A fall into a ditch makes you wiser. – Chinese Proverb What does that mean? At first you don’t know what a ditch is. Then you fall in. Now you know. You are now wiser, and know to avoid falling into ditches, whenever possible. Life is like that, test first, then the lesson. So the…
Success and rest don’t sleep together. – Russian Proverb What does that mean? When we think of successful people, we often think of their lives of leisure. The act of achieving success gives one the chance to relax and take it easy. But how true is that, really? How many ‘successful’ people do you see…
Life is painting a picture, not doing a sum. – Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr What does that mean? Note that this is not an attempt to diminish those who are into math, but to encourage them to try something with some soul and deeper feeling, in this case, painting. The metaphor of painting a picture…
Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value. – Albert Einstein What does that mean? In the longer version of the quote, the balance between giving and taking is mentioned, as well as a direction for the giving (that what you make and give not to…
Success is focusing the full power of all you are on what you have a burning desire to achieve. – Wilfred Peterson What does that mean? Success is defined differently for each of us. Yet however we each define it, success is something we all desire. For some, success is measured in money or possessions….
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. – Winston Churchill What does that mean? We all have days when things refuse to go right for us. Sometimes we get mad, sometimes we get frustrated. But what happens next? If you can pull yourself together and try…
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. – Seneca What does that mean? At best, this quote is a very loose translation of him quoting something said by someone else. However, despite its questionable pedigree, I believe this is a worthy quote, so let’s examine it. People like to say they got lucky. And…
A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success. – Elbert Hubbard What does that mean? A slightly longer version of the quote is as follows: “A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success. There is…
The first forty years of life give us the text; the next thirty supply the commentary on it. – Arthur Schopenhauer What does that mean? As I am past that point of inflection, I find this quote fascinating. Personally, I might put that point back a few years, but it still is good. By the age…
The only problem we really have is we think we’re not supposed to have problems! Problems call us to higher level – face & solve them now! – Tony Robbins What does that mean? This quote is saying that our biggest problem is that, for whatever reason, we believe that we are supposed to live a…
Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it. – Maya Angelou What does that mean? We all have days when we like ourselves, and then there are days when we don’t. But if, on average, we don’t really like ourselves, it would be hard to consider ourselves a success. We all…
Men are born to succeed, not fail. – Henry David Thoreau What does that mean? While some might feel this quote is overly optimistic, I believe it is exactly right. When we are born, we can do nothing. We can hardly breathe. We can’t feed ourselves unless something is put in our mouths. We’re a…
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure. – Colin Powell What does that mean? Well, this one pretty much says it on the level. People are always looking for the magic bullet, the easy way, or the short cut. And for some reason, they think you cheated…
There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind. – Fred Rogers What does that mean? There is a triple scoop of kindness in this quote. There are many ways in which one can be successful, but…
Failure is only postponed success as long as courage coaches ambition. The habit of persistence is the habit of victory. – Herbert Kaufman What does that mean? There is a lot packed into those two short lines. The very first part defines failure as step on the road to success, or as success postponed. The first…
