Priorities Quotes

“Action expresses priorities.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“You need to make time for your family no matter what happens in your life”
― Matthew Quick, The Silver Linings Playbook

“It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials.”
― Bruce Lee

“Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“Physics isn't the most important thing. Love is.”
― Richard Feynman

“Persistence. Perfection. Patience. Power. Prioritize your passion. It keeps you sane.”
― Criss Jami, Killosophy

“Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions.”
― Dallin H. Oaks

“You can't talk about fucking in America, people say you're dirty. But if you talk about killing somebody, that's cool.”
― Richard Pryor

“The mark of a great man is one who knows when to set aside the important things in order to accomplish the vital ones.”
― Brandon Sanderson, The Alloy of Law

“The life you have left is a gift. Cherish it. Enjoy it now, to the fullest. Do what matters, now.”
― Leo Babauta

“A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.”
― Walt Whitman

“Life is short. Focus on what really matters most; you should change your priorities over time.”
― Roy T. Bennett

“The Principle of Priority states (a) you must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important, and (b) you must do what’s important first.”
― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles

“I do not particularly like the word 'work.' Human beings are the only animals who have to work, and I think that is the most ridiculous thing in the world. Other animals make their livings by living, but people work like crazy, thinking that they have to in order to stay alive. The bigger the job, the greater the challenge, the more wonderful they think it is. It would be good to give up that way of thinking and live an easy, comfortable life with plenty of free time. I think that the way animals live in the tropics, stepping outside in the morning and evening to see if there is something to eat, and taking a long nap in the afternoon, must be a wonderful life. For human beings, a life of such simplicity would be possible if one worked to produce directly his daily necessities. In such a life, work is not work as people generally think of it, but simply doing what needs to be done.”
― Masanobu Fukuoka, The One-Straw Revolution

“A simple life is not seeing how little we can get by with—that’s poverty—but how efficiently we can put first things first. . . . When you’re clear about your purpose and your priorities, you can painlessly discard whatever does not support these, whether it’s clutter in your cabinets or commitments on your calendar. (148)”
― Victoria Moran, Lit From Within: Tending Your Soul For Lifelong Beauty

“The will of God is not something you add to your life. It’s a course you choose. You either line yourself up with the Son of God…or you capitulate to the principle which governs the rest of the world.”
― Elisabeth Elliot

“There are so many more important things to worry about than how you're perceived by strangers.”
― Dennis Lehane

“Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it.”
― Marcus Aurelius, The Emperor's Handbook

“When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities.”
― Ezra Taft Benson

“Let my assure you, Brethren, that some day you will have a personal Priesthood interview with the Savior, Himself. If you are interested, I will tell you the order in which He will ask you to account for your earthly responsibilities.

First, He will request an accountability report about your relationship with your wife. Have you actively been engaged in making her happy and ensuring that her needs have been met as an individual?

Second, He will want an accountability report about each of your children individually. He will not attempt to have this for simply a family stewardship but will request information about your relationship to each and every child.

Third, He will want to know what you personally have done with the talents you were given in the pre-existence.

Fourth, He will want a summary of your activity in your church assignments. He will not be necessarily interested in what assignments you have had, for in his eyes the home teacher and a mission president are probably equals, but He will request a summary of how you have been of service to your fellowmen in your Church assignments.

Fifth, He will have no interest in how you earned your living, but if you were honest in all your dealings.

Sixth, He will ask for an accountability on what you have done to contribute in a positive manner to your community, state, country, and the world.”
― David O. McKay

“Perpetual devotion to what a man calls his business, is only to be sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson

“I do know that when I am 60, I should be attempting to achieve different personal goals than those which had priority at age 20.”
― Warren Buffett

“I do not understand people who will lustily throw $40,000 at the shiny red automobile of their choice, but well up with tears and become outraged when they are asked to pay $5 for a damaged videotape. Either they are fucked up and their priorities are fucked up or I am fucked up and my priorities are fucked up. Because I am me, I think it is them.”
― Don Borchert, Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library

“Good for you and be proud of yourself because you have your priorities in order. Be proud of yourself if you are responsible, reliable, persistent, and take your job and education seriously.”
― Ana Monnar, Express Yourself 101 For Your Eyes Only

“The Christian's whole desire, at its best and highest, is that Jesus Christ be praised. It is always a wretched bastardization of our goals when we want to win glory for ourselves instead of for him.”
― D.A. Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers

“Giving up the obsession of sign-values and the subservient fascination of the social pyramid, allows us to set priorities in life, find out the core of our true self and appreciate being “in” the moment. ("Keeping up with the Joneses" )”
― Erik Pevernagie

“Those East Coast rich kids are a different breed, on a fast track to nowhere. Your friends in Seattle are downright Canadian in their niceness. None of you has a cell phone. The girls wear hoodies and big cotton underpants and walk around with tangled hair and smiling, adorned backpacks. Do you know how absolutely exotic it is that you haven’t been corrupted by fashion and pop culture? A month ago I mentioned Ben Stiller, and do you remember how you responded? ‘Who’s that?’ I loved you all over again.”
― Maria Semple, Where'd You Go, Bernadette

“Refrain to-night;
And that shall lend a kind of easiness
To the next abstinence, the next more easy;
For use almost can change the stamp of nature,
And either master the devil or throw him out
With wondrous potency.”
― William Shakespeare, Hamlet

“Of course it was a terrible thing, and the world would be a much better place without someone in it who could do that, but did that mean we had to miss lunch?”
― Jeff Lindsay, Dearly Devoted Dexter