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The EnneagramEnneaQuotes |
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Point One: The Pefectionist
Point Two: The Giver
Point Three: The Performer
Point Four: The Tragic Romantic
Point Five: The Observer
Point Six: The Devil's Advocate
Point Seven: The Epicure
Point Eight: The Boss
Point Nine: The Peacemaker
Please Note: The portions of quotes that you see in bold italic are a convention of the editor and not the style of the author. The use of bold italics is intended to highlight keywords and ideas often associated with the particular Ennagram type.
Point One: The Perfectionist
He who stops being better stops being good. Oliver Cromwell
Good men have the fewest fears. Christian Nestell Bovee
We cannot live better than in seeking to become better. Socrates
Nothing needs reforming so much as other people's habits. Mark Twain
So far as the human mind can shake off selfishness and act from a sacred regard to truth, justice, and duty, so far will men not only be virtuous, but fearless in virtue. Sarah Josepha Hale
The truth is that all of us attain the greatest success and happiness possible in this life whenever we use our native capacities to their greatest extent. Dr. Smiley Blanton
In intercourse with Nature you are dealing with things at first hand, and you get a rule, a standard, that serves you through life. You are dealing with primal sanities, primal honesties, primal attraction. John Burroughs
Do not try to do extraordinary things, but ordinary things with intensity. Emily Carr
Teaching is the art of assisting discovery. Mark van Doren
Never cease to be convinced that life might be better--your own and others'. Andre Gide
One may be better than his reputation, but never better than his principles. Nicholas V. de Latena
"Learn what is true in order to do what is right" is the summing up of the whole duty of mankind. Thomas Henry Huxley
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Point Two: The Giver
Help thy brother's boat across, and lo! thine own has reached the shore. Hindu Proverb
Nature is more beautiful than art; a living creature’s freedom of movement makes nature more beautiful. Comte de Buffon
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Point Three: The Achiever
Life is act, and not to do is death. Lewis Morris
Men can do all things if they will. Leo Battista Alberti
Doing easily what others find difficult is talent; doing what is impossible for talent is genius. Henri Frederic Amiel
Do every act of your life as if it were your last. Marcus Aurelius Antonius
The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do. Walter Bagehot
Don't think! Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply must do things. Ray Bradbury
[To guarantee success] Each handicap is like a hurdle in a steeplechase, and when you ride up to it, if you throw your heart over, the horse will go along, too. "Act as if it were impossible to fail." Dorothea Brande
Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done. Louis D. Brandeis
Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for? Robert Browning
Remember, you can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old...There's an old saying, "Life begins at 40." That's silly--life begins every morning when you wake up. Open your mind to it; don't just sit there--do things. George Burns
The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. Allan K. Chalmers
The important thing is to strive toward a goal that is not immediately visible. That goal is not the concern of the mind, but of the spirit. Antoine de Saint-Exupery
A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing with him the image of a cathedral. Antoine de Saint-Exupery
What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it. Antoine de Saint-Exupery
To achieve great things in life we must live as though we were never going to die. Marquis de Vauvenargues
Losers visualize the penalties of failure. Winners visualize the rewards of success. Dr. Rob Gilbert
It's helpful to look at your life and ask: "If I had one more year to live, what would I do?" We all have things we want to achieve. Don't just put them off--do them now! John Goddard
Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable. Sydney J. Harris
Our deeds determine us as much as we determine our deeds. George Eliot
The more we do, the more we can do. William Hazlitt
Strong lives are motivated by dynamic purposes. Kenneth Hildebrand
If I’ve learned anything about getting stronger, getting more competitive, it’s that you can listen to only one voice—the one that says, "Get up". Nancy Kerrigan, Olympic figure skater.
A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm. Charles Schwab
Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough. We must do. Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
If you want to hit a bird on the wing you must have all your will in focus, you must not be thinking about yourself, and equally, you must not be thinking about your neighbour; you must be living with your eye on that bird. Every achievement is a bird on the wing. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Life itself, [is] a task of such immediacy, variety, beauty, and excitement that one is powerless to resist its wild embrace. E.B. White
The great end of life is not knowledge, but action. Thomas Henry Huxley
Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement. Alfred Adler
We work to become, not to acquire. Elbert Hubbard
Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved. William Jennings Bryan
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Point Four: The Tragic Romantic/The Artist
Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything. George Lois
Nature never did betray the heart that loved her. William Wordsworth
I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing. Agatha Christie
Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. Marie Curie
Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained. Marie Curie
That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet. Emily Dickinson
Life is painting a picture, not doing a sum. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Through our great good fortune, in our youth our hearts were touched with fire. It was given to us to learn at the outset that life is a profound and passionate thing. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Passion is in all great searches and is necessary to all creative endeavors. W. Eugene Smith
Is not this the true romantic feeling—not to desire to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping you. Thomas Wolfe
One’s happiness depends less on what he knows than on what he feels. Liberty Hyde Bailey
By annihilating desires, you annihilate the mind. Every man without passions has within him no principle of action, no motive to act. Claude Adrien Helvetius
The principal mark of genius is not perfection but originality, the opening of new frontiers. Arthur Koestler
Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life. Bertolt Brecht
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Point Five: The Thinker\The Observer
Knowledge is power. Sir Francis Bacon
We are what we think, all that we are arises with our thoughts, with our thoughts we make our world. Bhudda
The world is a comedy to those who think; a tragedy to those who feel. Horace Walpole
Less is more. Robert Browning
I was never less alone than when by myself. Edward Gibbon
One reason I like boats so much, is that you have to pare everything down to the bare necessities, and there you are, the captain of a little boat, without a shelter, without a past, without future hopes. Peter Matthiessen
The world was made to be inhabited by beasts, but studied and contemplated by man. Sir Thomas Browne
Knowledge was inherent in all things. The world was a library and its books were the stones, leaves, grass, brooks, and the birds and animals that shared, alike with us, the storms and blessings of earth. We learned to do what only the student of nature ever learns, and that was to feel beauty. Chief Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Sioux
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Point Six: The Devils Advocate\The Trooper
Genuine wilderness exploration is as dangerous as warfare. Theodore Roosevelt
Fear is an emotion indispensable for survival. Hannah Arendt
Better encounter a danger than live in continual fear. William H. Browne
Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared. Eddie Rickenbacker, American WWI flying ace.
Eighty percent of success is showing up. Woody Allen
It is clear the future holds opportunities—it also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to seize the opportunities, avoid the pitfalls, and get back home by 6:00. Woody Allen
Trust your hopes, not your fears. David Mahoney
Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. Bertrand Russell
Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric. Bertrand Russell
I don’t climb mountains simply to vanquish their summits. What would be the point of that? I place myself voluntarily into dangerous situations to learn to face my own fears and doubts, my innermost feelings. Reinhold Messner.
Great sport begins at a point where it has ceased to be healthy. Bertolt Brecht
Early and provident fear is the mother of safety. Edmund Burke
Once men are caught up in an event they cease to be afraid. Only the unknown frightens men. Antoine de Saint Exupery
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Point Seven: The Epicure\The Generalist
Variety is the mother of Enjoyment. Benjamin Disreaeli
Our nature lies in movement; complete calm is death. Blaise Pascal
Action is the antidote to despair. Joan Baez, Singer and activist
Look at the past as a bullet. Once it's fired its finished. Catherine Bauby
The visionary is the only true realist. Federico Fellini
There is one thing which gives radiance to everything. It is the idea of something around the corner. G.K. Chesterton
The method of the enterprising is to plan with audacity, and execute with vigor; to sketch out a map of possibilities; and then to treat them as probabilities. Christian Nestell Bovee
It's a very short trip. While alive, live. Malcolm Forbes
Don't forget until too late that the business of life is not business, but living. B.C. Forbes
Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality. Jules de Gaultier
Never let the demands of tomorrow interfere with the pleasures and excitements of today. Prof. Harold Hill
Life’s true gift is the capacity to enjoy enjoyment. Loxana, Counselor Troi’s Mother
Quench not your desires when they tend to good. George Shelley
My only advice is this: We don’t know where we are going, but we should give life all the gas we’ve got. Edward Steichen, Photographer
A lion chased me up a tree, and I greatly enjoyed the view from the top. Confucius
Happiness is not a destination. It is a method of life. Burton Hills
Life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be experienced. Soren Kierkegaard
Not the fruit of experience, but experience itself, is the end. Walter Pater
Measurement of life should be proportioned rather to the intensity of the experience than to its actual length. Thomas Hardy
Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, having fun. Mary Lou Cook
Self-realization is not a matter of withdrawal from a corrupt world or narcissistic contemplation of oneself. An individual becomes a person by enjoying the world and contributing to it. Francine Klagsbrun
There is no evidence that life is supposed to be serious. Nick News (TV Show)
It is better to wear out than to rust out. George Whitefield
It is better to wear out than to rust out. Richard Cumberland
To enjoy reality, one must meet it in action. Passivity or contemplation alone cannot lead to a full life. M.A. Michael
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Point Eight: The Boss
Life itself is the proper binge. Julia Child
There are two ways of meeting difficulties: you alter the difficulties or you alter yourself to meet them. Phyllis Bottome
If someone says "can't," that shows you what to do. John Cage
Seize the moment. Joan Didion
We must leave our mark on life while we have it in our power, lest it should close up, when we leave it, without a trace. Isak Dinesen
I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done. Henry Ford
We will either find a way. . .or make one. Hannibal
Sacrifice nothing. Mercedes Benz
It is your work in life that is the ultimate seduction. Pablo Picasso
People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them. George Bernard Shaw
I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. Life... is a sort of splendid torch which have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before I hand it off to future generations. George Bernard Shaw
You see things and you say "Why:"; but I dream things that never were and I say "Why not?" George Bernard Shaw
You do what you can for as long as you can, and when you finally can’t , you do the next best thing. You back up but you don’t give up. Charles "Chuck" Yeager
I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite. G.K. Chesterton
Never be afraid to dare. And never imitate. Play without asking advice. Vladimir Horowitz
Poor is the man whose pleasures depend on the permission of another. Madonna
Life is not a "brief candle." It is a splendid torch that I want to make burn as brightly as possible before handing on to future generations. George Bernard Shaw
There is something about safari life that makes you forget your troubles and feel the whole time as if you had drunk half a bottle of champagne—bubbling over with heartfelt gratitude for being alive. Isak Dinesen
Life is like a dogsled team. If you ain’t the lead dog, the scenery never changes. Lewis Grizzard
Never retreat. Never explain. Get it done and let them howl. Benjamin Jowett
The right man is the one that seizes the moment. Johann Von Goethe
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Point Nine: The Peacemaker
The art of leisure lies, to me, in the power of absorbing without effort the spirit of one’s surroundings; to look, without speculation, at the sky and sea; to become part of a green plain; to rejoice, with a tranquil mind, in the feast of colour in a bed of flowers. Dion Calthrop
It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others. John Andrew Holmes
The least movement is of importance to all nature. The entire ocean is affected by a pebble. Blaise Pascal
To be happy in this world, especially when youth is past, it is necessary to feel oneself not merely an isolated individual whose day will soon be over, but part of the stream of life flowing on from the first germ to the remote and unknown future. Bertrand Russell
The Earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the Earth. All things are connected like blood which unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. Chief Seattle (Sealth), Chief of Duwamish Tribe
If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the children of the earth. Chief Seattle (Sealth), Chief of Duwamish Tribe
One touch of Nature makes the whole world kin. William Shakespeare
With all beings and all things we shall be as relatives. Sioux Indian
I loafe and invite my soul, I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass. Walt Whitman
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Soon the child’s clear eye is clouded over by ideas and opinions, preconceptions and abstractions. Simple free being becomes encrusted with the burdensome armor of the ego. Not until years later does an instinct come that a vital sense of mystery has been withdrawn. The sun glints through the pines, and the heart is pierced in a moment of beauty and strange pain, like a memory of paradise. After that day . . . we become seekers. Peter Matthiessen
Do you have a favorite quote expressive of an Enneagram type which you would like to share with us? Then please post it on our bulletin board, The Enneagram Exchange, or, send it via e-mail to: jack@ennea.com
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