Whether at work, at home or in public, we have been trained to believe that who we are at the core of our being is often unacceptable. As a result, we work diligently to live up to - and sometimes down to - what others have made us out to be, whether or not it is an accurate reflection of who we are.

Iyanla Vanzant

Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.

Abraham Lincoln

I had so many people care so much and work so diligently to make sure I didn't end up in the wrong place.

Adrian Pasdar

I find myself more and more behind these days. You have to be really diligent. I don't have kids, which helps. I'm always working on something, whether a book, or a law review article that no one will ever read, or teaching. It pretty much means I work a lot, but it's all stuff I love.

Alafair Burke

Diligent as one must be in learning, one must be as diligent in forgetting; otherwise the process is one of pedantry, not culture.

Albert J. Nock

You shall, I question not, find a way to the top if you diligently seek for it; for nature hath placed nothing so high that it is out of the reach of industry and valor.

Alexander the Great

When you set the right targets, aspirations, and you work efficiently and diligently, the numbers happen.

Anand Mahindra

I've got 12 reserves in my riding and have always been very available and worked very diligently on a few files. I've been out any time there is major events. So I've always had an open door policy with the chiefs and individuals on- and off-reserve.

Andrew Scheer

I just want to faithfully represent the public that voted for me and diligently work for all the people in Israel. If I can do that, I don't care what anyone says about me.

Ayelet Shaked

I think most of us would agree that people who have, say, little formal schooling but labor honestly and diligently to help feed, clothe, and educate their families are deserving of greater respect - and help, if necessary - than many people who are superficially more successful.

Ben Bernanke

Leisure is the time for doing something useful. This leisure the diligent person will obtain the lazy one never.

Benjamin Franklin

I've been really diligent about going and getting screenings and mammograms, and so when I got the scare I said, 'Thank God that I went!' You can't blow it off. It's very important.

Beth Ostrosky Stern

I've always just adored music. It's my first love, really. I admire and respect people in the music business. You really have to work hard and diligently. Sometimes actors can be lazy and get away with it, but you can't do that if you're a musician.

Blythe Danner

Security has to be, and has long been, our government's top priority. It is imperative that we continue to diligently watch for potential threats by all appropriate means.

Brad Schneider

To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.

Buddha

After much diligent research, aided by other women, I gradually came to understand that beneath the familiar Goddesses of the patriarchy, there is a much more ancient Goddess.

Carol P. Christ

Ideas do not always come in a flash but by diligent trial-and-error experiments that take time and thought.

Charles K. Kao

Excellence is about fighting and pursuing something diligently, with a strict and determined approach to doing it right. It's okay if there are flaws in the process - it makes it more interesting.

Charlie Trotter

My goal is to work diligently to become the top philanthropist in the world.

Chen Guangbiao

I'm generally pretty responsible and diligent, but people make mistakes.

Chris Murphy

I think there's a danger, for me at least, in retreating and going inward and depression. I have to stay diligent against that tendency.

Conor Oberst