2025.11.29 – Motivation from Leaders, Thinkers, and Doers

Recommended YouTube video: The Power of Vulnerability – TED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o

31. “I am a slow walker, but I never walk back.”
    Abraham Lincoln
    Born: 12 February 1809, United States
    Died: 15 April 1865
    Age at death: 56 years
    Main role: Political leader (16th President of the United States)
    Cause of death / Health: Assassinated; died from a gunshot wound.
32. “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
    Mahatma Gandhi
    Born: 2 October 1869, India
    Died: 30 January 1948
    Age at death: 78 years
    Main role: Political and spiritual leader, activist for non-violence
    Cause of death / Health: Assassinated; shot during a public prayer meeting.
33. “I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.”
    Florence Nightingale
    Born: 12 May 1820, United Kingdom
    Died: 13 August 1910
    Age at death: 90 years
    Main role: Nurse, social reformer
    Cause of death / Health: Heart failure and old age.
34. “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.”
    Marie Curie
    Born: 7 November 1867, Poland (worked mainly in France)
    Died: 4 July 1934
    Age at death: 66 years
    Main role: Scientist (physicist and chemist)
    Cause of death / Health: Aplastic anemia, linked to long-term radiation exposure.
35. “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”
    Helen Keller
    Born: 27 June 1880, United States
    Died: 1 June 1968
    Age at death: 87 years
    Main role: Writer, lecturer, disability rights activist
    Cause of death / Health: Died in her sleep after earlier strokes.
36. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
    Winston Churchill
    Born: 30 November 1874, United Kingdom
    Died: 24 January 1965
    Age at death: 90 years
    Main role: Political leader (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom)
    Cause of death / Health: Stroke.
37. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
    Franklin D. Roosevelt
    Born: 30 January 1882, United States
    Died: 12 April 1945
    Age at death: 63 years
    Main role: Political leader (32nd President of the United States)
    Cause of death / Health: Cerebral hemorrhage (stroke).
38. “Optimism is a skill that can be learned.”
    Martin Seligman
    Born: 12 August 1942, United States
    Alive
    Age: 83 years (as of November 2025)
    Main role: Psychologist, founder of positive psychology
    Cause of death / Health: Alive; no major public illness reported.
39. “The best moments in life happen when we are completely involved in what we are doing.”
    Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
    Born: 29 September 1934
    Died: 20 October 2021
    Age at death: 87 years
    Main role: Psychologist, researcher of “flow”
    Cause of death / Health: Cardiac arrest at home.
40. “Self-belief does not necessarily ensure success, but self-disbelief assuredly leads to failure.”
    Albert Bandura
    Born: 4 December 1925, Canada
    Died: 26 July 2021
    Age at death: 95 years
    Main role: Psychologist, researcher of self-efficacy and social learning
    Cause of death / Health: Congestive heart failure.
41. “What a man can be, he must be.”
    Abraham Maslow
    Born: 1 April 1908, United States
    Died: 8 June 1970
    Age at death: 62 years
    Main role: Psychologist, creator of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
    Cause of death / Health: Heart attack.
42. “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity.”
    Rollo May
    Born: 21 April 1909, United States
    Died: 22 October 1994
    Age at death: 85 years
    Main role: Psychologist, existential therapist
    Cause of death / Health: Congestive heart failure.
43. “Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.”
    Erich Fromm
    Born: 23 March 1900, Germany
    Died: 18 March 1980
    Age at death: 79 years
    Main role: Social psychologist, philosopher
    Cause of death / Health: Heart attack.
44. “You largely construct your own reality and your own happiness.”
    Albert Ellis
    Born: 27 September 1913, United States
    Died: 24 July 2007
    Age at death: 93 years
    Main role: Psychologist, creator of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
    Cause of death / Health: Kidney and heart failure.
45. “If our thinking is unrealistic, our emotions will be distorted.”
    Aaron T. Beck
    Born: 18 July 1921, United States
    Died: 1 November 2021
    Age at death: 100 years
    Main role: Psychiatrist, founder of cognitive therapy
    Cause of death / Health: Died in his sleep at home; specific cause not widely reported.
46. “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”
    Jon Kabat-Zinn
    Born: 5 June 1944, United States
    Alive
    Age: 81 years (as of November 2025)
    Main role: Teacher of mindfulness, scientist
    Cause of death / Health: Alive; no major public illness reported.
47. “Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement.”
    Daniel H. Pink
    Born: 23 July 1964, United States
    Alive
    Age: 61 years (as of November 2025)
    Main role: Writer on work, motivation, and behavior
    Cause of death / Health: Alive; no major public illness reported.
48. “Working hard for something we love is called passion.”
    Simon Sinek
    Born: 9 October 1973, United Kingdom (raised mainly in South Africa and United States)
    Alive
    Age: 52 years (as of November 2025)
    Main role: Author, speaker on leadership and purpose
    Cause of death / Health: Alive; no major public illness reported.
49. “It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.”
    Tony Robbins
    Born: 29 February 1960, United States
    Alive
    Age: 65 years (as of November 2025)
    Main role: Motivational speaker, coach, author
    Cause of death / Health: Alive; no major public illness reported.
50. “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
    Paulo Coelho
    Born: 24 August 1947, Brazil
    Alive
    Age: 78 years (as of November 2025)
    Main role: Writer
    Cause of death / Health: Alive; no major public illness reported.
51. “Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have.”
    Eckhart Tolle
    Born: 16 February 1948, Germany (later Canada)
    Alive
    Age: 77 years (as of November 2025)
    Main role: Spiritual teacher, writer
    Cause of death / Health: Alive; no major public illness reported.
52. “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”
    Michael Jordan
    Born: 17 February 1963, United States
    Alive
    Age: 62 years (as of November 2025)
    Main role: Athlete (basketball player), entrepreneur
    Cause of death / Health: Alive; no major public illness reported.
53. “Champions keep playing until they get it right.”
    Billie Jean King
    Born: 22 November 1943, United States
    Alive
    Age: 82 years (as of November 2025)
    Main role: Athlete (tennis player), equality advocate
    Cause of death / Health: Alive; no major public illness reported.
54. “You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it.”
    Lionel Messi
    Born: 24 June 1987, Argentina
    Alive
    Age: 38 years (as of November 2025)
    Main role: Athlete (football player)
    Cause of death / Health: Alive; no major public illness reported.
55. “Dreams are not what you see in your sleep; dreams are the things that do not let you sleep.”
    Cristiano Ronaldo
    Born: 5 February 1985, Portugal
    Alive
    Age: 40 years (as of November 2025)
    Main role: Athlete (football player)
    Cause of death / Health: Alive; no major public illness reported.
56. “You are never too small to make a difference.”
    Greta Thunberg
    Born: 3 January 2003, Sweden
    Alive
    Age: 22 years (as of November 2025)
    Main role: Climate activist
    Cause of death / Health: Alive; no major public illness reported.
57. “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”
    Ruth Bader Ginsburg
    Born: 15 March 1933, United States
    Died: 18 September 2020
    Age at death: 87 years
    Main role: Judge (U.S. Supreme Court Justice)
    Cause of death / Health: Complications from pancreatic cancer.
58. “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”
    Malcolm X
    Born: 19 May 1925, United States
    Died: 21 February 1965
    Age at death: 39 years
    Main role: Activist, speaker for civil rights
    Cause of death / Health: Assassinated; died from gunshot wounds.
59. “If you don’t like someone’s story, write your own.”
    Chinua Achebe
    Born: 16 November 1930, Nigeria
    Died: 21 March 2013
    Age at death: 82 years
    Main role: Writer, literary critic
    Cause of death / Health: Died after a short illness.
60. “Culture does not make people. People make culture.”
    Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
    Born: 15 September 1977, Nigeria
    Alive
    Age: 48 years (as of November 2025)
    Main role: Writer, feminist speaker
    Cause of death / Health: Alive; no major public illness reported.

Definitions

Grit:
Grit is a mix of passion and perseverance for a long-term goal.
It means you keep going, you work hard, and you do not give up, even when things are difficult and slow.

Primatologist:
A primatologist is a scientist who studies primates.
Primates are animals like monkeys, apes, and lemurs.
Primatologists watch how these animals live, move, think, and communicate.

About Daniel Goleman

Daniel Goleman is alive.
He was born on 7 March 1946 in the United States.
He is about 79 years old (as of November 2025).
He is known for his work on emotional intelligence, and there is no public report that he has died.