For longer than most can remember, motivational speakers, authors and publishers have inspired and delighted us by championing the idea that within each person exists virtually unlimited potential.

At Despair, Inc., we agree wholeheartedly- and helping others to unleash their hidden potentials remains our singular obsession.

Think about it- what hidden potentials exist within YOU?

Perhaps you're a wholly reasonable person, with the potential to become an irrational fool? Perhaps you're a team player, with a potentially argumentative loner lurking about inside you? Or perhaps you're a dreamer, within whom lives a potentially disillusioned grouse, simply waiting to take flight on the wings of bitterness?

For the first time, one company has stepped forth with tools for unleashing such hidden potentials. No matter who you are, you have the potential to be so very much less. And with the transformative powers of our Demotivators® products, you will be.



E.L. Kersten, Ph.D.
Founder and COO
.


View All Demotivators®
Achievement
Adversity
View All Demotivators®

Achievement

ACHIEVEMENT
You can do anything you set your mind to when you have vision, determination, and an endless supply of expendable labor.


Adversity

ADVERSITY
That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.


Agony
Ambition
Apathy
Agony

AGONY
Not all pain is gain.


Ambition

AMBITION
The journey of a thousand miles sometimes ends very, very badly


Apathy

APATHY
If we don't take care of the customer,maybe they'll stop bugging us.


Arrogance
Beauty
Bitterness
Arrogance

ARROGANCE
The best leaders inspire by example. When that's not an option, brute intimidation works pretty well, too.


Beauty

BEAUTY
If you're attractive enough on the outside, people will forgive you for being irritating to the core.


Bitterness

BITTERNESS
Never be afraid to share your dreams with the world, because there's nothing the world loves more than the taste of really sweet dreams.


Blame
Blogging
Burnout
Blame

BLAME
The secret to success is knowing who to blame for your failures.


Blogging

BLOGGING
Never before have so many people with so little to say said so much to so few.


Burnout

BURNOUT
Attitudes are contagious. Mine might kill you.


Challenges
Change
Cluelessness
Challenges

CHALLENGES
I expected times like this - but I never thought they'd be so bad, so long, and so frequent.



Change

CHANGE
When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles.


Cluelessness

CLUELESSNESS
There are no stupid questions, but there are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.


Compromise
Conformity
Consistency
Compromise

COMPROMISE
Let's agree to respect each others views, no matter how wrong yours may be.



Conformity

CONFORMITY
When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.


Consistency

CONSISTENCY
It's only a virtue if you're not a screwup.


Consulting
Corruption
Cust. Disservice
Consulting

CONSULTING
If you're not a part of the solution, there's good money to be made in prolonging the problem.


Corruption

CORRUPTION
I want either less corruption or more opportunity to participate in it.



Cust. Disservice

CUSTOMER DISSERVICE
Because we're not satisfied until you're not satisfied.


Cust. Care
Dare to Slack
Defeat
Cust. Care

CUSTOMER CARE
If we really care for the customer we'd send them somewhere better.


Dare to Slack

DARE TO SLACK
When birds fly in the right formation, they need only exert half the effort. Even in nature, teamwork results in collective laziness.


Defeat

DEFEAT
For every winner, there are dozens of losers. Odds are you're one of them.


Delusions
Demotivation
Despair
Delusions

DELUSIONS
There is no greater joy than soaring high on the wings of your dreams, except maybe the joy of watching a dreamer who has nowhere to land but in the ocean of reality.


Demotivation

DEMOTIVATION
Sometimes the best solution to morale problems is just to fire all of the unhappy people.


Despair

DESPAIR
It's always darkest just before it goes pitch black.


Destiny
Discovery
Disloyalty
Destiny

DESTINY
You were meant for me. Perhaps as a punishment.



Discovery

DISCOVERY
A company that will go to the ends of the Earth for its people will find it can hire them for about 10% of the cost of Americans.


Disloyalty

DISLOYALTY
There comes a time when every team must learn to make individual sacrifices.


Disservice
Do it Later
Doubt
Disservice

DISSERVICE
It takes months to find a customer, but only seconds to lose one... the good news is that we should run out of them in no time.


Do it Later

DO IT LATER
The early worm is for the birds.




Doubt

DOUBT
In the battle between you and the world, bet on the world.


Dreams
Dysfunction
Effort
Dreams

DREAMS
Dreams are like rainbows. Only idiots chase them.


Dysfunction

DYSFUNCTION
The only consistent feature in all of your dissatisfying relationships is you.


Effort

EFFORT
Hard work never killed anybody, but it is illegal in some places.


Elitism
Failure
Fear
Elitism

ELITISM
It's lonely at the top, but it's comforting to look down upon everyone at the bottom.


Failure

FAILURE
When your best just isn't good enough.


Fear

FEAR
Until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore, you will not know the terror of being forever lost at sea


Flattery
Futility
Get To Work
Flattery

FLATTERY
If you want to get to the top, prepare to kiss a lot of the bottom.


Futility

FUTILITY
You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take, and, statistically speaking, 99% of the shots you do.


Get To Work

GET TO WORK
You aren't being paid to believe in the power of your dreams.


Give Up
Goals
Government
Give Up

GIVE UP
At some point, hanging in there just makes you look like an even bigger loser.


Goals

GOALS
It's best to avoid standing directly between a competitive jerk and his goals.


Government

GOVERNMENT
If you think the problems we create are bad, just wait until you see our solutions.


Hazards
Hope
Humiliation
Hazards

HAZARDS
There is an island of opportunity in the middle of every difficulty. Miss that, though, and you're pretty much doomed.


Hope

HOPE
May not be warranted at this point.


Humiliation

HUMILIATION
The harder you try, the dumber you look.


Idiocy
Ignorance
Incompetence
Idiocy

IDIOCY
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.


Ignorance

IGNORANCE
It's amazing how much easier it is for a team to work together when no one has any idea where they're going.


Incompetence

INCOMPETENCE
When you earnestly believe you can compensate for a lack of skill by doubling your efforts, there's no end to what you can't do.


Indifference
Individuality
Ineptitude
Indifference

INDIFFERENCE
It takes 43 muscles to frown and 17 to smile, but it doesn't take any to just sit there with a dumb look on your face.


Individuality

INDIVIDUALITY
Always remember that you are unique. Just like everybody else.


Ineptitude

INEPTITUDE
If you can't learn to do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly.



Innovation
Insanity
Inspiration
Innovation

INNOVATION
If it can make your job easier, it can probably make it irrelevant.


Insanity

INSANITY
It's difficult to comprehend how insane some people can be. Especially when you're insane.


Inspiration

INSPIRATION
Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99% perspiration, which is why engineers sometimes smell really bad.


Intimidation
Irresponsibility
Laziness
Intimidation

INTIMIDATION
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent, but you'd be a fool to withhold that from your superiors.


Irresponsibility

IRRESPONSIBILITY
No single raindrop believes it is to blame for the flood.


Laziness

LAZINESS
Success is a journey, not a destination. So stop running.


Leaders
Limitations
Loneliness
Leaders

LEADERS
Leaders are like eagles. We don't have either of them here.


Limitations

LIMITATIONS
Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.


Loneliness

LONELINESS
If you find yourself struggling with loneliness, you're not alone. And yet you are alone. So very alone.


Losing
Madness
Mediocrity
Losing

LOSING
If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your style.


Madness

MADNESS
Madness does not always howl. Sometimes, it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "Hey, is there room in your head for one more?"


Mediocrity

MEDIOCRITY
It takes a lot less time and most people won't notice the difference until it's too late.


Meetings
Misfortune
Mistakes
Meetings

MEETINGS
None of us is as dumb as all of us.


Misfortune

MISFORTUNE
While good fortune often eludes you, this kind never misses.


Mistakes

MISTAKES
It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.



Motivation
Nepotism
Opportunity
Motivation

MOTIVATION
If a pretty poster and a cute saying are all it takes to motivate you, you probably have a very easy job. The kind robots will be doing soon.


Nepotism

NEPOTISM
We promote family values here - almost as often as we promote family members.


Opportunity

OPPORTUNITY
I am Dr. Adewole Aremu- a director with the Union Bank of Nigeria in Lagos - and I wish to speak to you most urgently about a matter regarding the sum of $39,000,000 US Dollars...


Overconfidence
Perseverance
Persistence
Overconfidence

OVERCONFIDENCE
Before you attempt to beat the odds, be sure you could survive the odds beating you.


Perseverance

PERSEVERANCE
The courage to ignore the obvious wisdom of turning back.


Persistence

PERSISTENCE
It's over, man. Let her go.


Perspective
Pessimism
Planning
Perspective

PERSPECTIVE
Less is more. Unless you're standing next to the one with more.
Then less just looks pathetic.


Pessimism

PESSIMISM
Every dark cloud has a silver lining, but lightning kills hundreds of people each year who are trying to find it.


Planning

PLANNING
Much work remains to be done before we can announce our total failure to make any progress.



Possibilities
Potential
Power
Possibilities

POSSIBILITIES
With focus, dedication and steroids, men can achieve impossible dreams. Like breaking a world record. Or growing their own breasts.


Potential

POTENTIAL
Not everyone gets to be an astronaut when they grow up.


Power

POWER
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. But it rocks absolutely, too.


Pressure
Pretension
Priorities
Pressure

PRESSURE
It can turn a lump of coal into a flawless diamond, or an average person into a perfect basketcase.


Pretension

PRETENSION
The downside of being better than everyone else is that people tend to assume you're pretentious.


Priorities

PRIORITIES
Hundreds of years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove... But the world may be different because I did something so bafflingly crazy that my ruins become a tourist attraction.


Problems
Procrastination
Propaganda
Problems

PROBLEMS
No matter how great and destructive your problems may seem now, remember, you've probably only seen the tip of them


Procrastination

PROCRASTINATION
Hard work often pays off after time, but laziness always pays off now.


Propaganda

PROPAGANDA
What lies behind us and lies before us are small matters compared to what lies right to our faces.


Quality
Regret
Retirement
Quality

QUALITY
The race for quality has no finish line- so technically, it's more like a death march.


Regret

REGRET
It hurts to admit when you make mistakes - but when they're big enough, the pain only lasts a second


Retirement

RETIREMENT
Because you've given so much of yourself to the company that you don't have anything left we can use.


Risks
Romance
Sacrifice
Risks

RISKS
If you never try anything new, you'll miss out on many of life's great disappointments.



Romance

ROMANCE
Love is in the air. And it's pooping on my head.


Sacrifice

SACRIFICE
Your role may be thankless, but if you're willing to give it your all, you just might bring success to those who outlast you.


Sacrifice (Temple)
Sanity
Strife
Sacrifice (Temple)

SACRIFICE
All we ask here is that you give us your heart.


Sanity

SANITY
Minds are like parachutes. Just because you've lost yours doesn't mean you can borrow mine.


Strife

STRIFE
As long as we have each other, we'll never run out of problems.



Stupidity
Success
Teamwork
Stupidity

STUPIDITY
Quitters never win, winners never quit, but those who never win AND never quit are idiots.


Success

SUCCESS
Some people dream of success, while other people live to crush those dreams.


Teamwork

TEAMWORK
A few harmless flakes working together can unleash an avalanche of destruction.


Tradition
Trouble
Underachievement
Tradition

TRADITION
Just because you've always done it that way doesn't mean it's not incredibly stupid.


Trouble

TROUBLE
Luck can't last a lifetime unless you die young.


Underachievement

UNDERACHIEVEMENT
The tallest blade of grass is the first to be cut by the lawnmower.


Victory
Vision
Whining
Victory

VICTORY
Winners never fly higher than when they're bouncing up and down on the egos of those they defeat.


Vision

VISION
How can the future be so hard to predict when all of my worst fears keep coming true?


Whining

WHINING
If you expect to score points by whining, join a European soccer team.


Winners
Wishes
Worth
Winners

WINNERS
Because nothing says "you're a loser" more than owning a motivational poster about being a winner.


Wishes

WISHES
When you wish upon a falling star, your dreams can come true. Unless it's really a meteorite hurtling to the Earth which will destroy all life. Then you're pretty much hosed no matter what you wish for. Unless it's death by meteor.


Worth

WORTH
Just because you're necessary doesn't mean you're important.