Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible. – St. Francis of Assisi What does that mean? To me, it is all about momentum. Objects at rest remaining at rest. Objects in motion remaining in motion. Only the outside force being applied is typically yourself (or in…
Every day, when you get up, you can develop a sincere positive motivation: I will utilize this day in a more positive way. – Dalai Lama What does that mean? To me, this speaks to getting your head on straight first thing in the morning. Get up, work on developing a motivation that is both…
Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind. – Aristotle What does that mean? Once again, we have a translation from Ancient Greek. Just what are the flavors of calamity and which forms of suffering does he mean? I choose to take the words at…
More gold has been mined from the thoughts of men than has been taken from the Earth. – Napoleon Hill What does that mean? I’d heard this stated as “there was more wealth in one grave-yard than all the gold-mines of the planet.” Not the buried loot, but the ideas left unexploited, hidden, held secret…
We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same. – Carlos Castaneda What does that mean? The full quote is “The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same.” I had never…
Don’t open a shop unless you like to smile. – Chinese Proverb What does that mean? To me, this old saying is all about having the proper attitude for a situation. If you’re going to open a shop, you had better be prepared to make your customers feel welcome in your shop, or you won’t…
It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself. – Muhammad Ali What does that mean? To me, it talks of one of humankind’s greatest fears, the fear of the new, the unknown. He talks about people being afraid to meet challenges, and states that he wasn’t. He…
To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe. – Anatole France What does that mean? To me, this kind of wraps up the activities of the past week or so. To accomplish great thins, it says, we need to do four things. In order of…
As human beings we have intelligence and courage. Provided we use these qualities, we will be able to achieve what we set out to do. – Dalai Lama What does that mean? To me, it reminds us that we are able to do whatever we set out to do, that we can achieve anything in…
Everybody has talent, it’s just a matter of moving around until you’ve discovered what it is. – George Lucas What does that mean? To me, he is saying “We’re all good at something.” The trick, he continues, is to figure out what it is. How many of you tried any number of things before you…
Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck. Your profession is what you were put on earth to do. With such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling. – Virgil What does that mean? This time, instead of ancient Greek, we have something translated from ancient Latin. It appears to be…
The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other persons. – Aristotle What does that mean? Let’s start with the definition of Virtue in the context of this saying. At thefreedictionary.com, virtue is defined as “Moral excellence and righteousness” and “A particularly efficacious, good, or beneficial quality”. So, rephrasing slightly: the greatest…
Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. – Sun Tzu What does that mean? At thefreedictionary.com, strategy is defined as “The science and art of military command as applied to the overall planning and conduct of large-scale combat operations” and “A plan of action resulting…
Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves. – Dale Carnegie What does that mean? This quote reminds me of the 80/20 rule – 80 percent of the tasks just take 20 percent of the time, and the final 20 percent takes 80 percent of the time. Start with the…
I hated every minute of training, but I said, “Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” – Muhammad Ali What does that mean? To me, it means that if you are willing to put up with something you don’t like now, you can have something better afterwards. To…
