they are afraid to die.
Les Brown
Businessman · American
Faith, like a jackal, feeds among the tombs, and even from these dead doubts she gathers her most vital hope.
Herman Melville
Novelist · American · 1819 – 1891
Hope, like faith, is nothing if it is not courageous; it is nothing if it is not ridiculous.
Thornton Wilder
Novelist · American · 1897 – 1975
Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge, and children with special needs inspire a very, very special love.
Sarah Palin
Politician · American · b. 1964
For a season, a gifted speaker can inspire with his words, but for a lifetime John McCain has inspired with his deeds.
Books have become our dearest companions, yielding exquisite delights and inspiring lofty aims.
George Henry Lewes
Philosopher · English · 1817 – 1878