READ THIS:
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
quotes - chinese wisdom
(Translations have been adapted for the modern age where appropriate.)
"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." (attributed to Lao Tsu, aka Lao Zi, legendary Chinese Taoist philosopher, supposed to have lived between 600-400BC)
"There is no greater happiness than freedom from worry, and there is no greater wealth than contentment." (attributed to Lao Tsu, aka Lao Zi, legendary Chinese Taoist philosopher, supposed to have lived between 600-400BC)
"People's tendency towards good is as water's tendency is to flow downhill." (Mencius, Chinese philosopher, c.300BC)
"Eat less, taste more." (traditional Chinese proverb)
"Failure lies not in falling down. Failure lies in not getting up." (traditional Chinese proverb)
"The higher my rank, the more humbly I behave. The greater my power, the less I exercise it. The richer my wealth, the more I give away. Thus I avoid, respectively, envy and spite and misery." (Sun Shu Ao, Chinese minister from the Chu Kingdom, Zhou Dynasty, c.600BC)
"Success under a good leader is the people's success." (attributed to Lao Tsu, aka Lao Zi, legendary Chinese Taoist philosopher, supposed to have lived between 600-400BC)
"Do not worry if others do not understand you. Instead worry if you do not understand others." (Confucius, Chinese philosopher, 551-479 BC)
"Softness overcomes hardness." (Zuo Qiuming, court writer of the State of Lu, and contemporary of Confucius, c.500BC)
"The greatest capability of superior people is that of helping other people to be virtuous." (Mencius, Chinese philosopher, c.300BC)
"A great man is hard on himself; a small man is hard on others." (Confucius, Chinese philosopher, 551-479 BC)
"Failure is the mother of success." (traditional Chinese proverb)
"It is not wise for a blind man, riding a blind horse, to approach the edge of a deep pond." (traditional Chinese proverb)
"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." (Confucius, Chinese philosopher, 551-479 BC)
"He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask is a fool for ever." (traditional Chinese proverb)
"With a strong heart and a ready mind what have I to fear?" (Chu Yuan, aka Qu Yuan, Chinese politician-turned-poet, c.300BC - China's first great poet and considered the father of Chinese poetry, his death by drowning in 278BC is celebrated every year on the Day of Dragon Boat Festival)
"Half and orange tastes as sweet as a whole one." (traditional Chinese proverb)
"The wise man puts himself last and finds himself first." (attributed to Lao Tsu, aka Lao Zi, legendary Chinese Taoist philosopher, supposed to have lived between 600-400BC)
"He knows most who says he knows least." (Confucius, Chinese philosopher, 551-479 BC)
smile
The words to the song 'Smile' are one of the great anthems for personal inspiration and belief. The music for Smile was written by Charlie Chaplin for his landmark film, Modern Times, released in 1936, although Smile's lyrics were actually added by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons in 1954, in which year Nat King Cole had the commercial success with the Smile song. Perhaps understandably the owners of the copyright for the words and music of the Smile song, Bourne Company of New York, refused me permission to publish the full lyrics and the music, although plenty of other websites seem to have the whole thing for free if you care to look for it (strangely it seems easier to get it for free than to buy it). There is actually a second verse which talks about lighting up your face with gladness, the need to keep on trying, and that life is still worthwhile. And for the musicians among you, you could try playing around with A, Amaj7, F#m, D/F#bass, Bm, F#, Bm, Dm, A, F#m, Bm, Esus4, E, and A, which is based on an interpretation by Eric Clapton (another story of triumph over adversity..).
Smile tho' your heart is aching,
Smile even tho' it's breaking,
When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by.
If you smile thro' your fear and sorrow,
Smile and maybe tomorrow,
You'll see the sun come shining through; for you.
Although Charlie Chaplin didn't write the lyrics to Smile, the words resonate strongly with Chaplin's inspirational life of challenge, tragedy, success, and ultimately global appreciation, which owed much to his difficult early character-forming years. The Smile lyrics, and Chaplin's life story, each provide in their own way a lesson for anyone seeking inspiration and personal fulfilment.
Chaplin was born in Walworth, South London on 16 April, 1889. His mother and father were stage performers, but were also tragic people, divorcing when Charlie was young. As a child Chaplin descended to the workhouse orphanage because his parents were unable to look after him. Throughout his life Charlie Chaplin struggled with challenges, some of his own making, while he strived and became one of the most successful achievers - in creative and financial terms - of the 20th century. At one time exiled and rejected by the USA for his political views, Chaplin was awarded the World Peace Prize in 1954, eventually welcomed back to America to receive an Academy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1972, and was knighted in 1975. Charlie Chaplin died on Christmas Day, 1977.
The words and music of Smile and Chaplin's wonderful films help to demonstrate that the power of personal belief, and a positive approach to life, can enable people to overcome all kinds of disadvantage, challenge and adversity.
training cliches, maxims and funny sayings
Used by trainers and speakers, here are some maxims and sayings, with one or two new ideas and twists.
Dress code working-style indicators: jacket on = directing; jacket off = participating; trousers off = performing.
If you can't ride two horses at the same time you shouldn't be in the circus.
To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the project manager, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
If a=1%, b=2%, c= 3%, etc., what does 'attitude' add up to? ........ (work it out - the answer is 100%).
'Mushroom Management' - The practice of keeping people in the dark, and every now and then dumping a load of dirt on them. (See McGregor's X-Y Theory.)
'Wheelbarrow Management' or 'Wheelbarrow Culture' - people only work when pushed, and are easily upset (as described by certain managers, who probably have only themselves to blame... again see McGregor's X-Y Theory).
Tell'em what you're gonna tell'em, tell'em, tell'em what you told'em. (Training and presentations mnemonic for effective presentation or speaking structure, in other words: introduction, content points, summary.)
When you ASSUME you make an *** out of U and Me.
There is no I in TEAM. (But if you look carefully there is a ME...)
No gain without pain. (Or better still, as Nietzsche might have said instead: 'No pain without gain' - see the Nietzsche quote below.)
Don't sell the steak, sell the sizzle.
(Or more fashionably today:) Sell the crunch not the apple.
(Or, a maxim for selling and sales training:) The buyer buys the seller not the salt.
(Alternatively:) The buyer buys the cellar not the salt.
Everyone gets butterflies - the trick is getting them to fly in formation. (See the presentations and public speaking training materials.)
funny quotes - school-children's biblical answers
Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree.
In the first book of the Bible, Guinness's, God got tired and took the Sabbath off.
Noah's wife was called Joan of Ark.
Lot's wife was a pillar of salt by day but a ball of fire by night.
The Jews were proud people and throughout history had trouble with unsympathetic Genitals.
Moses led the Hebrews to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened bread which is bread without any ingredients.
The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.
The seventh commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery.
Moses died before he ever reached Canada.
The greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.
Solomon, one of David's sons, had 300 wives and 700 porcupines.
When Mary heard that she was the mother of jesus she sang the Magna Carta.
Jesus was born because Mary had an immaculate contraption.
He also explained, "Man doth not live by sweat alone."
The people who followed the Lord were called the 12 decibels.
The epistles were the wives of the apostles.
St Paul cavorted to Christianity. He preached holy acrimony which is another name for marriage.
Christians have only one spouse. This is called monotony.
(Thanks Bill)
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funny sunday school children's answers
(Apparently from Sunday school quizzes by children between 5th and 6th grade ages in Ohio, collected over three years by two teachers. If you know more about the source please let us know.)
Ancient Egypt was old. It was inhabited by gypsies and mummies who all wrote in hydraulics. They lived in the Sarah Dessert. The climate of the Sarah is such that all the inhabitants have to live elsewhere.
Moses led the Hebrew slaves to the Red Sea where they made unleavened bread, which is bread made without any ingredients. Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandos. He died before he ever reached Canada but the commandos made it.
Solomon had three hundred wives and seven hundred porcupines. He was a actual hysterical figure as well as being in the bible. It sounds like he was sort of busy too.
The Greeks were a highly sculptured people, and without them we wouldn't have history. The Greeks also had myths. A myth is a young female moth.
Socrates was a famous old Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him. He later died from an overdose of wedlock, which is apparently poisonous. After his death, his career suffered a dramatic decline.
In the first Olympic games, Greeks ran races, jumped, hurled biscuits, and threw the java. The games were messier then, than they show on TV now.
Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battlefields of Gaul. The Ides of March murdered him because they thought he was going to be made king. Dying, he gasped out "Same to you, Brutus."
Joan of Arc was burnt to a steak and was canonized by Bernard Shaw for reasons I don't really understand. The English and French still have problems.
Queen Elizabeth was the "Virgin Queen", as a queen she was a success. When she exposed herself before her troops they all shouted "hurrah!" and that was the end of the fighting for a long while.
It was an age of great inventions and discoveries. Gutenberg invented removable type and the Bible. Another important invention was the circulation of blood.
Sir Walter Raleigh is a historical figure because he invented cigarettes and started smoking.
Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100 foot clipper, which was very dangerous to all his men.
The greatest writer of the Renaissance was William Shakespeare. He was born in the year 1564, supposedly on his birthday. He never made much money and is famous only because of his plays. He wrote tragedies, comedies, and hysterectomies, all in Islamic pentameter.
Writing at the same time as Shakespeare was Miguel Cervantes. He Wrote Donkey Hote. The next great author was John Milton. Milton wrote Paradise Lost. Since then no one ever found it.
Delegates from the original 13 states formed the Contented Congress. Thomas Jefferson, a Virgin, and Benjamin Franklin were two singers of the Declaration of Independence. Franklin discovered electricity by rubbing two cats backward and also declared, "A horse divided against itself cannot stand." He was a naturalist for sure. Franklin died in 1790 and is still dead.
Abraham Lincoln became America's greatest Precedent. Lincoln's Mother died in infancy, and he was born in a log cabin which he built with his own hands. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves by signing the Emasculation Proclamation.
On the night of April 14, 1865, Lincoln went to the theater and got shot in his seat by one of the actors in a moving picture show. They believe the assassinator was John Wilkes Booth, a supposingly insane actor. This ruined Booth's career.
Johann Bach wrote a great many musical compositions and had a large number of children. In between he practiced on an old spinster which he kept up in his attic. Bach died from 1750 to the present. Bach was the most famous composer in the world and so was Handel. Handel was half German, half Italian, and half English. He was very large.
Beethoven wrote music even though he was deaf. He was so deaf that he wrote loud music and became the father of rock and roll. He took long walks in the forest even when everyone was calling for him. Beethoven expired in 1827 and later died for this.
The nineteenth century was a time of a great many thoughts and inventions. People stopped reproducing by hand and started reproducing by machine. The invention of the steamboat caused a network of rivers to spring up.
Cyrus McCormick invented the McCormick raper, which did the work of a hundred men. Louis Pasteur discovered a cure for rabbits, but I don't know why.
Charles Darwin was a naturalist. He wrote the Organ of the Species. It was very long, people got upset about it, and had trials to see if it was really true. He sort of said God's days were not just 24 hours, but without watches who knew anyhow? I don't get it.
Madman Curie discovered radio. She was the first woman to do what she did. Other women have become scientists since her but they didn't get to find radios because they were already taken.
Karl Marx was one of the Marx Brothers. The other three were in the movies. Karl made speeches and started revolutions. Someone in the family had to have a job, I guess.
(Precise source unknown. Thanks CB]
love quotes
"Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness." (Bertrand Russell)
"Come, let us make love deathless." (Herbert Trench, 1901)
"And so to bed..." (Samuel Pepys not exactly written originally in a love context, but it works...)
"All's fair in love and war." (Francis Smedley, from his novel 'Frank Farleigh', 1850)
"Man's love is of man's life a thing apart, 'Tis woman's whole existence." (Lord Byron, from Don Juan, 1824.)
"Pleasure's a sin, and sometimes sin's a pleasure." (Lord Byron, from Don Juan, 1824.)
"Of all pains, the greatest pain, Is to love, and to love in vain." (George Granville, 1666 1735.)
"Heaven has no rage, like love to hatred turned, Nor Hell a fury, like a woman scorned." (William Congreve, from 'The Mourning Bride', 1697.)
"The nakedness of woman is the work of God." (William Blake)
"Wherefore there are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together let not man put asunder." (Matthew 19:6)
"The female of the species is more deadly than the male." (Rudyard Kipling, 1919)
"C'mon, baby, light my fire." (Jim Morrison and Robby Krieger, from the Doors' 'Light My Fire', 1967.)
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latin love quotes
"Amor vincit omnia." (Love conquers all - this timeless quote is first recorded in the introduction (first meeting with the pilgrims) of "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400), the satire about religion and human hypocrisy. The story has it that the quote was written on the back of a (particularly valuable looking) medallion worn, ironically, by a nun, referred to as 'The Prioress'. (Ack CLB)
"Ad infinitum." (Endlessly)
"Aeternus." (Everlasting)
"Meminerunt omnia amantes." (Lovers remember everything - Ovid)
"Odi et amo: quare id faciam, fortasse requiris. Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior." ("I hate and I love: why I do so you may well ask, but I feel it happen and am in agony." (Catullus, Roman poet, 8454BC, from 'Carmina'
motivational inspirational quotes for self-development, personal fulfillment, management, leadership, ethical business, organisational development and life
See the section on motivation for explanation of why quotes and sayings inspire people, including yourself, and how these inspirational quotes stimulate motivation and self-belief, and promote self-development, personal growth and fulfilment.
"Compassion is not weakness, and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism." (Hubert H Humphrey, 1911-78, American Democratic politician.)
"Get involved in an issue that you're passionate about. It almost doesn't matter what it is ... We give too much of our power away, to the professional politicians, to the lobbyists, to cynicism. And our democracy suffers as a result." (Barack Obama, b.1961, US senator for Illinois and US presidential alternative, from a publicity interview about his 2006 book, Audacity of Hope.)
"When you focus on solving problems instead of scoring political points, and emphasize common sense over ideology, you'd be surprised what can be accomplished." (Barack Obama, b.1961, US senator for Illinois and US presidential alternative, from a publicity interview about his 2006 book, Audacity of Hope.)
"How doth the little busy bee improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day from every opening flower."
(Isaac Watts, 1674-1748, English independent minister and hymn writer, from 'Against Idleness and Mischief' in which also appears the famous expression: "For Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.")
"Don't hurry, don't worry. You're only here for a short visit. So be sure to stop and smell the flowers." (Walter C Hagen, 1892-1969, American world champion golfer, from the New York Times, 22 May 1977.)
"Everything is data." (This expression, whose origin is unclear and is probably untraceable, most typically occurs in the field of information management, but its meaning comes to life when used in the context of human relationships and behaviour. To explain: in the information management context the operative word is 'everything', meaning that every piece of information is relevant and is worthy of recording and analysing. This of course is perfectly fine, and is true for many situations. However in the human relationships context, 'data' is the operative word, meaning that everything (whatever it is) should be regarded objectively and non-judgementally. Data isn't necessarily good or bad. Data just 'is'. As such, "Everything is data," reminds us of the importance of seeing things for what they are, and not how we feel about them. The expression helps us to be objective and fair, and to put our feelings and emotions to one side when reacting and making decisions, especially when our reactions and decisions affect others. Thanks B Heyn for inspiring this.)
"No cord nor cable can so forcibly draw, or hold so fast, as love can do with a twined thread." (Robert Burton, 1577-1640, English writer and clergyman, from The Anatomy of Melancholy, written 1621-51.)
"I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended." (Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, born 1918, South African lawyer, statesman and 1993 Nobel Peace Prizewinner. This quote is from Mandela's inspirational 1994 book, Long Walk to Freedom.)
"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth - and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up, we will then begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." (Dr Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, 1926-2004, psychiatrist, humanitarian, teacher, author, and pioneer of bereavement and hospice care. Used with permission, with thanks to www.ekrfoundation.org and www.elisabethkublerross.com.)
"It is in exchanging the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance and be satisfied. Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger." (Kahlil Gibran, 1883-1931, Syrian writer, poet and artist, from his inspirational book The Prophet)
"In one of my classes I ask my students to write on the subject, 'If I were to die tomorrow, how would I live tonight?' Answering this question always brings great insight." (Professor Leo F Buscaglia, 1924-1998, teacher, writer and humanitarian, from his remarkable book, Love, 1972.)
"Carpe Diem" ('Seize the day', Horace, 65-8BC, Roman poet, from 'Odes' Book 1.)
"Aut Viam Invenium Aut Facium" ('Where there's a will there's a way', literally, 'I'll either find a way or make one'.)
"Cogito Ergo Sum" ('I think, therefore I exist', popularised by René Descartes, 1596-1650, French philosopher, from Discourse on Method, 1637.)
"Facta Non Verba" ('Actions speak louder than words', literally, 'Deeds not words'.)
"We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are." (Attributed to Anais Nin, French-born American writer, 1903-1977.)
"The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances." (Martha Washington, 1731-1802, wife of US President George Washington and the first US First Lady, 1789-1797. Ack Douglas Miller, writer, who features this quote in his excellent book 'Positive Thinking, Positive Action'.)
"While you teach, you learn." (Based on the words of Seneca The Younger, 4BC-AD65, Roman philosopher and poet: "Even while men teach, men learn", from Epistulae Morales 7:viii.)
"Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they're yours." (Richard Bach, b.1936, American writer and pilot, from his 1977 book, Illusions.)
"If you don't know what port you are sailing to, no wind is favourable." (Seneca 'The Younger', 4BC-AD65, Roman philosopher and poet, translated loosely from the original Latin: "Ignoranti, quem portum petat, nullus suus ventus est", from Epistulae Morales 73:iii.)
"It is the weak who are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong." (Leo Rosten, 1908-1997, US academic, teacher and writer, as referenced by Leo Buscaglia in his 1972 book called Love.)
"No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care." (Variously attributed, including almost certainly wrongly to Theodore Roosevelt. Most likely origin seems to be Don Swartz, a US broadcaster and entertainer. A different Don Swartz, an American change management consultant and writer has confirmed he is not the author of this quote. If you know for sure please tell me. Ack L Harris.)
"Cerca Trova" ('Seek and you shall find', or 'He who searches shall find' an old Italian saying, pronounced 'cherka-trohva'. The saying originally appears - although not in Italian of course - in the Bible, Matthew VII;vii as "Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you." The later Italian 'Cerca Trova' version partly owes its popularity to the artist Giorgio Vasari who used it in a fresco he painted on a wall of The Hall of Five Hundred in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence around 1563. The words Cerca Trova appear on a soldier's banner, and are believed by some to be a reference to the great 'lost' mural by Leonardo da Vinci, The Battle of Anghiari, painted around 1500, depicting the Florentine victory over Milan, which previously adorned the wall and which Vasari was commissioned to cover in celebration of the ruling Medici family. Efforts are ongoing in Florence to solve the mystery of whether Leonardo's painting is indeed hidden and recoverable beneath Vasari's work.)
"If you don't create your reality, your reality will create you." (Lizzie West, b.1973, American singer-songwriter. Incidentally Lizzie West, aside from her wonderful talent, humanitarian philosophy and social justice activities, also wrote and performed a beautiful interpretation of the Mary Frye poem, 'Do not stand at my grave and weep', which appears on her CD 'Holy Road: Freedom Songs', track title 'Prayer'. Lizzie West's second album is an exceptional work too.)
"In the factory we make cosmetics. In the store we sell hope." (Charles Revson, 1906-75, founder of the Revlon corporation, as quoted by his biographer Andrew Tobias in the 1976 book Fire and Ice. While Revson is not a great model for responsible and compassionate leadership, this quote illustrates well an essential aspect of business and selling and communications, ie., that people need to know what something means to them, beyond what something merely is.)
"The salary of the chief executive of the large corporation is not a market award for achievement. It is frequently in the nature of a warm personal gesture by the individual to himself." (John Kenneth Galbraith, 1908-2006, American economist and social responsibility advocate - the quote is from Annals of an Abiding Liberal, 1980, and sadly it remains widely applicable today.)
"I forget what I was taught, I only remember what I've learnt." (Patrick White, 1912-90, Australian novelist and 1973 Nobel Prizewinner for Literature, from The Solid Mandala, 1966)
"The best careers advice to give to the young is 'Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it'." (Katherine Whitehorn, b.1926, English journalist and writer, from The Observer in 1975 - the principle applies today still, and to grown-up careers too..)
"How can I take an interest in my work when I don't like it?" (Francis Bacon, 1909-93, English philosopher and statesman, attributed.)
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." (John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, aka Lord Acton of Aldenham, 1834-1902, English historian and founding editor of the Cambridge Modern History, in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 1887. We've all heard the quote, but not many know its origins.)
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." (Anne Frank, 1929-45, German Jewish diarist and holocaust victim, from The Diary of Anne Frank, first published in 1947.)
"In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart." (Anne Frank, 1929-45, German Jewish diarist and holocaust victim, from The Diary of Anne Frank, entry dated 15 July 1944.)
"Compassion is not a sloppy sentimental feeling for people who are underprivileged or sick... it is an absolutely practical belief that regardless of a person's background, ability or ability to pay, he should be provided with the best that society has to offer." (Neil Kinnock, b.1942, Welsh Labour politician, from his maiden speech in 1970.)
"Once the last tree is cut and the last river poisoned, you will find you cannot eat your money." (Traditional saying, referenced by Joyce McLean in the Globe and Mail, 1989.)
"My barn having burned to the ground, I can now see the moon." (Traditional Japanese haiku verse teaching us to see the good in all things, referenced by Leo Buscaglia in his 1972 book called Love.)
"I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness I can show to any fellow-creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again." (Variously attributed to quakers Stephen Grellet, 1773-1855, and William Penn, 1644-1718, and to Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian spiritual leader, humanitarian and constitutional independence reformer. This quote is also shown as a slightly different version, as below.)
"I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness I can show to any fellow human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again." (Variously attributed to quakers Stephen Grellet, 1773-1855, and William Penn, 1644-1718, and to Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian spiritual leader, humanitarian and constitutional independence reformer. This quote is also shown as a slightly different version, as above.)
"If you don't know where you are going you will probably end up somewhere else." (Laurence Peter, 1919-90, Canadian academic and expert on organised hierarchies, from his 1969 book The Peter Principle.)
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man can't make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." (John Ruskin, 1819-1900, English art critic and social commentator, thanks R Parker)
And some more lovely Ruskin quotes:
"There is no wealth but life."
"Better the rudest work that tells a story or records a fact, than the richest without meaning."
"To know anything well involves a profound sensation of ignorance."
"Let us reform our schools and we shall find little reform needed in our prisons."
"The essence of lying is in deception, not in words." (See the Mehrabian item for related theory and explanation.)
"Every increased possession loads us with a new weariness."
(John Ruskin, 1819-1900, English art critic and social commentator)
the everybody somebody anybody nobody story (or poem)
The 'everybody somebody...' story (also referred to as a poem) appears in a wide variety of forms - often with the title - 'That's Not My Job' or 'Who's To Blame?' The sequence of the words (everybody, somebody, anybody, nobody) also varies in the headings of different versions. The order shown here seems most popular and logical, although I'm open to better suggestions. Most common first lines are either: 'This is a story about four people..' or 'There were four people named.. (everybody somebody anybody nobody...)'
The story, or poem, is probably a shortened simplified version of the longer 'A Poem About Responsibility' (below), which is apparently by Charles Osgood (the American CBS News anchorman and writer?). Perhaps it's the other way around and the Osgood poem is an extended version of the shorter one, although this seems less likely. If anyone can provide any further details about the Osgood poem, or the origins of the shorter version (for instance is Osgood the US news presenter or a different Osgood?, and when was the poem published?, etc), then please let me know.
I reckon this is closest to a definitive sensible short version. Adapt it to suit your situation. (Most versions seem to include the words in parentheses (brackets to some folk) although personally I think the verse is improved by taking these words out.)
That's Not My Job (aka Who's To Blame? Whose Responsibility? and The Everybody Somebody Anybody Nobody Story - take your pick...)
This is a story about four people: Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it.
Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did.
Somebody got angry (about that) because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody knew that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realised that Somebody wouldn't do it.
And (/It ended up that) Everybody blamed Somebody because (/when) Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
or the alternative last line:
And (/It ended up that) Everybody blamed Somebody because Nobody actually asked Anybody.
(The alternative last line is more appropriate for illustrating principles of responsibility and delegation, whereas the one above it is more appropriate for principles of individuals taking personal responsibility, irrespective of delegation):
Please bear in mind that the Osgood poem below is likely to be subject to copyright and so care should be taken when using it. Further details of copyright will be shown here when I discover them. Of course the shorter 'everybody somebody... story' might also be subject to copyright, who knows? If you do please tell me. I am featuring both here to show that the 'Somebody Anybody Everybody Nobody' poem has a big brother, which might well pre-date it and as such deserves some credit, along with Charles Osgood, assuming he wrote it.
a poem about responsibility
There was a most important job that needed to be done,
And no reason not to do it, there was absolutely none.
But in vital matters such as this, the thing you have to ask
Is who exactly will it be who'll carry out the task?
Anybody could have told you that everybody knew
That this was something somebody would surely have to do.
Nobody was unwilling; anybody had the ability.
But nobody believed that it was their responsibility.
It seemed to be a job that anybody could have done,
If anybody thought he was supposed to be the one.
But since everybody recognised that anybody could,
Everybody took for granted that somebody would.
But nobody told anybody that we are aware of,
That he would be in charge of seeing it was taken care of.
And nobody took it on himself to follow through,
And do what everybody thought that somebody would do.
When what everybody needed so did not get done at all,
Everybody was complaining that somebody dropped the ball.
Anybody then could see it was an awful crying shame,
And everybody looked around for somebody to blame.
Somebody should have done the job
And Everybody should have,
But in the end Nobody did
What Anybody could have.
Charles Osgood
If you can confirm the authorship of this poem or the short versions please let me know.
With thanks to the many people who've enquired about this or sent different versions of the short version suggesting it be included on the site.
"Don't be afraid to take a big step when one is indicated. You can't cross a chasm in two small steps." (David Lloyd George, 1863-1945, Welsh Liberal Statesman - with acknowledgements to Barbara Heyn.)
"We must become the change we want to see." (Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian statesman and spiritual leader, humanitarian and constitutional independence reformer - ack B Heyn.)
"It is only as we develop others that we permanently succeed." (Harvey Samuel Firestone, 1868-1938, US industrialist, and founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, who pioneered the pneumatic car tyre for the Model-T Ford - ack B Heyn.)
"The workplace should primarily be an incubator for the human spirit." (Anita Roddick, born 1942, British businesswoman, founder of the Body Shop organisation, writer and humanitarian.)
"There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all." (Peter Drucker, 1909-2005, Austrian born US management guru, writer and seminal business thinker.)
"The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it." (William James, 1842-1910, US psychologist and philosopher)
"Lives based on having are less free than lives based either on doing or being." (William James, 1842-1910, US psychologist and philosopher.)
"Be willing to have it so; acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune." (William James, 1842-1910, US psychologist and philosopher.)
"Cocaine is God's way of saying you are making too much money." (attributed to Robin Williams, US comedian and actor, and also to rock musician and occasional actor Sting, each coincidentally born in 1951)
"A war regarded as inevitable or even probable, and therefore much prepared for, has a very good chance of eventually being fought." (Anais Nin, 1903-1977, French-born American writer and psychoanalyst - see also the Murphy's Plough story)
A lesson from a great man:
"My great mistake, the fault for which I can't forgive myself, is that one day I ceased my obstinate pursuit of my own individuality." (Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900, Irish playwright, poet and humorist)
"Along this tree
From root to crown
Ideas flow up
And vetoes down."
(Peter F Drucker, 1909-2005, Austrian born US management guru, writer and seminal business thinker. If this quote applies to your organisation then do what you can to change things.)
the 'success poem' (and its origins..)
"Success - To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived; this is to have succeeded." N.B. The origin of this quote has never been reliably established, despite it being commonly and possibly wrongly attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet, writer, philosopher, 1803-82. There seems clear evidence that a different version of the 'Success' poem was written in 1904 by Bessie A Stanley, an American housewife, in winning a competition organised by the Lincoln Sentinel newspaper, Kansas USA. Bessie Stanley's version apparently appeared in the authoritative Bartlett's Familiar Quotations until the 1960's. See the research by Dirk Kelder, and Robin Olsen which argues strongly that Bessie Stanley's version is the original: "Success - He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much; who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction." (Bessie A Stanley, 1904)
"When every situation which life can offer is turned to the profit of spiritual growth, no situation can really be a bad one." (Paul Brunton, 1898-1981, writer and philosopher, thanks G Eardley)
"One hundred percent of the shots you don't take don't go in." (Wayne Gretzky, former National Hockey League superstar. (Ack D Christian)
"In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing." (attributed to Theodore Roosevelt. Ack DC)
"People who regard themselves as highly efficacious act, think, and feel differently from those who perceive themselves as inefficacious. They produce their own future, rather than simply foretell it." (Albert Bandura, b.1925, American psychologist, writer, academic and prioneer of social cognitive theory, notably the 'self-regulatory mechanisms through which people exercise some measure of control over their thought processes, motivation, emotional life, and accomplishments' - see the quote below also. Incidentally, 'efficacious' means 'sure to produce desired effect'.)
"Humans are producers of their life circumstance not just products of them." (Albert Bandura - see above.)
"A gossip talks to you about other people. A bore talks about himself. A brilliant conversationalist talks to you about yourself." (attributed to William King, whoever he was - possibly William Rufus King, 1786-1853, the US politician and US Vice President, or more likely judging by similarly witty quotes attributed to him, William Lyon Mackenzie King, 1874-1950, Canadian Prime Minister. See the notes on empathy.)
"Nietzsche was the one who did the job for me. At a certain moment in his life, the idea came to him of what he called 'the love of your fate'. Whatever your fate is, whatever the hell happens, you say, 'This is what I need.' It may look like a wreck, but go at it as though it were an opportunity, a challenge. If you bring love to that moment - not discouragement - you will find the strength is there. Any disaster that you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life. What a privilege! This is when the spontaneity of your own nature will have a chance to flow. Then, when looking back at your life, you will see that the moments which seemed to be great failures followed by wreckage were the incidents that shaped the life you have now. You'll see that this is really true. Nothing can happen to you that is not positive. Even though it looks and feels at the moment like a negative crisis, it is not. The crisis throws you back, and when you are required to exhibit strength, it comes." (Joseph Campbell 1904-87, American writer, anthropologist and philosopher - see the related Nietzsche quote below)
"There are victories of the soul and spirit. Sometimes, even if you lose, you win." (Elie Wiesel, b.1928 in Transylvania, Holocaust survivor, American citizen since 1963, author of several significant humanitarian books, 1976 Andrew Mellon Professor of Humanities at Boston University, 1978 appointed Chairman of the President's Commission on the Holocaust, 1980 Founding Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 1986 Nobel Peace Prizewinner and established the The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, which seeks to promote and aid the nurturing and inspiration of young people to build a better, more harmonious and humane world. With thanks to C Byrd and her teacher Da Shi Yin De. This wonderful quote provides an inspirational example of a deeply positive attitude to life and experience far beyond conventional measurement of reward.)
"Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Whenever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe." (Elie Wiesel, writer)
"Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question." (Edward Estlin Cummings 1938, poet, 1894-1962. Think about it. Whatever its original context, the quote serves well to illustrate a central idea of coaching and helping people; ie., when someone asks for advice, they don't want someone else's answer, instead, they want help finding their own. A 'more beautiful question' can provide such help. This philosophy is also characterised in Sharon Drew Morgen's Facilitation methodology.)
"Seeker of truth, follow no path. All paths lead where truth is. Here." (EE Cummings. Incidentally there is plenty of evidence that Cummings did not expressly wish his name to be shown in lower case: 'e e cummings', as is the common pratice. Cummins did use lower case in his poetry but the consistent use of lower case for his name has been perpetuated by commentators since his death, erroneously.)
"Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is." (Will Rogers, cowboy, actor, philanthropist, 1879-1935. Ack CB)
"The average man's opinions are much less foolish than they would be if he thought for himself." (Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970, English philosopher, mathematician, writer, peace-campaigner and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950.)
"I have heard many stories about parents who have hurt their children so much, planting many seeds of suffering in them. But I believe that the parents did not mean to plant those seeds. They did not intend to make their children suffer. Maybe they received the same kind of seeds from their parents. There is a continuation in the transmission of seeds, and their father and mother might have gotten those seeds from their grandfather and grandmother. Most of us are victims of a kind of living that is not mindful, and the practice of mindful living, of meditation, can stop these kinds of suffering and end the transmission of such sorrow to our children and grandchildren. We can break the cycle by not allowing these kinds of seeds of suffering to be transmitted to our children, our friends, or anyone else." (Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Buddhist author, from 'Peace is Every Step' - this quote is a wonderful antidote for the desperation of Larkin's 'This Be The Verse' on the same subject of parental effects on children. Both quotes are excellent illustrations for Transactional Analysis, as is the wonderful Person Who Had Feelings story.)
"I shall tell you a great secret, my friend. Do not wait for the last judgement. It takes place every day." (Albert Camus, writer and philosopher, 1913-60, from 'La Chute', meaning 'The Fall', 1956.)
"Some men see things as they are and ask 'why?'; I dare to dream of things that never were and ask 'why not?'." (commonly attributed to Bobby Kennedy because when he used it he failed to credit the actual originator, George Bernard Shaw.)
"Make your heart like a lake, with calm, still surface, and great depths of kindness." (Lao Tzu, ack JH)
"Instead of making others right or wrong, or bottling up right and wrong in ourselves, there's a middle way, a very powerful middle way...... Could we have no agenda when we walk into a room with another person, not know what to say, not make that person wrong or right? Could we see, hear, feel other people as they really are? It is powerful to practice this way..... true communication can happen only in that open space." (Pema Chodron, Buddhist nun who runs Gammpo Abbey retreat in Nova Scotia - thanks CB)
"What is the world full of? It is full of things that arise, persist, and cease. Grasp and cling to them, and they produce suffering. Don't grasp and cling to them, and they do not produce suffering." (Ajahn Buddhadasa - thanks CB)
"Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go; it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow." (Alice Mackenzie Swaim - thanks CB)
"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." (Jack London, Ack CB)
"Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." (Anais Nin, French-born American writer, 1903-1977, Ack CB)
"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire." (Fred Shero, Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers hockey coach - Ack P Ho)
"Fantastic things happen - to the way we feel, to the way we make other people feel. All this simply by using positive words." (Professor Leo F Buscaglia, teacher, writer and humanitarian, 1924-1998)
"It's not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of personkind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely." (Leo F Buscaglia)
"Ninety per-cent of what we worry about never happens, yet we worry and worry. What a horrible way to go through life! What a horrible thing to do to your colon!" (Leo F Buscaglia, thanks Wayne)
"We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are." (Anais Nin, French-born American writer 1903-77. Ack Ray Dodd - the quote appears in his book 'The Power Of Belief')
"(You have a choice as to whether) you are either part of the steam roller or part of the road." (unknown - ack TW - aphorism/argument for adopting a new idea, adapting to change, or contributing to performance improvement, rather like Eldridge Cleaver's wonderful quote "If you're not part of the solution..."
"The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones." (unknown, ack TW)
"If your enemy turns to flee, give him a silver bridge." (Spanish proverb, in Spanish: "A enemigo que huye puente de plata.")
"We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is within it - and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove lid again - and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one any more." (Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American author and commentator, aka Samuel L Clemens)
"To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom." (Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970)
"Many highly intelligent people are poor thinkers. Many people of average intelligence are skilled thinkers. The power of a car is separate from the way a car is driven." (Edward de Bono, b.1933, British psychologist, writer and expert on thinking.)
"Character building begins in our infancy, and continues until death." (Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962, US humanitarian and wife of President Franklin D Roosevelt.)
"No-one can make you feel inferior without your consent." (Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962, US humanitarian) See Transactional Analysis, of which a helpful principle and related maxim is "suffering is optional". (ack Anita Mountain)
"A mistake is only a mistake if you don't learn from it." (Unknown, Ack KN)
"With every willing pair of hands comes a free brain." (Unknown, Ack KN)
"Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed." (Mark Twain)
"Always do the right thing. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest." (Mark Twain)
"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything." (Mark Twain - Thanks IM for these three Twain quotes)
"No-one ever listened themselves out of a job." (Calvin Coolidge, US President. Ack JC)
"There is none so blind as those who will not listen." (William Slater)
"In the midst of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." (Albert Camus, 1913-1960, French author & philosopher)
"Too many have dispensed with generosity in order to practice charity." (Albert Camus)
"We seldom confide in those who are better than we are." (Albert Camus, from La Chute, 1956)
"You cannot acquire experience by making experiments. You cannot create experience. You must undergo it." (Albert Camus)
"Do not walk behind me, I may not lead. Do not walk in front of me, I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend." (attributed to Albert Camus)
"People ask the difference between a leader and a boss.... The leader works in the open, and the boss in covert. The leader leads and the boss drives." (Theodore Roosevelt)
"The marksman hitteth the target partly by pulling, partly by letting go. The boatsman reacheth the landing partly by pulling, partly by letting go." (Egyptian proverb)
"No man is fit to command another that cannot command himself." (William Penn)
"Take what you want. And then pay." (Aztec proverb, apparently..)
"Difficulty is not an obstacle, it is merely an attribute". (Wal Sakaluk)
"If it's hard to do, then you're doing it wrong." (Lynn Doolan)
"We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them." (Albert Einstein)
"The true voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." (Marcel Proust. Thanks Robert Vázquez Pacheco)
"Despise violence. Despise national vanity and selflove. Protect the territory of conscience." (Susan Sontag. Thanks RVP)
"The future's already here; it just isn't evenly distributed." (William Gibson, science fiction writer)
"We are born princes and the civilizing process makes us frogs". (Eric Berne. Thanks CB)
"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind." (Rudyard Kipling. Thanks CB)
"Good management consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people." (John D Rockerfeller, 1839-1937, US oil magnate and philanthropist. The judgemental description of some people being 'average' should not distract from the essential principle that good managers help other people to do great things.)
"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." (Harry S Truman, 1884-1972, US President)
"I not only use all the brains I have, but all I can borrow." (Woodrow Wilson)
"Before you speak, ask yourself: Is it kind, is it necessary, is it true, does it improve on the silence?" (Shirdi Sai Baba, Indian saint thanks Carole Byrd)
"Don't tell my mother I'm in politics: she thinks I play the piano in a whorehouse." (Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American writer and journalist)
"If you're not part of the solution you must be part of the problem." (the commonly paraphrased version of the original quote: "What we're saying today is that you're either part of the solution, or you're part of the problem" by Eldridge Cleaver 1935-98, founder member and information minister of the Black Panthers, American political activist group, in a speech in 1968. (thanks RVP)
"What should it profit a man if he would gain the whole world yet lose his soul." (The Holy Bible, Mark 8:36)
"A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline." (Harvey Mackay, thanks Brad Hanson)
"Form follows function." (Louis Henri Sullivan, American architect, 1856-1924)
"I strive to be brief, and I become obscure." (Horace, Roman poet, 65-8 BC)
"I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles overcome while trying to succeed." (Booker T Washington, 1856-1915, American Educator and African-American spokesman, thanks for quote M Kincaid, and for biography correction M Yates and A Chatterjee)
"A person who graduated yesterday and stops studying today is uneducated tomorrow." (Origin unknown thanks BLP)
"Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second. Give your dreams all you've got and you'll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you." (William James, 1842-1910, American Philosopher, thanks Jean Stevens)
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer, 1749-1832, thanks Yvonne Bent)
"Respice, adspice, prospice." ("Look to the past the present and the future." Thanks Amy Willis)
"Don't let yesterday take up too much of today." (Will Rogers, 1879-1935, cowboy, actor, philanthropist)
"Nemo surdior est quam is qui non audiet." ("No man is more deaf than he who will not hear." Origin unknown, thanks AW)
"It requires a very unusual mind to undertake the analysis of the obvious." (Alfred N Whitehead, 1861-1947, thanks Katherine Hull)
"Intelligence is quickness to apprehend, as distinct from ability, which is capacity to act wisely on the thing apprehended." (AN Whitehead)
"Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple, learn how to look after them, and pretty soon you have a dozen." (John Steinbeck)
"You can't talk your way out of a situation you behave yourself into." (Dr Stephen Covey, thanks Eric Welburn)
"Catch a man a fish feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and feed him for life." (Unknown)
"There is sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed." (Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian statesman and spiritual leader, humanitarian and constitutional independence reformer.)
"The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win you are still a rat." (Lily Tomlin, 1939- , US actress)
"Better go home and make a net, rather than dive for fish at random." (Chinese proverb)
"I keep six honest serving men, (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When, And How and Where and Who." (Rudyard Kipling, from 'Just So Stories', 1902.)
"A dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than the giant himself." (attributed variously to Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, aka Lucan, Roman poet, AD39-65, and to Didacus Stella, aka Diego de Estella, Spanish theologian, 1524-78, and others since including Coleridge and Newton. See the Newton quote below.)
"If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." (Sir Isaac Newton, 1643-1727, English physicist and philosopher, written in 1676 seemingly to fellow scientist Robert Hooke, and, as a matter of interest, abridged on the edge of the English modern £2 coin, apparently in Newton's honour. See also the Lucanus/Stella quote on the same subject above.)
"A camel is a horse designed by a committeee." (Sir Alec Issigonis, 1906-88, Turkish-born British car designer - designer of the Morris Minor and original Austin Mini - incidentally James Surowiecki's wonderful book The Wisdom of Crowds presents an excellent perspective on the merits and strengths of collective wisdom.)
"Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful." (Samuel Johnson 1709- 84)
"The most important thing in life is not to capitalise on your successes; any fool can do that. The really important thing is to profit from your mistakes." (William Bolitho, from 'Twelve against the Gods')
"It is with the heart that one sees rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." (Antoine de Saint Exupery from The Little Prince)
"Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be,
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance,
I have not winced nor cried aloud:
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody but unbowed...
It matters not how strait the gait,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul."
(William Ernest Henley, 1849-1903, from 'Invictus', more precisely titled: Echoes, No4, In Memoriam RT Hamilton Bruce, written in 1888.)
"Everybody can get angry, that's easy. But getting angry at the right person, with the right intensity, at the right time, for the right reason and in the right way that's hard." (Aristotle)
"Politics is the art of the possible." (Prince Otto von Bismarck, 1867)
"We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run down." (Aneurin Bevan)
"Even if you think you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." (Will Rogers, American cowboy, actor and humorist. Ack N Borkowski)
"The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do." (Samuel Jefferson)
"Seek first to understand, and then to be understood." (Dr Stephen Covey) N.B. Stephen Covey's maxim closely resembles a couple of lines from the 'Peace Prayer of St Francis of Assisi' which typically shows the sentiment as "....grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand;...". Interestingly although the prayer is eponymously titled and widely attributed to St Francis no-one actually knows its true origins. The prayer was apparently first published in a small spiritual magazine La Clochette in 1912 by a Catholic association called La League de la Sainte-Messa, under the auspice of its founder Father Esther Bouquerel. At this time the prayer was not attributed to St Francis; it appeared as an anonymous item. Significantly around 1920 the prayer was printed by a French Franciscan priest on the reverse of an image of St Francis, titled 'Priere pour la Paix' (Prayer for Peace), but again anonymously. This however seems to have led to the subsequent attribution of the prayer to St Francis, initially by a French Protestant movement, 'Les Chevaliers du Prince de la Paix' (the Knights of the Prince of Peace) in 1927; later by Kirby Page, a minister and writer, in his 1936 book 'Living Dangerously'; and also in US Cardinal Spellman's books around the late 1930's and 1940's. (Source: franciscan-archive.org, which refers to the research of Dr Christian Renoux into this prayer, and which is summarised above. I am also grateful to Thomas Ryan for alerting me to the fact that the prayer existed before Covey's quote.)
"Management means helping people to get the best out of themselves, not organising things." (Lauren Appley)
"He who wishes to talk well must first think well." (Origin unknown)
"When you speak, your speech should be better than your silence would have been." (Origin unknown)
"It's not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred with the sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause and who, at best knows the triumph of high achievement and who at worst, if he fails, at least 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, 1858-1919, 26th US President and 1906 Nobel Peace Prize-winner.)
"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?" (Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian spiritual leader, humanitarian and constitutional independence reformer.)
"Experto Credite." ("Trust one who has proved it." Virgil, 2,000 years ago.)
"Life is like a very short visit to a toyshop between birth and death." (Desmond Morris, 1991.)
"Whoever in debate quotes authority uses not intellect, but memory." (Leonardo Da Vinci)
"If you don't agree with me it means you haven't been listening." (Sam Markewich.)
"The world is divided into people who do things, and people who get the credit. Try, if you can, to belong to the first class. There's far less competition." (Dwight Morrow, 1935.)
"What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure." (Samuel Johnson.)
"This report, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read." (Sir Winston Churchill.)
"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." (Confucius 551-479 BC)
"When you are thirsty, it's too late to dig a well." (Japanese Proverb.)
"You can't clear the swamp when you're up to your **** in alligators." (Traditional, unknown.)
"The future of work consists of learning a living." (Marshall McLuhan, 1911-1980.)
"If it ain't broke don't fix it." (Bert Lance, member of Jimmer Carter's US government, 1977.)
"The best time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining." (John F Kennedy)
"He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and dance; one cannot fly into flying." (Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900.)
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." (Nietzsche.)
"What does not kill us makes us stronger." (attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher, 1844-1900, based on his words: "Out of life's school of war: What does not destroy me, makes me stronger." from The Twilight of the Idols, 1899.)
"The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas." (Linus Pauling.)
"What is worth doing is worth the trouble of asking somebody to do it." (Ambrose Bierce, 1842-1914.)
"Behind an able man there are always other able men." (Chinese Proverb.)
"Understanding human needs is half the job of meeting them." (Adlai Stevenson, 1900-1965.)
"I have always said that if I were a rich man I'd hire a professional praiser." (Sir Osbert Sitwell, 1892-1969.)
"A life spent in making mistakes is not only more honourable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." (George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950.)
"Managers are people who never put off until tomorrow what they can get somebody else to do today." (Unknown.)
"Not in doing what you like best, in liking what you do is the secret of happiness." (Sir James Matthew Barrie, aka J M Barrie, 1860-1937, Scottish novelist and playwright - creator of Peter Pan, 1904)
"I praise loudly. I blame softly." (Catherine the Great, 1729-1796.)
"Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardour and attended to with diligence." (Abigail Adams in 1780. Thanks to John Mcgregor)
"The cream always rises to the top." (Unknown.)
"Nature abhors a vacuum." (generally attributed to Benedict de Spinoza [aka Baruch - Hebrew name], 1632-77, Dutch philosopher and theologian, born of Jewish family in Amsterdam, the quote is from 'Ethics' [Ethica Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata], published posthumously 1677, Part I, Proposition, [the Everyman edition, translated by Adam Boyle]. During his lifetime Benedict de Spinoza's work was regarded as atheistical and subversive, and led to his expulsion from the Jewish community for heresy in 1656. His ideas grew in popularity with support after his death notably from Lessing, Goethe, Coleridge, and he is now regarded by professional philosophers as one of the great rationalist thinkers of the 17th century. [Source Bartletts Quotations and Chambers Biographies.] Interestingly however, Brewer in his 1870 dictionary attributes the expression to the Italian astronomer and all-round genuis Galileo, 1564-1642, who apparently used the expression 'nature abhors a vacuum' in describing how a water pump works. If Brewer was correct - and there is no reason to doubt him - then Galileo's use of the expression could well have predated the commonly referenced Benedict de Spinoza origin.)
"We do not want churches because they will teach us to quarrel about God..." (Chief Joseph, 1840-1904, of the Nez Percé Native Americans. With thanks to thedailyinspiration.com)
"You've got to be before you can do, and you've got to do before you can have." (Zig Ziglar)
"What is fame? an empty bubble; Gold? a transient shining trouble." (James Grainger, from 'Solitude', 1755)
funny quotes (allegedly real) newspaper headlines
17 Remain Dead In Morgue Shooting Spree
Coach Fire - Passengers Safely Alight
Grandmother Of Eight Makes A Hole In One
Something Went Wrong In Jet Crash, Experts Say
Police Begin Campaign To Run Down Jaywalkers
Drunks Get Nine Months In Violin Case
Eastern Head Seeks Arms
Prostitutes Appeal To Religious Leader
Failed Panda Mating - Veterinarian Takes Over
British Left Waffles On Falkland Islands
Teacher Strikes Idle Kids
President Wins Budget; More Lies Ahead
Plane Too Close To Ground, Crash Probe Told
Miners Refuse To Work After Death
Juvenile Court To Try Shooting Defendant
Stolen Painting Found By Tree
Two Sisters Reunited After 18 Years In Checkout
War Dims Hope For Peace
If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last A While
Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
Man Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge
New Study Of Obesity Looks For Larger Test Group
Astronaut Takes Blame For Gas In Space
Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
Local High School Dropouts Cut In Half
Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery - Hundreds Dead
(Thanks S Rolph and T Martinek for contributions)
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funny quotes (alleged) appraisals putdowns
Not recommended for use of course - rather to illustrate how not to do it..
"Takes him two hours to watch sixty minutes.."
"Gargled from the fountain of knowledge.."
"If you stand close enough to him you can hear the oceans.."
"If you gave him a penny for his thoughts you'd get change.."
"If he were any more stupid he'd have to be watered twice a week.."
"Has two brains: one is lost and the other is out looking for it.."
"Gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn't coming.."
"Donated his brain to science before he was done using it.."
"A prime candidate for natural deselection.."
"A photographic memory but with the lens cover glued on.."
"If you see two people talking and one looks bored, he's the other one.."
"When his IQ reaches 50 he should sell.."
"He brings a lot of joy whenever he leaves the room.."
"He has a knack for making strangers immediately.."
"He would argue with a signpost.."
"He's been working with glue too much.."
"I would like to go hunting with him sometime.."
"He doesn't have ulcers but he's a carrier.."
"Got a full sixpack but lacks the plastic thingy to hold it all together.."
"When she opens his mouth it seems that it is only to change feet.."
"Not so much of a 'hasbeen', more of a definite 'won'tbe'.."
"I would not allow this employee to breed.."
"His men would follow him anywhere, but only out of morbid curiosity.."
"He would be out of his depth in a car park puddle.."
"This person has delusions of adequacy.."
"Since my last report has reached rockbottom, and has started to dig.."
"Sets low standards and consistently fails to achieve them.."
"Has the wisdom of youth and the energy of old age.."
"Works well under constant supervision and when cornered like a rat in a trap.."
"You are on the crest of a slump." (this one thanks to Eric Welburn)
"The lights are on but nobody's at home.."
"The wheel is turning but the hamster is dead.."