The Invisible Mentor

Archive for the ‘Quotes’ Category

I love a good quote because it makes me think. I have been collecting quotes for several years now, but a few years ago it struck me that because I read so much, I should be extracting quotes from the books I read. Below are 21 quotes that I like and some of them I pulled directly from books I read, so the only place you’ll see them is if you read the books they came from.

1. “Within each successful person is an ordinary person who found the courage to act – to face the big challenges and make their dreams come true.” Jinny S. Ditzler, Your Best Year Yet!
2. “No matter what you want in life, you can get it by building rapport. If you can fill the needs of the people who have what you want, bingo – they’ll fill your needs as well. Rapport building works in sales, public relations, and life itself.” Steven Cody & Richard Harte, What’s Keeping Your Customers Up At Night?
3. “… All dreams are meaningful and significant. Meaningful, because they contain a message which can be understood if one has the key for its translation. Significant, because we do not dream of anything that is trifling, even though it may be expressed in a language which hides the significance of the dream message behind a trifling façade.” Erich Fromm, The Forgotten Language
4. “If one has both knowledge and wisdom, the lamp illuminates even the darkest night.” Chao-Hsiu Chen, The Master
5. “Being on the way requires a move forward and sometimes a step of faith into the unknown.” Kavula John, Light For Our Path 2007
6. “One big difference between those who truly succeed in making things happen and the ones who don’t: Those who do, act.” Jinny S. Ditzler, Your Best Year Yet!
7. “Thoughts, feelings and actions are essential to closing a sale, or being successful in public relations, shepherding, bricklaying, you name it. How we think, feel and act will determine everything else.” Steven Cody & Richard Harte, What’s Keeping Your Customers Up At Night?
8. “For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you might need them tomorrow? And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the over-prudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?” Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
9. “We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny, whatever affects one directly, affect all indirectly.” Martin Luther King
10. “As a manager it is extremely important to work hard at uncovering the facts involved in whatever the problem or situation he [or she] faces, and based on those facts, to make the appropriate decision. One must draw a balance, however, between fact-finding and decision-making.” John Gardner
11. “It’s important to understand what’s in people’s minds, and separate it from what they are actually saying and discussing with their peers.” Arunas Chesonis
12. “Worrying about something is like paying interest on a debt you don’t even know if you owe.”  Mark Twain
13. “It’s easy to focus on what you think is important, but it’s always about the other person, and their needs, and this takes you down the right strategic path.” Peter Bouffard
14. “I do not have to do anything extraordinary. All I need to do is wake up and see what’s been here waiting for me all the time. It’s already here and all is well.” Maria Nemeth
15. “If you focus on the goals, you will make your bosses happy, but you sell yourself short – life, love, and work are all a series of journeys. Goals happen, are temporary and then are gone and leave emptiness.” Simon Grant
16. “Recognize the divergence between what you as a professional view as your ethical standard, and what some clients see as merely a stance that is variable on request.” Oliver Campbell
17. “Don’t be afraid to show your vulnerability and ask for help. If your intention is clear and honest, people will rally around you and unify toward a common goal.” Nanci Govinder
18. “As long as you are honest you can resolve 99 percent of all situations amicably and without regret.” Seaton McLean
19. “If you don’t throw up your hands when things go wrong, but think it isn’t over and that you still have a chance, anything is possible.” Claire Hoy
20. “Labour for learning before you grow old, for learning is better than silver and gold. Silver and gold will vanish away, but a good education will never decay.” Popular Jamaican Saying
21. “Miracles rest not so much upon healing power coming suddenly near us from afar, but upon our perceptions being made finer, so that for the moment our eyes can see and our ears can hear what has been there around us always.” Willa Cather

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Image via Wikipedia

In Japan, the professional class of warriors, also known as samurai gained prominence when feudalism was introduced. A samurai is a man of action, and for their intellectual training they studied mainly philosophy and literature. They also studied fencing, archery, calligraphy, jiujutsu, horsemanship, use of a spear, tactics, ethics and history.

Though I would not recommend The Way of the Samurai by Inazo Nitobe for my readers because it’s a bit dense and I didn’t appreciate some of the imagery, I have picked out some interesting quotations for you.

7 Interesting Quotations

1. Know thyself: But self-knowledge does not imply knowledge of the physical part of man, not his anatomy or his psycho-physics; knowledge was to be a moral kind, the introspection of our moral nature.
2. Knowledge becomes useful when it’s assimilated in the mind of the learner and shows in his character.
3. Courage is doing what is right….Tranquility is courage in repose. A truly brave man is ever serene; he is never taken by surprise; nothing ruffles the equanimity of his spirit.
4. If there is anything to do, there is certainly a best way to do it, and the best way is both the most economical and the most graceful….gracefulness means economy of force.
5. Sincerity is the end and the beginning of all things; without sincerity there would be nothing.
6. Shame is the soil of all Virtue, of good manners and good morals.
7. Anger at a petty offence is unworthy of a superior man, but indignation for a great cause is righteous wrath.

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A good quote can touch your heart and stir your soul. Many people have their favourite quote placed in a spot where they can see it every day. I love a good quote because it makes me think. I have been collecting quotes for several years now, but a few years ago it struck me that because I read so much, I should be extracting quotes from the books I read. I started doing that and I was having fun, but I stopped for no reason. I guess it’s like some things in life where we forget to do the things that bring us joy.

Below are 21 quotes that I like – and there is nothing magical about the number 21 – and some of them I pulled directly from books I read, so the only place you’ll see them is if you read the books they came from.

January 2011

“Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.” Earl Nightingale, Radio Announcer, Author and Speaker

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” Mark Twain, American Writer

“Do something every day towards your intention, however remote your goal may have to be.” Dorothea Brande, Wake Up And Live!

February 2011

“To succeed, planning alone is insufficient. One must improvise.” Salvor Hardin (Character in Foundation by Isaac Asimov)

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature nor do the children of man as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” Helen Keller

“Take the first step in faith, you don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” Martin Luther King Jr.

March 2011

“It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action and discipline that enabled us to follow through.” Zig Ziglar, American author, salesperson, and motivational speaker

“If you run after two hares, you will catch neither.” Thomas Fuller

“I will laugh at the world. And with my laughter all things will be reduced to their proper size. I will laugh at my failures and they will vanish in the clouds of new dreams; I will laugh at my successes and they will shrink to their true value. I will laugh at evil and it will die untasted; I will laugh at goodness and it will thrive and abound. Each day will be triumphant only when my smiles bring forth smiles from others.” Og Mandino, The Greatest Secret In The World

April 2011

“The abundant life does not come to those who have had a lot of obstacles removed from their path by others.  It develops from within and is rooted in strong mental and moral fiber.”  William Mather Lewis

“When we give from a place of love, rather than from a place of expectation, more usually comes back to us than we could ever have imagined.” Susan Jeffers, Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway

May 2011

“The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose.”  J. Martin Kohe

“Even a relatively minor action, if undertaken with conscious awareness of how imprints make us see an otherwise “neutral” or “empty” world as we do, will lead to tremendous results.” Geshe Michael Roach, The Diamond Cutter

June 2011

“Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. You don’t fail overnight. Instead, failure is a few errors in judgment, repeated every day.” Jim Rohn

July 2011

“You only lose energy when life becomes dull in your mind. Your mind gets bored and therefore tired of doing nothing. Get interested in something! Get absolutely enthralled in something! Get out of yourself! Be somebody! Do something! The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have.” Norman Vincent Peale, Pastor, Speaker and Author

August 2011

“By being discontented, the spirit searches for ways to improve its condition and for a better channel for expressing itself. This sense of discontent is the engine that drives all creativity and innovation… Our blue moments are a necessary part of our human evolution.” Chin-Ning Chu, Working Woman’s Art of War

September 2011

“Every super successful [professional] is constantly working to improve skills. Why? You must be a perpetual student to become a master in any field. Those who never achieve their potential in life simply do not exercise their innate capacity to learn and grow.” Ted Nicholas, Magic Words That Bring You Riches

“We are all connected and operate within living fields of thought and perception. The world is not fixed but is in constant flux; accordingly, the future is not fixed, and so can be shaped.” Joseph Jaworski, Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership

October 2011

“True effectiveness is a function of two things: what is produced (the golden eggs) and the producing asset or capacity to produce (the goose).” Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

November 2011

“By looking carefully at things that excite us we can train our eyes to see what others may not notice.” David Finn, How To Look At Everything

December 2011

“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as you can.” John Wesley (1703-1791), Founder of the Methodist Church

How can you use this information? What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

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Quotes can inspire us to take action. And they can lift our writing and make it shine. Here are seven quotes to add to your treasure chest of quotations.

“Failure is the only opportunity to begin again more intelligently,” by Henry Ford. This quote inspires Christina Ioannidis who failed at her first business but is now doing extremely well in her second business venture Aquitude. The people who fail forward to success are those who view failure as lessons learned and make adjustments along the way.

“A few people in a room make the greatest changes in the world” by Margaret Meade. This quote is Jacoline Loewen’s favourite quote. “This quote shows you the power of strategy, the power of getting a few people together and making a big plan of what you’re going to do then getting everyone behind that plan and doing it,” says Jacoline.

“If an idea cannot be written on the back of a postcard it hasn’t been thought through properly” by Albert Einstein. This quote inspires Michael Hewitt-Gleeson the founder of the School of Thinking.

“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take” by Wayne Gretsky. This quote inspires Meryl K. Evans and it’s her favourite quote. According to Meryl, “Something may scare you, but nothing happens if you don’t try. Plenty of things scare me, but my life wouldn’t happen if I didn’t take a shot.”

My favourite quote is “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing… Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure” by Helen Keller says Sylvia Lafair. This quote moves her.

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them” by Albert Einstein. Samy Chong likes this quote because he feels that each of us hasthe power and ability to manifest what we want in life.

Former executive John Garner says, “I do not have a favorite quote. Instead, I often think of a story told of President Harry Truman. He was frustrated by the advice he received from his council of economic advisors. Invariably they related to him all the possibilities. In exasperation Truman demanded, “Bring me a good one-armed economist. I’m fed up with being told that on one hand … but that on the other …” Truman wanted to put an end to the fact-finding and get on with decision-making. I can relate to Truman’s frustration.”

How can you use this information? What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSSFeed.

I was watching mind movies on You Tube and in one of the videos I saw a great quote by Gandhi, which I have included below. If you cannot view the video click here.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

I thought what a great quote and decided to share it with you. When you read that quote what does it mean to you? And how can you live that quote? For me, I have to learn how to live more fully, but I have the second part of the quote covered. Anyone who reads this blog regularly know that I am a great supporter of continuous learning.

Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please comment. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

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