One of the most commonly seen examples of motivation skills in action is when the captain of a football team rallies his troops by clapping his hands and roaring encouragement to the rest of the players. This simple act can pump up the belief levels of the team as a whole and quite often the result is an improved performance.

This is because the human voice is a great motivator and we need only look to the cinema to see examples of the motivational power of a series of carefully selected words. Most of us probably have a favourite film scene that inspires and motivates us, and there is quite a selection from which to choose. From Marlon Brando regretting an opportunity missed in the famous taxi scene in On the Waterfront, to Will Smith's "You want something? Go get it. Period," in The Pursuit of Happyness, words, more than anything else, can motivate us into action.

And away from the big screen we can still find examples to motivate us all around, perhaps in the lyrics of a song or a passage in a book. Seek motivation from those talking about a great comeback, or victory against all the odds. Look around for examples of words that will motivate you and those around you. Check out the final part of Russell Crowe's Oscar acceptance speech for his best actor award in Gladiator for a prime example of the motivational power of words.

Over the centuries the great and the good have uttered words of inspiration and motivation that are still in regular use because they retain the power to instil belief and encouragement into those facing difficult tasks today. So let us look to famous leaders and great thinkers for words that will motivate even the most reluctant among us.

Here then are ten of the best motivational quotes from famous figures that have been passed down over the decades, and in some cases, over the centuries. Read them, learn them and make use of them.

1) The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. (Winston Churchill)

2) Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover (Mark Twain)

3) We will either find a way, or make one! (Hannibal)

4) The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. (Lao Tzu)

5) I did not fail 100 times. I only found 100 ways that did not work. (Thomas Edison)

6) The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher. (Thomas Huxley)

7) Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall. (Confucius)

8) If not us, who? If not now, when? (John F Kennedy)

9) Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way. (Abraham Lincoln)

10) I am the greatest! (Muhammad Ali)