In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure. – Bill Cosby What does that mean? How many of us have a fear of failure? For him, as a comic, the failure would be very public and the feedback would be immediate and brutal. He must really have truly…
A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man that actions, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends. – George Washington What does that mean? This quote is fairly typical of his day and age. Back then, you didn’t have strangers asking to be your friend on every Social Media site….
Education is that whole system of human training within and without the school house walls, which molds and develops men. – W. E. B. Du Bois What does that mean? Allowing for the anachronism of the generic term ‘men’ (he lived in a less politically correct time), this quote is about education of the people of the…
If we insist on being as sure as is conceivable… we must be content to creep along the ground, and never soar. – John Henry Newman What does that mean? To me, this is a quote about the necessity of action. It says if we procrastinate and wait until something is absolutely, 100% certain, beyond any…
History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again. – Maya Angelou What does that mean? This quote reminds us that we cannot change the past. What has happened is done and gone, there is no changing it. However happy, however painful, it has happened and…
In order to use human intelligence properly our mind should be calm. – Dalai Lama What does that mean? This quote is fairly straight forward. We humans are a fairly clever lot. We are intelligent and can do a great many things with our minds. However, the quote cautions us to have a calm mind…
There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.– Niccolò Machiavelli What does that mean? At the time of the quote, there was a state of tension and often open warfare between any number the Italian City States, and the Princes who ran them. In observation of this phenomenon, the…
Real difficulties can be overcome, it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable. – Theodore N. Vail What does that mean? It’s all in your mind, at least that’s what today’s quote is saying to me. If you think you can’t, you never will. If you can’t imagine doing it, you won’t. If your…
As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. – King Solomon What does that mean? In many other translations, this quote ends with “sharpens the countenance of a friend.” In this context, countenance is an antiquated word meaning character of a person. The first portion is interesting, when you consider the time of…
I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand. – Susan B. Anthony What does that mean? While this quote is from a famous suffragette, I believe it is still applicable today. In the time of the saying,…
Loving is not just looking at each other, it’s looking in the same direction. – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry What does that mean? Lovers looking at each other is the infatuation stage of a relationship, although even old married couples do it from time to time. They seem to stare as much for the pleasure derived…
You don’t concentrate on risks. You concentrate on results. No risk is too great to prevent the necessary job from getting done. – Chuck Yeager What does that mean? This quote is from one of the greatest test pilots ever. For those who don’t know, the job of a test pilot is to take a new airplane up and try to keep it…
Genuine friendship can only be based on trust and affection, which can only arise when there is a mutual sense of concern and respect. – Dalai Lama What does that mean? Can you call someone “my friend” if you don’t trust them? Do you really want to call someone “my friend” if you don’t have some…
(and this is a common failing of mankind, never to anticipate a storm when the sea is calm) – Niccolò Machiavelli What does that mean? This is a neat quote, as it is literally a parenthetical note at the end of a discussion of two Princes who lost their cities due to complacency (thus the lack of…
It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see. – Henry David Thoreau What does that mean? What do you see, or do you usually just look? It’s only human to not see everything. There is just too much to see and process, so our minds delete that which it believes to…
