Stories and Wisdom from a Life Fully Lived

Category: Quotes I Like

  • Success

    The only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action.

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    Alexander Graham Bell

  • Peace

    “There is peace even in the storm.” — Vincent van Gogh

    “The Master sees things as they are, without trying to control them. She lets them go their own way, and resides at the center of the circle.” — Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

    “When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in.” — Haruki Murakami

  • If You could Live Life over Again

    Nadine Stair, an 85-year-old woman from Louisville, Kentucky, shares her answer when asked, “How would you have lived your life differently if you had a chance?”
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    “If I had my life to live over again, I’d dare to make more mistakes next time. I’d relax. I’d limber up. I’d be sillier than I’ve been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances, I would eat more ice cream and less beans.

    I would, perhaps, have more actual troubles but fewer imaginary ones. You see, I’m one of those people who was sensible and sane, hour after hour, day after day.

    Oh, I’ve had my moments. If I had to do it over again, I’d have more of them. In fact, I’d try to have nothing else—just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day.

    I’ve been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot-water bottle, a raincoat, and a parachute. If I could do it again, I would travel lighter than I have.

    If I had to live my life over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances, I would ride more merry-go-rounds, I would pick more daisies.”

    Source: Chicken Soup for the Soul 20th Anniversary Edition​

    I think most of us can relate to this. I know I can.

  • Being Yourself

    “Being yourself is a continuous effort.

    There is always another expectation placed upon you, another person pulling you toward their preferences, another nudge from society to act a certain way.

    It’s a daily battle to be yourself, not merely what the world wants you to be.”

    –James Clear

  • Curiosity

    Curiosity isn’t always seen in a positive light, in part because of its association with prying into other people’s business. Nosiness. Perhaps that’s why English poet Lord Byron wrote, “I loathe that low vice — curiosity,” in his epic poem Don Juan. And, of course, we all know that curiosity killed the cat, although not so many people know that the original form of that common idiom was actually “care killed the cat” — “care” in this instance, meaning worry or excessive caution.

    Perhaps, after all, it is wise to be a little careful with our curiosity. As Albus Dumbledore explained to Harry Potter, “Curiosity is not a sin. But we should exercise caution with our curiosity…” But without our drive to learn, humans wouldn’t have gotten very far. We wouldn’t have progressed in philosophy or science, would never have asked “Who are we?” or sent humans to the moon. Curiosity drives us forward and helps us learn, something that many famous figures have clearly stated, from Walt Disney to Albert Einstein.

    Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last; and perhaps always predominates in proportion to the strength of the contemplative faculties.
    ― Samuel Johnson

    We were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was always much encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests; to investigate whatever aroused curiosity. In a different kind of environment, our curiosity might have been nipped long before it could have borne fruit.
    — Orville Wright

    I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.
    ― Albert Einstein

    I think, at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity.
    — Eleanor Roosevelt

    There’s really no secret about our approach. We keep moving forward — opening up new doors and doing new things — because we’re curious. And curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. We’re always exploring and experimenting.
    ― Walt Disney

    Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning.
    — William Arthur Ward

    Perhaps one day men will no longer be interested in the unknown, no longer tantalized by mystery. This is possible, but when Man loses his curiosity, one feels he will have lost most of the other things that make him human.
    — Arthur C. Clarke

    Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the only one who asked why.
    — Bernard Baruch

    Children be curious. Nothing is worse (I know it) than when curiosity stops. Nothing is more repressive than the repression of curiosity. Curiosity begets love. It weds us to the world. It’s part of our perverse, madcap love for this impossible planet we inhabit. People die when curiosity goes.
    ― Graham Swift

    Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.
    — Stephen Hawking

    Curiosity is the essence of human existence. Who are we? Where are we? What do we come from? Where are we going? Was there life on Mars? Is Mars like Earth is going to look in a billion years? Are we what Mars looked like a billion years ago. I don’t know. I don’t have any answers to those questions. I don’t know what’s over there and around the corner. But I want to find out.
    — Gene Cernan, American astronaut

    Let’s just say I was testing the bounds of reality. I was curious to see what would happen. That’s all it was: just curiosity.
    — Jim Morrison

    The only reason people do not know much is because they do not care to know. They are incurious. Incuriosity is the oddest and most foolish failing there is.”
    ― Stephen Fry

    Socrates told us, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” I think he’s calling for curiosity, more than knowledge. In every human society at all times and at all levels, the curious are at the leading edge.
    ― Roger Ebert

    The second principle that drives human life flourishing is curiosity. If you can light the spark of curiosity in a child, they will learn without any further assistance, very often. Children are natural learners. It’s a real achievement to put that particular ability out, or to stifle it. Curiosity is the engine of achievement.
    ― Ken Robinson

    Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.
    — James Stephens

    I think I benefited from being equal parts ambitious and curious. And of the two, curiosity has served me best.
    ― Michael J. Fox

  • Confirmation Bias

    An OPEN MIND must be free of confirmation bias.

    Charles Tutt

    What we humans are best at doing is interpreting all new information so that our prior conclusions remain intact.

    Charles Tutt

  • Problem Solving

    We can’t solve a problem with the same thought that created it.

    Charles Tutt

  • Educated Mind

    It is the mark of an educated mind to entertain a thought without accepting it.

  • Enthusiasm + Purpose = Ambition

    Ambition can get a bad rap when it’s paired with words like “greedy,” “selfish,” or “ruthless.” But in actuality, ambition — loosely defined as a strong desire to achieve something through hard work and determination — is the crucial driving force behind accomplishment and action. It’s what marks the difference between a dream and a reality, an idea and a project, a vision and a cultural shift.

    Successful folks have long touted the power of ambition in their fields, be it entertainment, business, science, writing, sports, or otherwise — without a certain amount of hope and hunger, it would be too easy to get complacent and merely abide by the status quo. Ambition pushes people to think outside the realm of now and into the possibilities of the future. From there, it’s what motivates us to create, innovate, and explore the uncharted territory of dreams.  

    Perhaps the trickiest thing about ambition, however, is learning how to define it on our own terms. Or, as actor Santino Fontana so aptly put it, “Be limitless. Be definitionless. Be a pain in the ass for whoever writes your obituary.” Ambition can look different for every person, and can steer each of us toward several worthy pursuits. These 11 inspiring quotes speak to how our aspirations can help recalibrate us to lead our truest, fullest lives.

    Our ambition should be to rule ourselves, the true kingdom for each one of us; and true progress is to know more, and be more, and to do more.

    — Oscar Wilde, poet and playwright

    Don’t be afraid to be ambitious about your goals. Hard work never stops. Neither should your dreams.

    — Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, actor and former athlete

    Ambition is the germ from which all growth of nobleness proceeds.

    — Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher

    Those who are crazy enough to think they can change the world usually do.

    — Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder

    I’m tough, I’m ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay.

    — Madonna, singer, songwriter and entrepreneur

    Our ambitions can only be limited by our doubts.

    — Rajesh, Indian actor and politician

    Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.

    — Mark Twain, novelist

    I think a lot of people dream. And while they are busy dreaming, the really happy people, the really successful people, the really interesting, powerful, engaged people? Are busy doing.

    — Shonda Rhimes, TV producer and screenwriter

    If you have a great ambition, take as big a step as possible in the direction of fulfilling it. The step may only be a tiny one, but trust that it may be the largest one possible for now.

    — Mildred McAfee, first woman commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy

    Ambition is enthusiasm with purpose.

    — Frank Tyger, editorial cartoonist

    We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community… Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.

    — Cesar Chavez, labor leader and civil rights activist

  • Strength Inside You

    You can handle a little risk. You can handle a little discomfort.

    You can handle a little pain. You can handle a little inconvenience.

    You can handle a little embarrassment. You can handle a little effort.

    You can summon a little patience. You can summon a little discipline.

    You can do whatever must be done when the reason is meaningful enough. You can get yourself to take the necessary action when it serves a worthy purpose.

    What have you avoided, made excuses about, or put off until later just because you thought you couldn’t handle it? Imagine all the good that will come when you go ahead and utilize the strength that’s already there inside you.

    — Ralph Marston