Quite a Quote!

Leonardo DiCaprio: Brothers

“Brothers don’t necessarily have to say anything to each other — they can sit in a room and be together and just be completely comfortable with each other.”—Leonardo DiCaprio, actor and director.
Margaret Wheatley: Confusing control with order

“We have created trouble for ourselves in organizations by confusing control with order. This is no surprise, given that for most of its written history, leadership has been defined in terms of its control functions.”—Margaret Wheatley.
Paracelsus: Four pillars

“Medicine rests upon four pillars – philosophy, astronomy, alchemy, and ethics.”—Paracelsus.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb: Infinite precision

“We know from chaos theory that even if you had a perfect model of the world, you’d need infinite precision in order to predict future events. With sociopolitical or economic phenomena, we don’t have anything like that.”—Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
Shane Parrish: When no one is watching

“While visible results get the attention, the invisible work deserves the credit. The seeds of exceptional results are planted when no one is watching.”—Shane Parrish.
Dan Rockwell: Help others improve

“I don’t want you on my team unless you’re committed to help others improve.”—Dan Rockwell.
Mrs. Minot Carter: Raindrops

“Have you heard the raindropsOn a field of corn,Pattering ov’r the green leavesDusty and forlorn?Did you ever fancyThey were little feetHurrying out with waterThirsty ones to meet? Have you seen the raindropsFalling on the lake?How they flash and sparkleTiny splashes make.Did you ever fancyThey were diamonds rareScattered by an aeroplaneSailing through the air?” Source URL:…
Paul Plesk: Emergent property

“It is more helpful to think like a farmer, than an engineer or an architect in designing [complex systems]… Engineers and architects need to design every detail of the system. This approach is possible because the responses of the componens are mechanical and therefore predictable. In contrast, the farmer knows that he or she can…
Richard Burton: Be the best rubbish

“If you’re going to make rubbish, be the best rubbish in it.”—Richard Burton.
Ruth Muskrat Bronson: The Hunter’s Wooing

The Hunter’s Wooing “Come roam the wild hills, my Cherokee Rose,Come roam the wild hills with me.We’ll follow the path where the Spavinaw flows,Dashing wild on its way to the sea,On its wearisome way to the sea.We’ll chase the fleet deer from its lair in the woods;We’ll follow the wolf to his den. When the…
Nassim Nicholas Taleb: Nerdiness the reverse

“Charm is the ability to insult people without offending them; nerdiness the reverse.”—Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
Patti Page: Your voice dries up

“Your voice dries up if you don’t use it.” —-Patti Page, singer.
Minnie Riperton: Australia’s gift to insomniacs

“Olivia Newton-John—Australia’s gift to insomniacs. It’s nothing but the blonde singing the bland.”—Minnie Riperton.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb: Complaints

“Complaints don’t deliver complaints, they mostly reveal your weakness.” —Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
Dan Rockwell: Don’t cast pearls before pigs

‘Don’t cast pearls before pigs. When you realize you’re dealing with a know-it-all say, “Oh, I see you already know what you should do about this. I shouldn’t have offered my suggestions. Please feel free to keep me informed on your progress.”’—Dan Rockwell.
Marie Curie: Improving individuals

“You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.”—Marie Curie, scientist.
Marie Curie: Understand more

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”—Marie Curie.
Simon Sinek: Progress

“When we point to obstacles, we inhibit progress. When we offer solutions, we advance it.”—Simon Sinek.
James Jones: Combat

“I don’t think that combat has ever been written about truthfully; it has always been described in terms of bravery and cowardice. I won’t even accept these words as terms of human reference any more. And anyway, hell, they don’t even apply to what, in actual fact, modern warfare has become.”—James Jones.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb: Aggressive trial and error

‘I disagree with the followers of Marx and those of Adam Smith: the reason free markets work is because they allow people to be lucky, thanks to aggressive trial and error, not by giving rewards or “incentives” for skill.’—Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
Shane Parrish: Look like an idiot

“You have to be willing to look like an idiot in the short run to outperform in the long run. While copying what others already do helps achieve average results quickly, common approaches never outperform. What ends as being better starts as being different.”—Shane Parrish.
Ryan Campbell: Commenting code

“Commenting your code is like cleaning your bathroom – you never want to do it, but it really does create a more pleasant experience for you and your guests.” —Ryan Campbell.
Simon Sinek: Art of leadership

“The art of leadership is about inspiring people to build something, not threatening to break something.”—Simon Sinek.
Herbert Samuel: Thought in cold storage

“A library is thought in cold storage.”—Herbert Samuel.
Grace Cavalieri: A Field of Finches Without Sight Still Singing

A Field of Finches Without Sight Still Singing “That song comes from sorrow there is no doubt. Bullfinches in ancient times had eyes put out so they would sing more sweet. Think of those black beads dropped to earth coming to seed flowers turning inward every single one of them without its sight. Stories say…
Ella Wheeler Wilcox: Cowards of men

“To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.”—Ella Wheeler Wilcox, poet.
Bill Walton: You don’t win championships

“You don’t win championships by just being normal, by just being average.”—Bill Walton.
Will Rogers: If people start thinking

“A king can stand people’s fighting, but he can’t last long if people start thinking.”—Will Rogers, humorist.
Warren Buffett: Find wonderful businesses

“In general terms, unless you find the prices of a great company really offensive…. I think it’s better just to own them. We could attempt to buy and sell some of the things that we own that we think are fine businesses. But they’re too hard to find…. So, to sit there and hope that…
Ruth Handler: Dreams of their own futures

“They were using the dolls to project their dreams of their own futures as adult women.”—Ruth Handler.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb: Debts of grandparents

“The grandchildren should not bear the debts of the grandparents.”—Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
Carl Sandburg: Evidence and principle

“If the facts (evidence) are against you, argue the law (principle). If the law (principle) is against you, argue the facts (evidence). If the law (principle) and the facts (evidence) are against you, pound the table and yell like hell (call names, block people from speaking out against the nonsense).”—Carl Sandburg.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb: Gains from disorder

“When you ask people, ‘What’s the opposite of fragile?,’ they tend to say robust, resilient, adaptable, solid, strong. That’s not it. The opposite of fragile is something that gains from disorder.”—Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
Dolph Lundgren: Great loves

“Everybody’s life has some mythical quality. You struggle against obstacles, you fight to get to a higher level and there are great loves.”—Dolph Lundgren.
Robert Hayden: Those Winter Sundays

Those Winter Sundays “Sundays too my father got up earlyand put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,then with cracked hands that achedfrom labor in the weekday weather madebanked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.When the rooms were warm, he’d call,and slowly I would rise and dress,fearing…
James K Polk: Passion for office

“The passion for office among members of Congress is very great, if not absolutely disreputable, and greatly embarrasses the operations of the Government. They create offices by their own votes and then seek to fill them themselves.”—James K Polk.
Simon Sinek: Giving

‘Giving is sometimes as simple as saying “thank you” to someone and meaning it. We should all give a little more.’—Simon Sinek.
Stephen Crane: Sense of obligation

‘A man said to the universe: “Sir, I exist!” “However,” replied the universe, “The fact has not created in me a sense of obligation.”‘—Stephen Crane.
Darrell Issa: Oversight and reform

“I’ve always been fond of the saying that when it comes to oversight and reform, the federal government does two things well: nothing and overreact.”—Darrell Issa.
June Jordan: Poem for one little girl blue

Poem for One Little Girl Blue “She hangs onto sadnessthe way somebody else treads waterwaiting for the worldto see how much she hurts from familymadness pierced her rib cagetwenty years ago And she’ll continue to compete as VictimAbsoluteuntil she finally receives a goldmedallion for her sufferingor a truly purple heart completewith ribbonsso that she can…
Simon Sinek: Confidence and courage

“So much of starting a business or affecting change is the confidence and courage to simply try.”—Simon Sinek.
Chiang Kai-Shek: Eternal truths

“We live in the present, we dream of the future, and we learn eternal truths from the past.”—Chiang Kai-Shek.
Ezra Pound: Great literature

“Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree.”—Ezra Pound, poet.
Lisa Ray: Success

“…success is merely a concept which we want to show-off in front of the world. In reality, sadness and failures, too, define your victory. However, nobody wants to talk about them.” —Lisa Ray.
A C Grayling: Ignoble, irresponsible and ignorant

“To believe something in the face of evidence and against reason – to believe something by faith – is ignoble, irresponsible and ignorant, and merits the opposite of respect.”—A C Grayling.
William Halsey: No extraordinary men

“There are no extraordinary men… just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary men are forced to deal with.”—William Halsey.
Simon Sinek: Changing the world

“Changing the world takes more than everything any one person knows, but not more than we know together. So let’s work together.”—Simon Sinek.
Warren Buffett: Looking for the obvious

“We’re looking for the obvious, and something that is within our capability of doing something about. But we’re not trying to beat people at their own game where we’re not very good at the game.”—Warren Buffett.
Queen Marie of Romania: Fashion and etiquette

“Fashion exists for women with no taste, etiquette for people with no breeding.”—Queen Marie of Romania.
Thomas Kempis: Carry your cross willingly

“If you carry your cross willingly, it will carry you and bring you to the goal for which you long. If you grudge carrying your cross, it becomes a burden that weighs you down all the more. If you reject one cross, you’ll certainly find another; and this time it may not be so light.”—Thomas…