"Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A world of optimism and hope. A "you can do it" when things are tough"
About this Quote
The subtext carries a distinctly business-minded optimism. In a corporate context, "a positive push" isn’t just kindness; it’s management technique. It implies that performance problems can be met with attitude adjustments, that the right emotional nudge can substitute for structural change. That can be uplifting - an antidote to the isolating, "figure it out alone" myth - but it also carries the faint whiff of motivational ideology: if you’re struggling, maybe what you need is belief, not fewer obstacles.
DeVos, as an Amway co-founder and emblem of American entrepreneurial culture, is speaking from a world where persuasion is both ethic and engine. Encouragement is presented as power because in sales-driven ecosystems, belief has measurable outcomes: it keeps teams prospecting, recruits engaged, failures reframed as learning. The quote works because it flatters the listener into agency. You may not control the market, the boss, or the timing, but you can control the push you give someone else - and that’s positioned as a kind of everyday leadership.
Quote Details
| Topic | Motivational |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
DeVos, Richard M. (2026, January 16). Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A world of optimism and hope. A "you can do it" when things are tough. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/few-things-in-the-world-are-more-powerful-than-a-116042/
Chicago Style
DeVos, Richard M. "Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A world of optimism and hope. A "you can do it" when things are tough." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/few-things-in-the-world-are-more-powerful-than-a-116042/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A world of optimism and hope. A "you can do it" when things are tough." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/few-things-in-the-world-are-more-powerful-than-a-116042/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.








