Need a Good Quote?

Check my Archives, especially in 2008 and 2009, for a list of alphabetized categories of great quotes. Here and there throughout this blog I add quotes on certain topics or by certain people. But I am always going back and updating my lists in the alphabetized categories in the 2008 and 2009 postings.

If you know of a good quote that you don't think I have, let me know!

The Heart Makes the Best Decisions

The heart knows best.

Here are some excerpts from an interview with former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

"If I look back at all the decisions that I have made that counted for anything in my own life and in my position as Prime Minister, I have found that it is the heart that makes the best decisions. In addition to logic and the calculation of costs and benefits, there is a computation of the heart, which I think is actually a more trustworthy guide. At a certain point, you feel that something is right and you do it. It's that feeling that will guide me to take such an important step in my life.

There is no guarantee of success in anything you want to accomplish. In fact if you seek the guarantee of success, you will never succeed! If you're not willing to take risks or to fail, you cannot succeed. That is iron-clad.

The true winners are distinguished by the fact that they sometimes lose, but more importantly that they can rise up from defeat. You cannot succeed if you are not prepared to fail."

Are You a Sun or a Laser?

This is a great piece that, although has a business focus, has great interpretations into personal life as well:

The sun is an incredibly powerful source of energy. It showers the earth with billions of kilowatts of energy every hour. Yet with minimal protection, say a hat and some sunscreen, you can bask in the sunlight with few negative effects. The sun generates loads of power, but it is diffused over the entire solar system.

On the other hand, a laser is a relatively weak source of energy. It generates only a few kilowatts per hours, but focuses it in a cohesive stream of light, producing intense heat and power. With a laser, you can drill a hole in a diamond or even defeat certain types of cancer.

So, as you think of your personal goals, your team or your family, ask yourself, “Am I a sun or a laser?”

Saying “No” to activities that do not support your goals help maintains a laser-like focus.

Saying “No” helped Walgreens outperform the stock market average 15 times between 1975 and 2000. At one point, Walgreens owned more than 500 restaurants. They decided their future was in convenience drug stores and that they would be out of the restaurant business in five years – they redefined their boat. They courageously stuck to their commitment, which required saying “No” many times to ensure a redirection of resources to their new future.

Saying “No” also applies to the day-to-day decisions we make as leaders. For example, if we spend two hours in a meeting that does not help our team achieve its goals, we pay an opportunity cost by spending time on non-value-added tasks. If we find ourselves saying, “That was a waste of time,” or “Why was I attending that meeting?” – these are signs we need to say “No.”

Meetings are an important way to conduct business, but think about the salaries of each attendee and the potential time they could be working on other important goals instead of being in the meeting. Since leaders decide how to use their employees’ time, they must ensure a good return for their time investment. Meetings can be both necessary and useful, but they can also diffuse our focus.

When we know when to say “No”, we keep a laser-like focus that lights our path to success!

- by Lee J. Colan

Sail On

Many a sailor has been storm-tossed on a windy night in the midst of unfamiliar seas. Brave seafarers know that they must press forward. “Sail on! Sail on! Sail on and on!” they call to their crew. And so must we. When we are tossed and turned by life’s currents, we move forward, we carry on. Difficult though it may be, we set our sail and find our way.

American scholar Oliver Wendell Holmes wisely observed: “I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving … We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it,—but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.”

The well-known saying is true: A ship in a harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are made for. And neither are we. We are designed to learn and grow—in wisdom and in experience. We are created to sail—sometimes in calm and smooth waters but often through rough storms.

In physics we learn of inertia, or the tendency of an object to resist any change in its state of motion or rest. We may feel the same tendency when we have suffered setbacks and experienced heartaches. We may feel defeated. We may want to stop trying in an attempt to protect ourselves from future failures. But by challenging such thoughts and not surrendering to the forces of inertia, we discover new strength. We keep sailing, and we become better at it. We refuse to stagnate, and somehow we find ourselves moving forward.

Yes, mistakes, setbacks, and even disasters happen. But the only way to find growth and happiness is not to give up but to move forward—and keep sailing.

- from "Music and the Spoken Word"
July 31, 2011 Broadcast Number 4272


For more inspiration on sailing, see also:
Learning How To Sail My Ship

Be a Sower of Beauty

Nothing of beauty dies without having purified something, nor can aught of beauty be lost. Let us not be afraid of sowing it along the road. It may remain there for weeks or years but, like the diamond, it cannot dissolve, and finally there will pass someone whom its glitter will attract. He will pick it up and go his way rejoicing.

Then why keep back a lofty, beautiful word, for that you doubt others will understand? An instant of higher goodness was impending over you. Why hinder its coming, even though you believe not that those about you will profit thereby? What if you are among the men of the valley? Is that sufficient reason for checking the instinctive movement of your soul toward the mountain peaks?

-Maurice Maeterlinck