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The quotes you see on this
website are compiled from my reading over the past few years. They reflect my sense of humour, beliefs and values, and the search for meaning in my life. This page will be updated regularly as I discover more words of wisdom. Quote Sources Life & LivingThe purpose of life is to be happy. The Dalai Lama
Don't aim at success - the more you aim at it and
make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness,
cannot be pursued, it must ensue ... as the unintended side-effect of one's
personal dedication to a course greater than oneself. Victor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning.
I long for the day when the peoples of the world will
sit together, bound by happiness and love of beauty, as in one great concert
hall. Pablo Casals
Let my doing nothing when I have nothing to do become
untroubled in its depth of peace like the evening in the seashore when the
water is silent.
Be still my heart; thou hast known worse than this. Homer
Ah, that's good, brother. Live dangerously, live
dangerously, there aren't enough people in the world who live dangerously. William Morris Hughes, 1940's
Who then is free? The wise man who can govern
himself. Horace
Until you spread your wings you'll have no idea how far you can fly.
I realized the problem was me and nobody could change
me except myself. John Petworth
You can choose to live your life to your own agenda
with a sense of personal purpose that gives your life ventures meaning and a
feeling of fulfilment - this is called being at cause, living from the inside
out, creating the life and reality you want. Or you can choose to be purposeless and be at effect where you drift through life,
constantly at the mercy of external forces, pressures and demands, living life as a potential victim to whatever comes next
over the elusive horizon of your tomorrow. How do you choose to live your life?
Life is a series of experiences, each of which makes
us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realise this. For the world was
built to develop character and we must learn that the setbacks and griefs which
we endure help us in our marching onward. Henry Ford
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win
glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those
poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the
grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat. Theodore Roosevelt
"Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go
from here?" "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to", said the
Cat. "I don't much care where", said Alice. "Then it doesn't matter which way
you go",said the Cat. Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
I made a resolve then that I was going to amount to
something if I could. And no hours, nor amount of labour, no amount of money
would deter me from giving the best that there was in me. And I have done that ever since, and I
win by it. I know. Colonel Harland Sanders
You see things; and you say “Why?” But I dream things that never were, and I say "Why
not?" George Bernard Shaw
Many do not know that we are here in this world to live in harmony. Dhammapada
You will find as you look back upon your life that
the moments when you have really lived are the moments when you have done
things in a spirit of love. Henry Drummond
There are times when a man should be content with
what he has, but never with what he is. William George Jordan
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the
unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore
all progress depends on the unreasonable man. George Bernard Shaw
May the poor find wealth; those weak with sorrow find
joy. May the forlorn find new hope, constant happiness and
prosperity. May the frightened cease to be afraid, and those
bound be free. May the weak find power, and may their hearts join in
friendship. The Dalai Llama
Let the world know you as you are, not as you think
you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the
pose, and then where are you? Fanny Brice
The way is not in the sky, the way is in the heart. Gautama Buddha
My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But, ah, my foes, and, oh, my friends It gives a lovely light. Edna St. Vincent Millay
Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinion of others,
for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself.
Face the truth. Katherine Mansfield
There is nothing that will not reveal its secrets to
you if you love it enough. All things improve with loving attention. Sooner
or later we must find a love big enough and strong enough to love life exactly
as it is. Laurence Boldt, Zen and the Art of Making a Living
You must be the change you wish to see in the world. Mahatma Ghandi
Of all the infirmities we have, the most savage is to
despise our being. De Montaigne
He who wants to do good knocks at the gate; he who loves finds the gate open. Tagore
[to] those who hold a sacred, or sane, view of
life, [there are] a few essentials that are commonly accepted. These include
wholeness, harmony, and radiance. Laurence Boldt, Zen and the Art of Making a Living
I believe that if one man gains spiritually, the
whole world gains with him, and if one man falls, the whole world falls to that
extent. Mahatma Ghandi
I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder
I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. George Bernard Shaw
Dilige et quod vis fac. (Love, and do as you please)
The girl who can't dance says the band can't play. Yiddish Proverb
He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed
often, and loved much. Bessie Stanley
How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us here
for a brief sojourn, for what purpose he knows not, though he senses it. But
without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other
people. Albert Einstein
Spirit intelligence means choosing to live in balance
giving and receiving. When the spirit within is chronically out of balance,
usually giving far more than receiving, the enthusiasm dies and eventually the
spirit disengages. David R J Powell Spirit Intelligence
The ultimate of being successful is the luxury of
giving yourself the time to do what you want to do. Leontyne Price
What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd
realized it sooner. Colette
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Von Goethe
Music & Music Education
Music has been an important part of academic study
throughout the civilized world, since Aristotle and Plato. It was never
intended to be a public relations vehicle, a supporter of school spirit, a competitive
vehicle to support and enlarge the interscholastic athletic program, or
designed to keep youth out of trouble. It was simply an intellectual discipline
that fed both the mind and the spirit. Kenneth Raessler, Music Chair, Texas Christian University.
The job of the conductor is to manipulate creatively
the events so there is always something to reward. Frederick Fennell
When Pablo Casals was 95 years old, a young reporter
said to him,"Mr Casals, you are 95 and the greatest cellist that ever
lived. Why do you still practice six times a day?" Mr Casals replied,
"Because I think I'm making progress." Joseph Alsobrook, Pathways
Part of the reward of doing something is losing
yourself in the dance. Phil Jackson, former head coach of the Chicago Bulls.
Teaching & LearningI am the decisive element in my classroom. It's my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate, humour, hurt or heal. In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or be de-escalated, a child humanised or dehumanised. Source Unknown.
If you can't be a good example then you'll just have
to be a horrible warning. Catherine
When I was young, I was put in a school for retarded
kids for two years before they realized I actually had a hearing loss. And
they called ME slow! Kathy Buckley
You were hired to take a group of possibily
disinterested, howling, and unruly people and turn them into interested,
disciplined, and productive learners in a well-managed environment. Harry K. Wong
The challenges of competition can be stimulating and
enjoyable. But when beating the opponent takes precedence in the mind over
performing as well as possible, enjoyment tends to disappear. Competition is
enjoyable only when it is a means to perfect one's skills; when it becomes an
end in itself, it ceases to be fun. Mihaly Csikszentmihaly, Flow
When I approach a child, he inspires me in two
sentiments: tenderness for what he is, and respect for what he might become. Louis Pasteur
I try to never stop dreaming when I'm with them. You
would think that, as processes unfold, and the dreams never work out in exactly
the ways you imagine them, they would get discouraged. But every time we dare
to dream, the students dare to dream with us. David Ervin, music teacher
No human being is unmotivated. In fact, every living
creature is highly motivated all the time. But every living creature, including students, is not
necessarily motivated by what you, I, or anyone else thinks they ought to do. William Glasser,The Quality School.
I believe I make a difference not only by helping
kids connect math and science to their lives, but also in understanding how to
reach their goals in life, how to be somebody. Maria Ortiz, science teacher.
Passionate teachers convey their passion to novice
learners, their students by acting as partners in learning, rather than as experts
in the field. As partners, they
invite less experienced learners to search for knowledge and insightful
experiences, and they build confidence and competence among students who might
otherwise choose to sit back and watch their teacher do and say interesting
things. Robert Fried, The Passionate Teacher
Passionate teachers are always taking risks, and they
make at least as many mistakes as anybody else (probably more than most). What's different is how they react to
their mistakes: they choose to acknowledge and learn from them, rather than to
ignore or deny them. Thus, they help make the classroom a safer place for
students to make their own mistakes and learn from them. Robert Fried, The Passionate Teacher
To students, teachers are critically important role
models because of what they are still learning, not just because of what they already
know. It is as experienced learners, with a high interest in and high standards
for knowledge and skills, that we communicate the lasting value of these things
to students. The obverse is also true: When we are no longer learning, we no
longer teach, because we have lost the power to exemplify for young people what
it means to be intellectually active.we have become purveyors of subject
matter. Robert Fried, The Passionate teacher.
Students need us, not because we have all the
answers, but because we can help them discover the right questions. Robert Fried
By modelling, examining, and explaining our values
and our passionate concerns in a way that does not harangue or intimidate them,
we adults teachers, parents, coaches and mentors encourage children and
adolescents to feel okay about believing in and aspiring to thoughtfulness. Robert Fried, The Passionate Teacher
Our schools must be the labs for learning about
learning. Only if schools are run as places of reflective experimentation can
we teach both children and their teachers simultaneously. Deborah Meier, The Power of their Ideas.
I forget what I was taught, I only remember what I
have learnt. Patrick White
LeadershipLead, follow, or get out of the way. Weary Dunlop
As a leader, one must sometimes take actions that are
unpopular or whose results will not be known for years to come. There are
victories whose glories lie only in the fact that they are known to those who
win them. --Nelson Mandela
Great leaders are not defined by the absence of
weakness, but rather by the presence of clear strengths. The key to develop
great leadership is to build strengths. John H. Zenger and Joseph Folkman The Handbook for
Leaders
ForgivenessWhen you hold resentment toward another, you are
bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than
steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free. Catherine Ponder
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the
attribute of the strong. -Mahatma Gandhi
In the long run, it's not a question of whether they
deserve to be forgiven. You're not forgiving them for their sake. You're doing
it for yourself. For your own health and well-being, forgiveness is simply the
most energy- efficient option. It frees you from the incredibly toxic,
debilitating drain of holding a grudge. Don't let these people live rent free
in your head. If they hurt you before, why let them keep doing it year after
year in your mind? It's not worth it but it takes heart effort to stop it. You
can muster that heart power to forgive them as a way of looking out for
yourself. It's one thing you can be totally selfish about. Forgiving releases
you from the punishment of a self-made prison where you are both the inmate and
the jailer. - Doc Childre and Howard Martin, The HeartMath
Solution
Forgiveness is giving up all hope for a better past. - Bumper sticker by Aba Gayle whose daughter was
brutally murdered.
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and
self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of
selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful you will win
some false friends and true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and
frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years
building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity
and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway. Give the world the best you
have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It was never between
you and them anyway. - Mother Teresa
Dreaming & Imagination
Your imagination is your preview of life's coming
attractions. Albert Einstein
The other side of the bridge to the future is not an objective,
predetermined, static destination. In reality, it is a movable object, a set
of probabilities, and most important, a karmic consequence of the lives we
lived yesterday and the lives we live today. The bridge to the future is a
bridge that moves -- and the land to which it is connected moves as well --
according to how we walk across the bridge and who we are while we are walking. Our thoughts about the future go far toward creating
it; our minds and hearts are like filaments that connect today to tomorrow,
they are conduits for either the status quo or the emergence of different,
hopefully more loving, possibilities. How we think and how we behave determine
where we are going. Marianne Williamson (Imagine)
Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the
excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. Gloria Steinem
Women have to summon up courage to fulfill dormant
dreams. Alice Walker
Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the
world will live as one. John Lennon
I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my
imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is
limited. Imagination encircles the world. Albert Einstein
The limits of the possible can only be defined by
going beyond them into the impossible. Arthur C. Clarke
JoyJoy, delight and glee, sheer fun, cheers the heart.
To live fully, we should be free to follow our own ideas of joyful existence.
The simplest pleasures shared joys or extreme gladness, can transport us into
other worlds. There, hearts thump, happiness reigns, ecstasy is contagious and
laughter is free. What a lark! Francesca Rendle-Short, 2000
Living is thirst for joy; that is what art rehearses. James McAuley, Australian poet, 1956
PassionNo grand enterprise is ever achieved without
passion. Passion breathes life into it, passion protects it, and passion
sustains it. And even when it's finished, passion hangs around unwilling to
leave, eyes wide, saying "Wow!" over and over again. Mem Fox, 2000
To get a thrill out of something, you feel it in your
body. A throb. A nervous tremor. It can be a thrill of joy, excitement,
anticipation. Or you can experience fear thrill through your veins by living
dangerously, flirting with the forbidden and outrageous. Whatever it is
thrilling yourself, causing a thrill be moved. Francesca Rendle-Short, 2000
CreativityYou are a creator; you create with your every
thought. You often create by default, for you are getting what you are giving your
attention to wanted or unwanted. Your FEELINGS will tell you if you are
creating what you WANT or what you DON'T WANT. Where is your attention focused? Abraham Hicks
Every day you don't practice you're one day further
from being good. Ben Hogan, Golfer
Numerous studies demonstrate that people can be
motivated to creativity simply with the addition of an instruction to be
creative. Richard Saul Wurman
How to be lucky. Be generous. Whenever I feel I'm working in a groove
it's invariably because I feel I am being the benefactor in the situation
rather than the beneficiary. I am sharing my art with others, lending my craft
to theirs, interest-free with no IOU.I want the dancers to look great, so I try
to give them great steps. In return, they live up to the potential I see in
them. Then I am the one who feels lucky. Twyla Tharp, Choreographer The Creative Habit
To be a great choreographer (or teacher), you have to invest everything you have in your dancers. You have to be so devoted to them and to the finished creation that your dancers become your heroes. It takes courage to be generous like that, to believe that the better the dancers look, the better the scene will play and the more satisfying the work itself will be. Without that generosity, you'll always hold something back. The finished work shows it, and your audience knows it. Twyla Tharp, Choreographer The Creative Habit
I cannot overstate how much a generous spirit
contributes to good luck. Look at the luckiest people around you, the ones you
envy, the ones who seem to have destiny falling habitually into their laps. If
they're anything like the fortunate people I know, they're prepared, they're
always working at their craft, they're alert, they involve their friends in
their work, and they tend to make others feel lucky to be around them. Twyla Tharp, Choreographer The Creative Habit
Once you accept the power of spine in the creative act, you will become much more efficient in your creativity. You will still get lost on occasion, but having a spine will anchor you. When you lose your way, it will show you the way home. It will remind you that this is what you have set out to do, this is the story you're trying to tell, this is the effect you're trying to achieve. Having a spine will snap you back to attention quickly and, as a result, will inject speed and economy into your work habits. Energy and time are finite resources; conserving them is very important. Twyla Tharp, Choreographer The Creative Habit
More often than not, I've found, a rut is the
consequence of sticking to tried and tested methods that don't take into
account how you or the world has changed. When you're in a rut, you have to question everything
except your ability to get out of it. Twyla Tharp, Choreographer. The Creative Habit
A tough manager will have realistic quotas for his employees that he keeps to himself and aggressively stretch quotas, anywhere from ten percent higher to a lot more, which he imposes on his staff. If his people miss the stretch numbers but exceed the realistic goals, he's happy. If he's a superb manager, he knows how far they can stretch without breaking. Twyla Tharp, Choreographer The Creative Habit
I never learned anything from a match I won. Bobby Jones, Golfer
I'm willing to be regarded as a tyrant to keep my
vision intact. Twyla Tharp, Choreographer
When creativity has become your habit; when you've
learned to manage time, resources, expectations, and the demands of others;
when you understand the value and place of validation, continuity, and purity
of purpose then you're on the way to an artists ultimate goal; the
achievement of mastery. Twyla Tharp, Choreographer
Mastery is an elusive concept. You never know when
you achieve it absolutely and it may not help you to feel you've attained it.
We can recognize it more readily in others than we can in ourselves. We have to discover our own definition of it. Twyla Tharp, Choreographer
Work & PlayGreat spirits have always encountered violent
opposition from mediocre minds. Albert Einstein
There was a silence for a moment [Ernest Hemingway] finally said, "Don't
do what you sincerely don't want to do. "Never confuse movement with action."
In those five words he gave me a whole philosophy. I suppose the most
remarkable thing about Ernest is that he has found time to do the things most
men only dream about. - Marlene Dietrich
Do what you love with the people you love. Dan Mapes
If you do what you've always done, you'll get what
you've always got.
There is no try, only do or do not. Yoda, Jedi Master
Trust is thus built up by behaving reliably, being
open to giving and receiving feedback, accepting people for who they are and
being straightforward. David R J Powell
One mouth, two ears: that's the required ratio.
The spirit is not motivated by a job, the spirit is
searching for a game -achieving life purpose. David R J Powell
If you can turn on someone's spirit passion by
enlarging their frame of reference to encompass their life journey - against
which they assess today's role on your team - you are moving them towards
self-motivation. David R J Powell Spirit Intelligence
I think that most of us are looking for a calling, not a job. Most of us have jobs that are too small for our spirit. The challenge, then, is to make your own job big enough to give you what your spirit needs. Nora Watson
If a man does not keep pace with his companions,
perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music
which he hears, however measured or far away. Henry David Thoreau
The word Value derives from the latin verb valere to
be strong. David R J Powell
The two keys to a success culture are trust and
assertion. R J Powell
The word culture is derived from the Latin noun
cultus "care". David R J Powell
Where there is very little assertion, not enough
ability to confront conflict or speak up and raise the real issues that are not
being addressed everyone can end up being too NICE. Nothing Inside me Cares Enough David R J Powell
We all pride ourselves on having an open mind. But
what do we mean by that? More often than not, an open mind means that we stick
to our opinions and let other people have theirs. This fills us with a
pleasant sense of tolerance and lack of bias but it isn't good enough. What
we need is not so much an open mind, readiness to accept new ideas, but an
attitude of distrust toward our own ideas. This is the scientific habit of
thought: as soon as you have an idea try to disprove it. Rudolf Flesch, The Art of Clear Thinking
Pogo If better is possible, good is not enough. The greatest danger for most of us is not that our
aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it. -Michelangelo. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse,
but if we treat them as they ought to be, we help them become what they are
capable of becoming. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Some people grin and bear it. Others smile and change it. Do not think of your faults: look for what is good
and strong and try to imitate it. Your faults will drop off like dead leaves,
when the time comes. ~~`John Ruskin. The real fault is to have faults and not try to mend them. Confucius The team that makes the most mistakes wins. John Wooden Not to know is bad; Not to wish to know is worse. African proverb The conventional definition of management is getting
work done through people, but real management is developing people through
work. Agha Hasan Abedi A sobering thought: what if, at this very moment, I
am living up to my full potential? Jane Wagner Never give up, Never give up, Never give up. Winston Churchill Each problem that I solved became a rule which served
afterwards to solve other problems. Rene Descartes A problem well-stated is a problem half-solved. John Dewey Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines
practiced every day. Jim Rohn Dig within. Within is the wellspring of good; and it
is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig. Marcus Aurelius It is not hard to make decisions when you know what
your values are. Roy Disney Truth springs from arguments among friends. David Hume A good manager doesn't try to eliminate conflict; he
tries to keep it from wasting the energies of his people. Robert Townsend To do great work, you couldn't be responsible for anyone
but you. That was the only way to be honest to yourself, and to test yourself
to the core. To do important work, thrilling work, you had to go it alone.
Same as an artist. Harriet Rubin, Soloing Soloing is a lot like being an artist. Soloing
demands creativity. Self-discipline. Self-leadership. An ability to see the
world in a grain of sand, because your span of control shrinks, but your power
to influence others expands. Most of all soloing demands courage; the gumption
to be opinionated and stand up for your own visions. Harriet Rubin, Soloing The word "solo" has two meanings:"going it alone"
and being "complete in oneself" Harriet Rubin, Soloing To be playful is not to be trivial or frivolous or to
act as though nothing of consequence will happen. On the contrary, when we are
playful with each other we relate as free persons, and the relationship is open
to surprise; everything that happens is of consequence. James Carse Finite and Infinite Games For seriousness is a dread of the unpredictable
outcome of open possibility.To be serious is to press for a specified
conclusion. To be playful is to allow for possibility whatever the cost to
oneself. James Carse Finite and Infinite Games | ||
