"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
— Robert F. Kennedy

"You can't change nature, son!"
"Change IS nature, dad, the part we can influence. And it all starts when we decide."
— Kitty Richards (Ratatouille: The Junior Novelization)

"The secret of my influence has always been that it remained secret."
— Salvador Dali

"The key to successful leadership is influence, not authority."
— Kenneth H. Blanchard

"The books that influence the world are those that it has not read."
— G.K. Chesterton

""It is a fundamental truth that the responsibilities of motherhood cannot be successfully delegated. No, not to day-care centers, not to schools, not to nurseries, not to babysitters. . . . It is mother’s influence during the crucial formative years that forms a child’s basic character. Home is the place where a child learns faith, feels love, and thereby learns from mother’s loving example to choose righteousness. How vital are mother’s influence and teaching in the home—and how apparent when neglected!"
"
— Ezra Taft Benson

"Jemanden zu beeinflussen bedeutet, ihm eine fremde Seele zu geben."
— Oscar Wilde (The Picture of Dorian Gray)

"To resist the influence of others, knowledge of oneself is most important."
— Teal'c

"No matter how big the lie; repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as the truth."
— John F. Kennedy

"A life isn't significant except for its impact on other lives."
— Jackie Robinson

"But can one be a blessing merely by being cheerful? Yes; moral beauty of any kind exerts a silent influence for good. It is like a sweet flower by the wayside, which has a benediction for everyone who passes by. A legend tells how one day in Galilee the useful corn spurned the lilies because they fed no one’s hunger. “One cannot earn a living just by being sweet,” said the proud cereal. The lilies said nothing in reply, only seemed the sweeter, then the Master came that way; and while his disciples rested at his feet, and the rustling corn invited them to eat, he said, “Children, the life is more than meat. Consider the lilies, how beautiful they grow.” It certainly seemed worth while then just to be sweet, for it pleased the Master."
— J.R. Miller

"The difference is slight, to the influence of an author, whether he is read by five hundred readers, or by five hundred thousand; if he can select the five hundred, he reaches the five hundred thousand."
— Henry Adams (The Education of Henry Adams)

"A parent gives life, but as parent, gives no more. A murderer takes life, but his deed stops there. A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops."
— Henry Adams (The Education of Henry Adams)

"Nobody should be whipped. Remember that, once and for all. Neither man nor animal can be influenced by anything but suggestion."
— Mikhail Bulgakov (Heart of a Dog)