Inspirational Quotes by John C. Maxwell
“A great dream with a bad team is nothing more than a nightmare.”
“The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like and do what you'd rather not.”
“A person who has a dream knows what he is willing to give up in order to go up.”
“If you pair excellence with humility, people not only won’t run over you, they will respect you.”
“You must reject common thinking if you want to accomplish uncommon results.”
“Success on any major scale requires you to accept responsibility . . . In the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have is the ability to take on responsibility.”
“Any married man should forget his mistakes—there’s no use in two people remembering the same thing.”
“Effective teams have teammates who are constantly talking to one another.”
“people with a positive attitude focus their time and attention on solutions, not problems.”
“Success is . . . knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach your maximum potential, and sowing seeds that benefit others.”
“Imagine that your mouth is a water spout. When you open the valve (speak), whatever comes out is an indicator of what's inside of you.”
“How we see ourselves and what we base our worth on are primary motivators throughout life.”
“If you keep your mind active, regularly take on mental challenges, and continually think abuot the right things, you will develop the disciplined thinking that will help you with whatever you endeavor to do.”
“I have to live with myself, and so I want to be fit for myself to know, I want to be able, as days go by, Always to look myself straight in the eye; I don’t want to stand, with the setting sun, And hate myself for things I have done. I don’t want to keep on a closet shelf A lot of secrets about myself, And fool myself, as I come and go, Into thinking that nobody else will know The kind of man I really am; I don’t want to dress up myself in sham. I want to go out with my head erect, I want to deserve all men’s respect; But here in the struggle for fame and pelf I want to be able to like myself. I don’t want to look at myself and know That I’m bluster and bluff and empty show. I can never hide myself from me; I see what others may never see; I know what others may never know, I never can fool myself, and so, Whatever happens, I want to be Self-respecting and conscience free.”
“People don’t really know whether they are committed to something until they face adversity.”
“There are two kinds of people in this world: those who want to get things done and those who don’t want to make mistakes.”
“Every successful person is someone who failed, yet never regarded himself as a failure.”
“If you don't contradict yourself on a regular basis, then you're not thinking.”
“German poet Herman Hesse wrote, “If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn’t part of ourselves doesn’t disturb us.” I agree with his viewpoint.”
Group of Brands
© 2026 Bibleportal.com All rights reserved.
John C. Maxwell (born 1947) is an evangelical Christian author, speaker, and pastor who has written more than 50 books, primarily focusing on leadership.
His organizations have trained 2 million leaders worldwide. Every year he speaks to Fortune 500 companies, international government leaders, and audiences as diverse as the United States Military Academy at West Point, the National Football League, and ambassadors at the United Nations.
John C. Maxwell was born in Garden City, Michigan. His father, Melvin, was a minister in a local Wesleyan church. Maxwell followed his father into the ministry, completing a Bachelor's degree at Ohio Christian University in 1969, a Master of Divinity degree at Azusa Pacific University, and a Doctor of Ministry degree at Fuller Theological Seminary. Maxwell has received five honorary doctorates of divinity (including ones from the California Graduate School of Theology and Liberty University).