“Authenticity is more than speaking. Authenticity is also about doing. Every decision we make says something about who we are.”
—Simon Sinek.
Michael Lewis: Stories people tell themselves
“As I’ve gotten older…I could not help but notice the effect on people of the stories they told about themselves. If you listen to people—if you just sit and listen—you’ll find that there are patterns in the way they talk about themselves. There’s the kind of person who’s always the victim in any story that they tell—always on the receiving end of some injustice. There’s the person who’s always kind of the hero in every story they tell. The smart person—they deliver the clever put down. There are lots of versions of this. And you gotta be very careful about how you tell these stories because it starts to become you. You are, in the way you craft your narrative, kind of crafting your character. And so, I did at some point decide: I am going to adopt self-consciously as my narrative that I’m the happiest person anybody knows. And it is amazing how happy-inducing it is.”
—Michael Lewis.
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Georges Clemenceau: Interesting primarily
“A man’s life is interesting primarily when he has failed — I well know. For it is a sign that he has tried to surpass himself.”
—Georges Clemenceau.
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William Empson: Imaginative literature
“The central function of imaginative literature is to make you realize that other people act on moral convictions different from your own.”
—William Empson, literary critic and poet.
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Soren Kierkegaard: Freedom of speech
“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.”
—Soren Kierkegaard.
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J B Priestley: Mental pregnancy
“Much of writing might be described as mental pregnancy with successive difficult deliveries.”
—J.B. Priestley.
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Simon Sinek: Intelligence versus creativity
“Intelligence uses what is known to solve problems. Creativity uses what is unknown to discover possibilities.”
—Simon Sinek.
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Peter Sellers: Classic example
“I’m a classic example of all humorists – only funny when I’m working.”
—Peter Sellers.
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Simon Sinek: Connect
“Remember to connect with people now and then. In fact, pick up the phone, right now, and call a friend for no other reason than to say hi.”
—Simon Sinek.
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Robert M Pirsig: Dogmas
“When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kind of dogmas or goals, it’s always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt.”
-Robert M. Pirsig.
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Kin Hubbard: Flattery
“Flattery won’t hurt you if you don’t swallow it.”
—-Kin Hubbard.
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Alanis Obomsawin: You can’t eat money
“When the last tree is cut, the last fish is caught, and the last river is polluted; when to breathe the air is sickening, you will realize, too late, that wealth is not in bank accounts and that you can’t eat money.”
—Alanis Obomsawin.
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Spanish proverb: An ounce of mother
“An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy.”
—Spanish proverb.
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Jeanette Winterson: Book collecting
“Book collecting is an obsession, an occupation, a disease, an addiction, a fascination, an absurdity, a fate. It is not a hobby. Those who do it must do it.”
—Jeanette Winterson.
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John Buchan: Debt to the past
“We can pay our debt to the past by putting the future in debt to ourselves.”
—John Buchan.
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Barbara Ehrenreich: Just like men
“Of all the nasty outcomes predicted for women’s liberation…none was more alarming than the suggestion that women would eventually become just like men.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich.
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Monty Hall: Overnight success
“Actually, I’m an overnight success, but it took twenty years.”
—Monty Hall.
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Goethe: Goes backward
“He who moves not forward, goes backward.”
—Goethe.
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George Matthew Adams: No such thing
“There is no such thing as a ‘self-made’ man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts.”
—George Matthew Adams.
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Courtney Gains: Acting and psychology
“I think acting and psychology are both looking at what makes human beings tick. I’ve always found that fascinating.”
—Courtney Gains.
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Marc Evan Jackson: Improvising
“I cant imagine doing anything without being an improviser. I cant imagine trying to write or act or direct without what improvising offers you.”
—Marc Evan Jackson.
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Edgar Guest: See a sermon
“I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day; I’d rather one should walk with me than merely tell the way.”
—Edgar Guest.
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John Carmack: Pick features that don’t fight each other
“The cost of adding a feature isn’t just the time it takes to code it. The cost also includes the addition of an obstacle to future expansion. The trick is to pick the features that don’t fight each other.”
—John Carmack.
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Ogden Nash: Terrestrial ball
“There is only one way to achieve happiness on this terrestrial ball, and that is to have either a clear conscience or none at all.”
—Ogden Nash.
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James Nasmyth: Our ancestors virtually live in us
“OUR history begins before we are born. We represent the hereditary influences of our race, and our ancestors virtually live in us.”
—James Nasmyth.
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Gulzar: All the time
“Dreams heed no borders, the eyes need no visas. With eyes shut I walk across the line in time. All the time.”
-Gulzar.
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Denis Leary: Irate
“I think we should take Iraq and Iran and combine them into one country and call it Irate. All the pissed off people live in one place and get it over with.”
—Denis Leary.
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Mae West: Body and English
“I speak two languages, Body and English.”
—-Mae West.
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Ted Hughes: Only calibration
“The only calibration that counts is how much heart people invest, how much they ignore their fears of being hurt or caught out or humiliated. And the only thing people regret is that they didn’t live boldly enough, that they didn’t invest enough heart, didn’t love enough. Nothing else really counts at all.”
—Ted Hughes.
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E F Schumacher: Comforts
“I’m not at all contemptuous of comforts, but they have their place and it is not first.”
—E.F. Schumacher.
Quite a Quote! 