Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt
26th US President

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
Talented and fabulous?
Actually, Who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that
Other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously
Give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

Nelson Mandela

People who are exceptional have a place to go, both physically and psychologically, that the rest of us don’t understand. They can reach deeper.

Dara Torres

You shouldn’t put a limit on your dreams, especially an age limit.

Being a professional is doing the things you love to do on the days when you don't feel like doing them.

Julius Erving

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.

Williams Jennings Bryan

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company....a team...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only think we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our attitude.

Maturity

Maturity is the ability to control anger and settle differences without violence.

Maturity is the patience. It is the willingness to pass up immediate pleasure in favor of long-term gain.

Maturity is perseverance, the ability to sweat out a project or a situation in spite of heavy opposition and discouraging setbacks.

Maturity is being big enough to say, “I was wrong.” And, when right, the mature person need not experience the satisfaction of saying, “I told you so.”

Maturity is the ability to make a decision and stand by it. The immature spend their lives exploring endless possibilities and then do nothing. Maturity means dependability, keeping one’s word and coming though in a crisis. The immature are masters of the alibi. They are the confused and the conflicted. Their lives are a maze of broken promises, former friends, unfinished business and good intentions that somehow never materialize.

Maturity is the art of living in peace with what we cannot change, the courage to change what should be changed and the wisdom to know the difference.

One day an expert in time management was
speaking to a group of business
students and, to drive home a point, used an
illustration those students will never forget.
As this man stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he
said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon,
wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on a table in front of him.
Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed
them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top
and no more rocks would fit inside, he
asked, "Is this jar full?"
Everyone in the class said, "Yes."
Then he said, "Really?"
He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he
dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work
themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.
Then he asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By this time
the class was onto him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!"
he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a
bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the
spaces left between the
rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the
question, "Is this jar full?"
"No!" the class shouted. Once again he
said, "Good!" Then he grabbed
a pitcher of water and began to pour it in
until the jar was filled to
the brim. Then he looked up at the class and
asked, "What is the point
of this illustration?"
One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how
full your schedule is, if you try really hard,
you can always fit some
more things into it!"
"No," the speaker replied, "that's not the
point. The truth this illustration
teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks
in first, you'll never get them in at all."
What are the 'big rocks' in your life?
Time with your loved ones?
Your faith, your education, your dreams?
A worthy cause?
Teaching or mentoring others?
Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or
you'll never get them in at all.

Many people think that by hoarding money they are gaining safety for themselves. If money is your only hope for independence, you will never have it. The only real security that a person can have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience and ability. Without these qualities, money is practically useless.

Henry Ford

Thinking is the hardest work there is. That's why so few people engage in it.

Henry Ford