Let
the fear of a danger be a spur to prevent it; he that fears not, gives advantage
to the danger.
- Francis Quarles
If
you are out of trouble, watch for danger.
- Sophocles
Be
daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of
purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the
commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.
- Sir Cecil Beaton (1904-1980), photographer and designer
To
dare is to lose one's footing momentarily.
Not to dare is to lose oneself.
- Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Danish philosopher, writer
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win
glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with
those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in
the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
- Theodore Roosevelt
Carpe
diem. (Seize the day)
- Horace
In any moment of decision the best thing you can
do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst
thing that you can do is nothing.
- Theodore
Roosevelt
Whenever
you’re called on to make up your mind,
And you’re hampered by not having any,
The simplest way to solve the dilemma you’ll find,
Is simply by flipping a penny.
No, not so that chance shall decide the affair,
As you’re passively standing there moping.
But as soon as the penny is up in the air,
You’ll suddenly know what you’re hoping.
- Piet Hein, Grooks
“Sir,
what is the secret of your success?” a reporter asked a bank president.
“Two
words.”
“And,
sir, what are they?”
“Right
decisions.”
“And
how do you make the right decisions?”
“One
word.”
“And,
sir, what is it?”
“Experience.”
“And
how do you get experience?”
“Two
words.”
“And,
sir, what are they.”
Make
big decisions in the calm.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), 34th
U.S. President
You're only as good as the people you hire.
- Ray Kroc
The best executive is the one who has sense
enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraining enough to
keep from meddling with them while they do it.
- Theodore
Roosevelt
Never tell people how to do things.
Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
- George S.
Patton, Jr.
If
all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in
silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in
silencing mankind.
- John Stuart Mill
Change
your thoughts and you'll change your moods. (1) Get up and go. When
you feel most like moping, do
something—anything. Try
cleaning up a drawer. (2)
Make
contact with people you care about.
You may not feel like socializing, but others can help to distract
you from your depression, give you hugs, listen to you.
(3) Start smiling.
Studies show that your smile muscles send the same signals to your
nervous system as when you are actually happy.
(4) Avoid
drugs, including alcohol, which may depress the nervous system and keep
you feeling down.
- Derived form
Linda Tschirart and Mary Ellen Donovan
You
can have anything in this world you want, if you want it badly enough and
you’re willing to pay the price.
- Mary Kay Ash, Founder, Mary Kay Cosmetics
Football games are generally won by the boys with
the greatest desire.
- Paul Bear
Bryant
Man
is man because he is free to operate within the framework of his destiny.
He is free to deliberate, to make decisions, and to chose between
alternatives.
- Martin Luther King
Destiny
is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice;
it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.
- William Jennings Bryan
'Tis
all a chequerboard
of nights and days
Where Destiny with men
for pieces plays:
Hither and thither moves,
and mates, and slays,
And one by one back in
the closet lays.
- Omar Khayam
The
Moving Finger writes;
and having writ,
Moves on: nor all your
Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to
cancel half a line,
Nor all your tears wash
out a Word of it.
- Omar Khayyam
It's
odd to think we
might have been
Sun, moon and stars
unto each other;
Only I turned down
one little street
As you went up
another.
- Fanny Heaslip Lea
Come,
my friends,
'Tis not to late to seek a newer world . . .
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
- From Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "Ulysses"
You’ve
got to find some way of saying it without saying it.
- Duke Ellington (1899-1974), musician and composer
Don't
ever slam the door; you might want to go back.
- Don Herold
Remember
not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult
still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
- Benjamin Franklin
If you wouldn’t write it and sign it, don’t say it.
A diplomat is
someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you look forward to
the trip.
- Cashie Stinnett
You
must look into people, as well as at them.
- Lord Chesterfield
Weigh
the meaning and look not at the words.
- Ben Jonson
It
is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible
to the eye.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
As
I grow older I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.
- Andrew Carnegie
Do
not consider painful what is good for you.
- Euripides
Make
it a point to do something every day that you don't want to do.
This is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty
without pain.
- Mark Twain
Self-discipline
is the willingness to perform the acts that are beneficial to us that—for
whatever reason—we don’t want to perform.
- John McCormack
Perhaps
the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the
thing you have to do when it ought to be done whether you like it or not.
It is the first lesson that ought to be learned and however early a
person’s training begins, it is probably the last lesson a person learns
thoroughly.
- Thomas Huxley
It
is one of the strange ironies of this strange life that those who work the
hardest, who subject themselves to the strictest discipline, who give up certain
pleasurable things in order to achieve a goal, are the happiest men.
When you see 20 or 30 men line up for a distance race in some meet, don't
pity them, don't feel sorry for them. Better envy them instead.
- Brutus Hamilton (Quoted by Doherty, 1964)
Discipline
is the bridge between goals and accomplishments
- Jim Rohn
I
never could have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence .
. . the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time.
- Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
I
hear and I forget. I see and I
remember. I do and I
understand.
- Confucius
Determine
never to be idle. . . . It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always
doing.
You
can't build a reputation on what you are going
to do.
- Henry Ford
Doing
something is different from thinking about doing something; it is more difficult
because it requires more discipline and courage.
- Nicholas Pratt
Doing
something the first time is very hard.
Doing
it the second time is easier.
Doing
it the third time is easier still.
With
persistence, eventually doing it
becomes second nature.
- Nicholas Pratt
The
founder of a highly successful company was asked what it took to succeed.
“The same thing it took to get started,” he replied, “a sense of
urgency about getting things done.”
The people who make things move in this world share the same sense of
urgency.
No matter how intelligent or able you may be, if you don’t have this
sense or urgency, now is the time to start developing it.
The world is full of very competent people who honestly intend to do
things tomorrow, or as soon as they can get around to it.
Their accomplishments, however, seldom match those of the less talented
who are blessed with a sense of the importance of getting started now.
One of the fine arts of management is the ability to communicate this sense
of urgency to the people who work for you without lecturing and without being
unpleasant about it. The best
method is by showing your personal interest in their projects and their jobs,
checking on progress, and being quick to help in any way you can.
Some associates—even though they may be extremely able—are naturally
slow movers. Review plans with these people.
Have them tell you when they will
Some employees react quickly, enjoy getting things done promptly , and
like to beat deadlines. When you
have people like this, be sure that you aren’t the bottleneck.
Give them attention immediately when they need it.
Don’t let them be frustrated by waiting for your decisions, slow-moving
procedures, or unnecessary red tape. Make
it your job to clear the roadblocks out of their way.
There is no substitute for interest.
Things that you are obviously interested in tend to get done first and on
time. If you show little interest,
jobs may get done later—or perhaps not at all.
Be interested and stay interested—from start to finish.
- Bits & Pieces
Do
all the good 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 ever you can.
- John
Wesley
He who wishes to secure the good of others has
already secured his own.
- Confucius
William
James used to preach the "will to believe." For my part, I should wish to preach the
"will to
doubt" . . . What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the wish to find
out, which is the exact opposite.
In
all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the
things you have long taken for granted.
- Bertrand Russell
If
you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where
they should be. Now put the
foundations under them.
- Henry David Thoreau
To
accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act.
- Anatole France
Climb
every mountain,
Ford
every stream,
Follow
every rainbow,
Till
you find your dream.
- From
"Climb Every Mountain," Song by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II from The
Sound of Music
If
one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live
the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common
hours.
- Henry David Thoreau
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that
you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the
bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in
your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
- Mark Twain
All our dreams can come true—if we have the
courage to pursue them.
- Walt Disney
Copyright 2002 by Pratt Systems. All rights reserved worldwide.