Really great men have a curious feeling that the greatness is not in them, but through them. Therefore, they are humble.
-- John Ruskin
Never give in
Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never, in nothing, great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force and the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.
-- Winston Churchill
Truth
On the brink of the ocean of life and truth we are miserably dying....Sometimes we are furthest away when we are closest by. We stand on the brink of an ocean of power, but each must take the steps that would bring him there.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Lead with Honor
I claim to be no more than an average man with less than average ability. I am not a visionary. I claim to be a practical idealist. Nor can I claim any special merit for what I have been able to achieve with laborious research. I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have, if he or she would make the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith.
-- Gandhi
Simplicity
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
-- Albert Einstein
Deadlines
I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.
-- Douglas Adams
Make no Little Plans
Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably in themselves will not realized.
Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty.
-- Daniel H. Burnham, attributed.
Anyway
People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
-- Mother Theresa
More
Care more than others think wise,
Risk more than others think safe,
Dream more than others think practical,
Expect more than others think possible.
-- Howard Schultz, Pour your heart into it.
False Genius
Sometimes men come by the name of genius in the same way that certain insects come by the name of centipede -- not because they have a hundred feet, but because most people can't count above fourteen.
-- G.C. Lichtenberg, _Reflections_ 1799