To me there is something eloquent and meaningful and even captivating about words, whether it is a famous saying, a proverb, song lyrics, a sign in someone’s office or on the side of the road, a line from a movie or a novel I am reading, or even an interesting statement by a friend in a casual conversation.
I capture those that intrigue me and put them on paper so I can revisit them when I am in need of inspiration or motivation or when I am trying to select a topic for my monthly column.
One statement which has captured my attention lately is “If you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room.” I have played that phrase over and over in my mind and captured some my own thoughts down on paper and decided that a future column will be the result of all the thoughts that have raced across my mind as I considered that statement. In fact, I hope those thoughts come together in an organized fashion in time for next month’s column.
For this month’s column, however, I decided that, even though there are many websites that are dedicated to providing its readers quotes by famous people, I would share a few of my favorites. Here they are:
• “Do something today that your future self will thank you for.” ~~ Anonymous
• “Success is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.” ~~ Jim Rohn
• “Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value.” ~~ Albert Einstein
• “A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.” ~~ Larry Bird
• “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.” ~~Vince Lombardi
• “The last time you failed, did you stop trying because you failed–or did you fail because you stopped trying?” ~~ Anonymous
“I am not upset you lied to me. I am upset that from now on I can’t believe you.” ~~ Friedrich Nietzsche
• “The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has limits.” ~~ Albert Einstein
• “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is.” ~~ Yogi Berra
• “To get a feel for the true essence of leadership, assume everyone who works for you is a volunteer.” ~~ Yogi Berra
• “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do what you want done because he wants to do it.” ~~ Dwight D. Eisenhower
• “The harder you work, the luckier you get.” ~~ Gary Player
• “To change is difficult. Not to change is fatal.” ~~ Anonymous
• “Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.” ~~ Anonymous
• “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” ~~ Benjamin Franklin.
• “Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.” ~~ P. J. O’Rourke
• “The cost of leadership is self-interest.” ~~ Simon Sinek
• “For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.” ~~ Neil deGrasse Tyson
I could list hundreds of other quotes that inspire and motivate me or words I try to live by; however, you knowing the things that inspire and motivate me or knowing the words I try to live by are not nearly as important for you as knowing the answer