All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small. Laozi
It is impossible for the mind to remain undisturbed by thoughts, but anyone serious about the matter can certainly permit them entry or drive them away, and although their origin does not lie entirely under our control we can choose to approve of them and to adopt them. John Cassian
All sins have their origin in a sense of inferiority otherwise called ambition. Cesare Pavese
All riches have their origin in mind. Wealth is in ideas - not money. Robert Collier
All things are from God; and above all, reason and imagination and the great gifts of the mind. They are good in themselves; and we must not altogether forget their origin even in their perversion. G. K. Chesterton
How convenient it would be to many of our great men and great families of doubtful origin, could they have the privilege of the heroes of yore, who, whenever their origin was involved in obscurity, modestly announced themselves descended from a god. Washington Irving