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LeBron James: Get better
“You have to be able to accept failure to get better.” —LeBron James.
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Alexander Solzhenitsyn: Woe to that nation
“Woe to that nation whose literature is cut short by the intrusion of force. This is not merely interference with freedom of the press but the sealing up of a nation’s heart, the excision of its memory.” —Alexander Solzhenitsyn, novelist, Nobel laureate (11 Dec 1918-2008).
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Howard Marks: Very, almost depressing
“There are three words which are among the most important words in our business: I don’t know. And if you don’t know something…you should admit it—to yourself and to everybody around you. And I think personally that it’s very freeing to say ‘I don’t know.’ I think it’s very, almost depressing, to feel that you…
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Anthony van Leeuwenhoek: Craving after knowledge
“My work, which I’ve done for a long time, was not pursued in order to gain the praise I now enjoy, but chiefly from a craving after knowledge, which I notice resides in me more than in most other men. And therewithal, whenever I found out anything remarkable, I have thought it my duty to…
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Paulo Coelho: Invisible
“The soul is invisible. An angel is invisible. The wind is invisible. Thoughts are invisible. And yet, with sensitivity you can see the soul, you can guess the angel, you can feel the wind, you can change the world with only a few thoughts.” —Paulo Coelho.
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C S Lewis: Goodness
“Those that hate goodness are sometimes nearer than those that know nothing at all about it and think they have it.” —C S Lewis.
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David Archuleta: Energy
“It’s so important for girls to respect themselves and not put themselves down and say, Oh, my life is horrible, and I’m not pretty enough. How do you know? There’s this energy people give off that people can be drawn to.” —David Archuleta.
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David Sedaris: Prospective candidates
“I haven’t got the slightest idea how to change people, but still I keep a long list of prospective candidates just in case I should ever figure it out.” —David Sedaris, writer and comedian.
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Pico Iyer: Expanding our emotional range
“Widening our attention span is a technical term for simply expanding our emotional range—which is why the longer we can give our attention to something, the happier we are.” —Pico Iyer.
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Napoleon Bonaparte: Art of war
“You must not fight too often with one enemy or you will teach him all your art of war.” — Napoleon Bonaparte.
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Marlene Dietrich: Friends
“It’s the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.” —Marlene Dietrich.
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Evelyn Beatrice Hall: By character
“It is by character and not by intellect the world is won.” —Evelyn Beatrice Hall, writer.
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Baba Amte: Ideal in life
“I don’t want to be a great leader; I want to be a man who goes around with a little oil can and when he sees a breakdown, offers his help. To me, the man who does that is greater than any holy man in saffron-colored robes. The mechanic with the oilcan: that is my…
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Ben Franklin: Continual Christmas
“Let no pleasure tempt thee, no profit allure thee, no ambition corrupt thee, no example sway thee, no persuasion move thee, to do any thing which thou knowest to be evil; so shalt thou always live jollily; for a good conscience is a continual Christmas.” —Ben Franklin.
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Henry Miller: Chaos
“Chaos is the score upon which reality is written.” —Henry Miller.
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Simon Sinek: Joy of life
“The joy of life is that we’re living it right now.” —Simon Sinek.
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Sydney Harris: Only fault
“People who think they’re generous to a fault usually think that’s their only fault.” —Sydney Harris, essayist and drama critic.
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Carlos Castaneda: Does this path have a heart?
“Look at every path closely and deliberately, then ask ourselves this crucial question: Does this path have a heart? If it does, then the path is good. If it doesn’t, it is of no use.” —Carlos Castaneda.
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Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve: Enemies
“Since it is necessary to have enemies, let us endeavor to have those who do us honor.” —Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, writer and literary critic.
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Shane Parrish: Impeccable character
“One drawback to surrounding yourself with only people of impeccable character is that over time you think that’s the norm.” —Shane Parrish.
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George Orwell: Treason
“Truth is treason in an empire of lies” ~George Orwell.
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Pico Iyer: When young
“When young we laugh at the world because we’re so sure we’re on top of it; older, we laugh mostly at ourselves because we realize we don’t have a clue.” —Pico Iyer.
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Saint Ignatius: Solid virtues
“Above all, remember that God looks for solid virtues in us, such as patience, humility, obedience, abnegation of your own will — that is, the good will to serve Him and our neighbor in Him. His providence allows us other devotions only insofar as He sees that they are useful to us.” —Saint Ignatius.
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Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa: Things will have to change
“If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.” —Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa.
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Lady Bird Johnson: Children
“Children are likely to live up to what you believe in them.” —Lady Bird Johnson.
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G K Chesterton: Next great heresy
“The next great heresy is going to be simply an attack on morality; and especially sexual morality. And it is coming from the living exultant energy of the rich resolved to enjoy themselves at last…The madness of tomorrow is not in Moscow, but much more in Manhattan.” —G K Chesterton.
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Mikheil Saakashvili: Create crises
“The more insecure you are, the more prone you are to create crises.” —Mikheil Saakashvili.
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Simon Sinek: Confident versus insecure
“The confident ask questions to learn what will connect. The insecure just keep talking with the hope something will stick.” —Simon Sinek.
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G K Chesterton: Beauty and the Beast
“Beauty and the Beast deals with a very deep idea: that love creates beauty.” —G K Chesterton.
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Bill Walsh: Writing headlines
“Writing headlines is a specialty – there are outstanding writers who will tell you they couldnt write a headline to save their lives.” —Bill Walsh.
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William Arthur Ward: Gratitude
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” —William Arthur Ward.
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Lillian Smith: Return to anguish
“The human heart dares not stay away too long from that which hurt it most. There is a return journey to anguish that few of us are released from making.” —Lillian Smith,writer and social critic.
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Simon Sinek: Value
“Our value is not determined by how many people show up; our value is determined by how the people who show up feel when they leave.” —Simon Sinek.
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Phil Ochs: You must protest
“You must protest / It is your diamond duty / Ah but in such an ugly time / The true protest is beauty.” —Phil Ochs, folksinger (19 Dec 1940-1976).
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G K Chesterton: Moral standard
“A moral standard must remain the same or it is not a moral standard.” —G K Chesterton.
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Thucydides: Philosophy teaching
“History is philosophy teaching by examples.” —Thucydides.
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G K Chesterton: Always sane
“Christianity is always out of fashion because it is always sane; and all fashions are mild insanities.” —G K Chesterton.
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Edith Piaf: Bitter tears
“I think you have to pay for love with bitter tears.” —Edith Piaf.
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Paulo Coelho: Leading lives
“Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.” — Paulo Coelho.
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Simon Sinek: Loyalty
“Loyalty is the desire to defend someone when they are not there to defend themselves.” —Simon Sinek.
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Paul Klee: Art
“Art should be like a holiday: something to give a man the opportunity to see things differently and to change his point of view.” – – -Paul Klee, painter (18 Dec 1879-1940).
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Steven Spielberg: Mentoring
“The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.” —Steven Spielberg.
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Dr. D T Suzuki: No one wins
“That’s why I love philosophy: no one wins.” —Dr. D T Suzuki.
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Simon Sinek: Ideas
“Ideas alone are not scalable. Only when an idea is put into words that people can clearly understand can an idea inspire action.” —Simon Sinek.
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G K Chesterton: Science and philosophy
“Science must not impose any philosophy, any more than the telephone must tell us what to say.” —G K Chesterton.
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Chelsea Manning: Patriotism
“Patriotism is often the cry extolled when morally questionable acts are advocated by those in power.” —Chelsea Manning, activist and whistleblower (b. 17 Dec 1987).
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Ludwig van Beethoven: Higher revelation
“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.” —Ludwig van Beethoven.
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JBS Haldane: Insult to some god
“There is no great invention, from fire to flying, which has not been hailed as an insult to some god.” —-J.B.S. Haldane, scientist (5 Nov 1892-1964).
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Jane Austen: Tenderness of heart
“There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.” —Jane Austen.
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Simon Sinek: Leader, culture, company
“So goes the leader, so goes the culture. So goes the culture, so goes the company.” —Simon Sinek.
