Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny. (C. S. Lewis, late British scholar and writer) When life’s journey brings us to a time of difficulty, our natural inclination is to avoid that hard road as much as possible. Lewis suggests, however,...
Reputation is among the most treasured and powerful assets. (Lolly Daskal, leadership coach and consultant) Daskal continues, “It is built over many years, one word at a time, one action at a time, one deed at time. In leadership, few things matter more. . . . Our...
The sign of a true learner is not just the knowledge he or she has accumulated, but also the ideas that have been jettisoned. (Neil Cole, author) When the light goes on in your brain, giving you a new idea, what do you do with it? Are all ideas good ones? Should we...
Friends are the most important ingredient in this recipe of life. (Author unknown) Solomon, the wisest man of his time wrote: “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone...
Gratitude is a vaccine, an antitoxin, and an antiseptic. (John Henry Jowett, 19th-20th century British preacher and author) Is it true that a grateful heart will protect you or overcome something that might be hurtful? It would be wise, then, to develop a constant...
I have never been hurt by what I did not say. (Calvin Coolidge, 30th president of the United States) Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was sometimes referred to as “Silent Cal,” a man of few words. With 24/7 TV...
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the commonplace simple, awesomely simple, that is creativity. (Charles Mingus, musician) Have you ever sat in a class when you wondered what the teacher was getting at? It seemed so complicated that you didn’t...
Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm. (Winston Churchill, British leader during World War II) No one likes to fail or be involved in failure of any kind. Churchill’s experience in war included failure after failure—battles lost, plans...
Without pain . . . there is no way of life (Angelina Jolie, actress and humanitarian) “Without pain,” she says, “there would be no suffering, without suffering we would never learn from our mistakes.” That’s probably not what we want to hear. We’d rather there were no...
You never really learn much from hearing yourself talk. (George Clooney, actor) Most people seem to take pleasure in talking. Conversation is one of life’s most enjoyable enterprises. But we don’t like it much when someone monopolizes the discussion. It’s even worse...
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined. (Henry David Thoreau, 19th century American essayist and philosopher) Thoreau’s thought is expressed another way by a 21st century music star, Ella Fitzgerald: “Just don’t give up trying to...
Truth without grace is just condemnation; grace without truth is mere license. (James Emery White, preacher and author) Confronting a family member or friend about his or her improper conduct or attitude can be a really critical moment. As White suggests, we need to...