Walt Disney - The Man Who Helped Us Dream

Some of my favorite quotes by Walt Disney are:
"If you can dream it, you can do it."
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible."
"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."

Through his life and work, these became slogans for his success which ultimately left a huge impact on the world. Who hasn't been affected by the world of Disney? Very few in this world.

Yet things were not so easy for Walt. He explained that Mickey Mouse popped out of his mind at a time when his career and finances were "at the lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner."

He taught us that we can benefit through our struggles. He once said, "All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me... You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you."

He dreamed, he pursued, he persevered, and he impacted the world for good.


Here are some more great Walt Disney quotes:

A man should never neglect his family for business.

Crowded classrooms and half-day sessions are a tragic waste of our greatest national resource - the minds of our children.

I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter.

I believe in being an innovator.

I do not like to repeat successes, I like to go on to other things.

I have been up against tough competition all my life. I wouldn't know how to get along without it.

I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse.

I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained.

Laughter is America's most important export.

Of all the things I've done, the most vital is coordinating those who work with me and aiming their efforts at a certain goal.

Our heritage and ideals, our code and standards - the things we live by and teach our children - are preserved or diminished by how freely we exchange ideas and feelings.

The more you like yourself, the less you are like anyone else, which makes you unique.

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.

There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island.

There's nothing funnier than the human animal.

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.

When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.

You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.

You reach a point where you don't work for money.

A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort, he may achieve it. Or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter what the outcome, he will know he has been alive.

The main quality of leadership...is courage!

Helen Keller - Positive In Spite of Life

Helen Keller provides enough inspiration through her writings and quotes for anyone who deals with adversity in life - which is everyone on earth.

Although Helen was not born blind and deaf, at 19 months old that she contracted an illness, perhaps either scarlet fever or meningitis, that left her deaf and blind for the rest of her life. Through many years of struggling through her youth, and with the assistance of her teacher, Helen was able to learn how to not only communicate, but to provide the world with much optimism and positive service, despite her challenges.

Here are some of her great quotes:

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.

Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.

As selfishness and complaint pervert the mind, so love with its joy clears and sharpens the vision.

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But there's a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see.

Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light.

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.

I do not want the peace which passeth understanding, I want the understanding which bringeth peace.

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.

Instead of comparing our lot with that of those who are more fortunate than we are, we should compare it with the lot of the great majority of our fellow men. It then appears that we are among the privileged.

It is for us to pray not for tasks equal to our powers, but for powers equal to our tasks, to go forward with a great desire forever beating at the door of our hearts as we travel toward our distant goal.

It is wonderful how much time good people spend fighting the devil. If they would only expend the same amount of energy loving their fellow men, the devil would die in his own tracks of ennui.

It's wonderful to climb the liquid mountains of the sky. Behind me and before me is God and I have no fears.

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.

Knowledge is love and light and vision.

Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.

Life is an exciting business, and most exciting when it is lived for others.

Life is either a great adventure or nothing.

Love is like a beautiful flower which I may not touch, but whose fragrance makes the garden a place of delight just the same.

Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.

My share of the work may be limited, but the fact that it is work makes it precious.

Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.

No one has a right to consume happiness without producing it.

No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.

Once I knew the depth where no hope was and darkness lay on the face of all things. Then love came and set my soul free. Once I fretted and beat myself against the wall that shut me in. My life was without a past or future, and death a consummation devoutly to be wished. But a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hands that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped up with the rapture of living. I do not know the meaning of the darkness, but I have learned the overcoming of it.

One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.

So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good.

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.

The highest result of education is tolerance.

The marvelous richness of human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were no limitations to overcome. The hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse.

The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.

The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of tiny pushes of each honest worker.

There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his.

To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug.

Toleration is the greatest gift of the mind; it requires the same effort of the brain that it takes to balance oneself on a bicycle.

Unless we form the habit of going to the Bible in bright moments as well as in trouble, we cannot fully respond to its consolations because we lack equilibrium between light and darkness.

Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained.

Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.

We can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough.

We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.

What I am looking for is not out there, it is in me.

What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.

When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.

While they were saying among themselves it cannot be done, it was done.

Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.

Walk Your Talk

There is one statement that validates a person's integrity when stated by another: "He really walks the talk." It's a statement of personal alignment - that your actions match your words. As stated in a recent Chrysler ad, "The strongest statements are made without saying a word."

Modeling ethical, values-based behavior creates an infinitely more positive impact than just talking about it. As a leader or a parent, those you try to influence will not always mimic your words, but they will usually walk in your path.

It is a misperception that leaders and parents must continually present ideas, speak up, direct, and be heard. However, excellent leaders learn to listen up - listen for ideas, problems, concerns, needs. They know why God gave them two ears and one mouth and take it to heart.

St. Francis of Assisi said, "Preach the gospel always. If necessary, use words." Do the same in your leadership role - whether at work, at home or in the community. Since one of the laws of leadership is that you are always leading, then lead the way for others, and use words only if necessary.

In short, walk the walk.

-adapted from Lee J. Colan