You can sometimes count every orange on a tree but never all the trees in a single orange.
-A.K. Ramanujan, poet (1929-1993)
-A.K. Ramanujan, poet (1929-1993)
25,000 of my favorite
On stage, I make love to 25,000 different people, then I go home alone.
-Janis Joplin, singer-songwriter (1943-1970)
...transplanted into another mind
Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than in the one where they sprang up.
-Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., US Supreme Court Justice (1841-1935)
-Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., US Supreme Court Justice (1841-1935)
do it in a way....
Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.
-Ruth Bader Ginsburg, US Supreme Court justice (1933-2020)
-Ruth Bader Ginsburg, US Supreme Court justice (1933-2020)
...endangered spices
We are not an endangered species ourselves yet, but this is not for lack of trying.
-Douglas Adams, author (1952-2001)
-Douglas Adams, author (1952-2001)
...been reading all my life
Don't ask me who's influenced me. A lion is made up of the lambs he's digested, and I've been reading all my life.
-Giorgos Seferis, writer, diplomat, Nobel laureate (1900-1971)
-Giorgos Seferis, writer, diplomat, Nobel laureate (1900-1971)
How to be a good writer?
Anyone who wishes to become a good writer should endeavour, before he allows himself to be tempted by the more showy qualities, to be direct, simple, brief, vigorous, and lucid.
-H.W. Fowler, lexicographer (1858-1933)
-H.W. Fowler, lexicographer (1858-1933)
...best time
"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."
~ Chinese Proverb
...of superfluities
Beauty is the purgation of superfluities.
-Michelangelo Buonarroti, sculptor, painter, architect, and poet (1475-1564)
...heaven is close by
Sometimes they seem like living shapes,
The people of the sky,
Guests in white raiment coming down
From heaven, which is close by.
The people of the sky,
Guests in white raiment coming down
From heaven, which is close by.
-Lucy Larcom, teacher and author (1824-1893)
...a pearl
A raindrop, dripping from a cloud,
Was ashamed when it saw the sea.
"Who am I where there is a sea?" it said.
When it saw itself with the eye of humility,
A shell nurtured it in its embrace.
-Saadi of Shiraz (c. 1200 AD)
"Who am I where there is a sea?" it said.
When it saw itself with the eye of humility,
A shell nurtured it in its embrace.
-Saadi of Shiraz (c. 1200 AD)
....by bitter experience
The theory of democratic government is not that the will of the people is always right, but rather that normal human beings of average intelligence will, if given a chance, learn the right and best course by bitter experience.
-W.E.B. Du Bois, educator, civil rights activist, and writer (1868-1963)
-W.E.B. Du Bois, educator, civil rights activist, and writer (1868-1963)
....the work at hand
Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.
-Alexander Graham Bell, inventor (1847-1922)
Creativity -- like human life itself -- begins in darkness. We need to acknowledge this. All too often, we think only in terms of light: "And then the lightbulb went on and I got it!" It is true that insights may come to us as flashes. It is true that some of these flashes may be blinding. It is, however, also true that such bright ideas are preceded by a gestation period that is interior, murky, and completely necessary.
-Julia Cameron, artist, author, teacher, filmmaker, composer, and journalist (b. 4 Mar 1948)
-Julia Cameron, artist, author, teacher, filmmaker, composer, and journalist (b. 4 Mar 1948)
...cares a whole awful lot
Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.
-Dr. Seuss, author and illustrator (1904-1991)
-Dr. Seuss, author and illustrator (1904-1991)
Opposite of two?
What is the opposite of two?
A lonely me, a lonely you.
-Richard Wilbur, poet and translator (1921-2017)
-Richard Wilbur, poet and translator (1921-2017)
Rhythm instead of chaos
The Amazing Day Blueprint:
- a no-phone first hour protocol
- create a schedule that deletes hustle
- use notebooks to become happier
- build a world-class work architecture
- use the recovery rituals of famous athletes
- use the focus elimination tools of top designers
If you want rhythm instead of chaos each day and to feel far more optimistic, then be focused, grounded and happy.
- Robin Sharma
Lack of daily design
Plateaus don't happen from lack of ambition. They happen from lack of daily design.
Most driven, high-energy producers:
• wake up reactive
• rush through their mornings
• overcheck their phones
• overwork and push too hard
• neglect mental and physical recovery
• end their days depleted and stressed
That cycle quietly limits growth. And over time, erodes a human's assets of genius.
- Robin Sharma
...lot of scum
Society is like a stew. If you don't keep it stirred up you get a lot of scum on the top.
-Edward Abbey, naturalist and author (1927-1989)
...of a free people
Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.
-Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd US President (1882-1945)
...a little madness
A man needs a little madness, or else he never dares cut the rope and be free.
-Nikos Kazantzakis, poet and novelist (1883-1957)
...improvisation of
There's nothing that makes you so aware of the improvisation of human existence as a song unfinished. Or an old address book.
-Carson McCullers, writer (1917-1967)
..to save the environment
It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.
-Ansel Adams, photographer (1902-1984)
...takes longer than
Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law.
-Douglas Hofstadter, professor of cognitive science (b. 15 Feb 1945)
...place of birth
I see too plainly custom forms us all. Our thoughts, our morals, our most fixed belief, are consequences of our place of birth.
-Aaron Hill, dramatist and writer (1685-1750)
Own reasons...
The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for whites or women for men.
-Alice Walker, poet and novelist (b. 9 Feb 1944)
Let it World America
Let America be America again. /
Let it be the dream it used to be. ... /
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed - /
Let it be that great strong land of love /
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme /
That any man be crushed by one above.
Let it be the dream it used to be. ... /
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed - /
Let it be that great strong land of love /
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme /
That any man be crushed by one above.
-Langston Hughes, poet and novelist (1902-1967)
..gets to be a drag
Jobs are like going to church: it's nice once or twice a year to sing along and eat something and all that, but unless you really believe there's something holy going on, it gets to be a drag going in every single week.
-Thomas Michael Disch, science fiction author and poet (1940-2008)
without ____ is...
Life without industry is guilt, industry without art is brutality.
-John Ruskin, author, art critic, and social reformer (1819-1900)
...divided into 2
Writers, like teeth, are divided into incisors and grinders.
-Walter Bagehot, journalist and businessman (1826-1877)
unknown & unseen
The tragedy in the lives of most of us is that we go through life walking down a high-walled lane with people of our own kind, the same economic situation, the same national background and education and religious outlook. And beyond those walls, all humanity lies, unknown and unseen, and untouched by our restricted and impoverished lives.
-Florence Luscomb, architect and suffragist (1887-1985)
-Florence Luscomb, architect and suffragist (1887-1985)
...free man?
A hungry man is not a free man.
-Adlai Stevenson II, lawyer, politician, and diplomat (1900-1965)
Sum of small efforts
"Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out." ~ Robert Collier |
...the narrow prejudices
I am so convinced of the advantages of looking at mankind instead of reading about them, and of the bitter effects of staying at home with all the narrow prejudices of an islander, that I think there should be a law amongst us to set our young men abroad for a term among the few allies our wars have left us.
-Lord Byron, poet (1788-1824)
-Lord Byron, poet (1788-1824)
..because your goal demands
Leaders Are Warriors
- "It's about being a warrior… This is your path and you will pursue it with excellence. You face your fear because your goal demands it."
...step up
There Is A Fine Line Between Success And Failure
- "It's just two tiny points of contact that keep you from falling. And when you step up there's only one."
- "It's just two tiny points of contact that keep you from falling. And when you step up there's only one."
...love a changed person
We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.
-William Somerset Maugham, writer (1874-1965)
...step outside their fear
Leaders Step Outside Their Fear
- "You're not controlling your fear. You're stepping outside of it."
...doing what they love
Leaders Are The Ones Earning A Living Doing What They Love
- "It's the best thing in life to take the one thing you love most and have it work out so that you can make a living that way."
- "It's the best thing in life to take the one thing you love most and have it work out so that you can make a living that way."
Focus on only...
Leaders Focus On Only One Or Two Things And Then Obsess Over Those One Or Two Things
– They are not distracted by other pursuits.
– They are not distracted by other pursuits.
A man and only then
If I knew of something that could serve my nation but would ruin another, I would not propose it to my prince, for I am first a man and only then a Frenchman ... because I am necessarily a man, and only accidentally am I French.
-Montesquieu, philosopher, lawyer, and writer (1689-1755)
Traditional Values
I stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you want to be treated, and helping those in need. To me those are traditional values.
-Ellen DeGeneres, comedian, TV host, actor, and writer (b. 26 Jan 1958)
Long Live Republic
I love my country too much to be a nationalist.
-Albert Camus, writer, philosopher, Nobel laureate (1913-1960)
...can win a war
The only way human beings can win a war is to prevent it.
-George Marshall, US Army Chief, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Nobel laureate (1880-1959)
The Art of pretends
Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love.
-Claude Monet, painter (1840-1926)
Raindrop - eye of humility
A raindrop, dripping from a cloud,
/ Was ashamed when it saw the sea.
/ "Who am I where there is a sea?" it said.
/ When it saw itself with the eye of humility,
/ A shell nurtured it in its embrace.
/ Was ashamed when it saw the sea.
/ "Who am I where there is a sea?" it said.
/ When it saw itself with the eye of humility,
/ A shell nurtured it in its embrace.
-Saadi of Shiraz (c. 1200 AD)
..take a joke, not make one
It is the ability to take a joke, not make one, that proves you have a sense of humor.
-Max Eastman, journalist and poet (1883-1969)
same sky, but...
We all live under the same sky, but we don't all have the same horizon.
-Konrad Adenauer, statesman (1876-1967)
...feel your bare feet
Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
-Kahlil Gibran, mystic, poet, and artist (1883-1931)
...accomplice of liars
He who does not bellow the truth when he knows the truth makes himself the accomplice of liars and forgers.
-Charles Peguy, poet and essayist (1873-1914)
...memories are fuel
People's memories are maybe the fuel they burn to stay alive.
-Haruki Murakami, writer (b. 12 Jan 1949)
...humor & mockery
Sometimes laughter hurts, but humor and mockery are our only weapons.
-Cabu (pen name of Jean Cabut), cartoonist and co-founder of Charlie Hebdo (1938-2015)
...look the other way
Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.
-Martin Luther King Jr., civil-rights leader (1929-1968)
...unconscious cruelty
We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them.
-Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, musician, Nobel laureate (1875-1965)
safe comfort
I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties through my love for truth -- and truth rewarded me.
-Simone de Beauvoir, author and philosopher (1908-1986)
-Simone de Beauvoir, author and philosopher (1908-1986)
...can alter
The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.
-William James, psychologist and philosopher (1842-1910)
Kindness in...
"Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love."
~ Lao Tzu
Nothing changed physically, except belief.
I love this story because whenever someone does the "impossible," others see themselves in that someone. |
|
..wait for people?
"You can't always sit in your corner of the forest and wait for people to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes."
~ Winnie the Pooh
8 Unconventional Ideas to Make 2026 a Smashing Success
1. Enhance your New Year's goals with a yearly theme.
2. Focus on the process, not just the outcome.
3. Turn vague resolutions into specific goals or habits.
4. Tie each of your New Year's goals an anchoring belief or core value.
5. Limit the number of New Year's resolutions you set.
6. Connect your roles to goals.
7. Make contingency plans for your goals.
8. Declare a "Year of Action" + get out of paralysis.
- Dean Bokhari
...urgent and not on important
"Most of us spend too much on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important."
~ Stephen Covey
Happy New Year
"Change, by its very nature, is threatening but it is also often productive."
– Betty Ford
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)