Quotes

A couple of simple words can serve multiple purposes. Words of wisdom can be thought provoking, provide an opportunity for self-reflection, a source of motivation/inspiration or a change in mindset. Michael Yardney refers to quotes as being “vitamins for your mind”. However you look at it, the importance of growth and self-reflection can’t be understated.

The author has gathered these quotes over a number of years from various sources – the primary ones being “The Last Word” -Jack Gibson & Michael Yardney newsletters.

Interested in readers favourite quotes – feel free to add!!

Owning it

“Face the music even if you don’t like the tune” – William Feather

“It’s not what you leave to your kids, but what you leave in your kids” – Michael Yardney

“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.” – Tao Te Ching

“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet” – Mahatma Gandhi

“Once you’ve accepted your flaws, nobody can use them against you.” – Game of Thrones

“When you lose, don’t lose the lesson” – Dalai Lama

“We are all self-made but only the rich will admit it” – Jack Gibson

“Many people can be responsible for your success, but only you are responsible for your failure” – Unknown

“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of” – Jim Rohn

“A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.” – Ayn Rand

“Life is not a spectator sport” – Jackie Robinson

“If we can’t find a way we will make one” – Hannibal

“Don’t stop three steps short. It’s a state of mind. Three steps won’t make any difference fitness-wise but three steps make all difference to the psyche” – Wayne Bennett

“Lead me, follow me or get out of my way” – General Patton
Leadership

“A leader is a dealer in hope” – Napoleon Bonaparte

“If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time and you would achieve nothing” – Margaret Thatcher

“Access to power must be confined to men who are not in love with it’ – Plato

“I praise loudly. I blame softly” – Catherine ‘The Great’

“You can employ men and hire staff to work for you but you will have to win their hearts to have them work with you” – William Boetcker

“Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is against the right wall” – Stephen Covey

“The real leader has no need to lead – he is content to point the way” – Henry Miller

“In the wrong hands, an orchestra leader’s baton is just a stick” – Jack Gibson

“Example has more followers than reason” – Christian Bovee

Listening

“I never learned anything while I was talking” – Larry King

“Those who hear not music think the dancers mad” – Anonymous

“The more you say, the less people remember” – Anatole France

“A smart coach is one who thinks twice before saying nothing” – Anonymous

“It’s pretty difficult to keep your mind and your mouth open at the same time” – Anonymous

“We are born with our eyes closed and our mouths opened and we spend our whole lives trying to reverse that mistake of nature” – Dale Turner

“Listen with the intent to understand, not the intent to reply” – Stephen Covey

“When you talk to people about themselves they are never bored” – Jack Gibson

“Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; argument an exchange of ignorance” – Robert Quillen

“Praise does wonders for the sense of hearing” – Anonymous

“Talk is cheap but you can’t buy it back” – Lyle Sussman

“Learn to listen, opportunity sometimes knocks very softly” – Marge Percy

Character

“Our true character is that person we become when no one is watching.” – Unknown

“You can’t expect people to look eye to eye with you if you are looking down on them” – Anonymous

“Your self-worth is determined by you. You don’t have to depend on someone telling you who you are” – Beyonce

“Values are like fingerprints. Nobody’s are the same, but you leave’em all over everything you do”– Elvis Presley

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken” – Oscar Wilde

“Character is not made in a crisis – it is only exhibited” – Robert Freeman

“The trouble with school is they give you the answer, then they give you the exam. That’s not life” – Robert Kiyosaki

“There are no great men – only great challenges, which ordinary men are forced by circumstances to meet”– Wayne Bennett

“If you don’t invest much in the process then defeat doesn’t hurt and winning isn’t very exciting” – Dick Vermeil

“The player should be more concerned with his character than his reputation, because is what he really is, while his reputation is merely what others think he is” – Jack Gibson

“To me success isn’t outscoring someone; it’s piece of mind from self-satisfaction of doing your best. You can fool others but you can’t fool yourself” – John Wooden

“Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that’s right power” – Clint Eastwood

“You are what you are when nobody is looking” – Abigail Van Buren

“Anyone who has ever made anything of importance was disciplined”  – Andrew Hendrixson

“The first time you quit, it’s hard. The second time it gets easier. The third time, you don’t even have to think about it” – Paul Bryant

“When building a team I always search for people who love to win. If I can’t find those I look for people who hate to lose” – Ross Perot

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Henry Askins

“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going”- Jim Rohn

“Our biggest competition is never the others. Instead, it is always ourselves. It doesn’t matter if we end up with first or last place. If we do our best to do better than before, then we’ve won” – Clint Cora

“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people” – Eleanor Roosevelt

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

“The tragedy is that so many people look for self-confidence and self-respect everywhere except within themselves and so they fail in their search” – Nathaniel Branden

Growing

“The road to success is always under construction’ – Arnold Palmer

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

“A journey of thousand steps begins with a single step.” – Chinese proverb

“The four laws of learning are explanation, demonstration, imitation and repetition. The goal is to create a correct habit that can be produced instinctively under great pressure’ – John Wooden

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now” – Chinese proverb

“The minute that you’re not learning I believe you’re dead” – Jack Nicholson

“In today’s fast-changing world, it’s not so much what you know anymore that counts, because often what you know is old. It is how fast you learn. That skill is priceless” – Robert Kiyosaki

“Your life only gets better when you get better.” – Brian Tracy

“You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight”- Jim Rohn

“Waiting for perfect is never as smart as making progress.” – Seth Godin

“The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.” – Unknown

“Many people believe that stories are told to put people to sleep. I tell mine to wake them up” – Rabbi Nachman

“There’s always room for self-improvement- it’s the biggest room in the house” – Wayne Bennett

“Experience is a good teacher, but her fees are very high” – Dean Inge

“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance” – Derek Bok

Confidence

“Once you learn how good you really are, you never settle for being less than your best” – Reggie Jackson

“Confidence, like art, never comes from having all the answers; it comes from being open to all the questions.” – Anonymous

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” – Helen Keller

“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy” – Norman Vincent Peale

“The mind is everything. What you think you become” – Buddha

“After I won the Olympics, my mum used to tell me ‘Always believe in yourself – but never, believe your PR’ – Peggy Fleming

Dreams

“Success comes from having dreams that are bigger than your fears” – Terry Litwiller

“A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.” – Greg S. Reid

“Whatever you are thinking… THINK BIGGER!” – Tony Hsieh

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas Edison

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose”- Dr Seuss

“Map out your future but do it in pencil” – Bon Jovi

“There is one thing that 99% of “failures” and “successful” have in common – they hate doing the same things. The difference is successful people do them anyway” – Darren Hardy

“If you don’t build dream, someone will hire you to build theirs” – Tony Gaskins

“The best dreams happen when you’re awake.” – Cherie Gilderbloom

“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve” – Napoleon Hill

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” – Alan Kay

“I like thinking big. If you’re going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big.” – Donald Trump

“There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why… I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?” – Robert Kennedy

“Some people dream of great accomplishments, while others stay awake and do them” – Danielle Luedtke

Teamwork

“The firefighter holding the ladder is as important as the firefighter holding the hose” – Jack Gibson

“Talent wins games but teamwork wins championships” – Michael Jordan

“I never think of my team as players. I think of them as partners” – Jimmy Stewart

“Everybody wants to be a championship team but nobody wants to come to practice” – Bobby Knight

“Teamwork divides the task and multiples the success”  – Unknown

“There is no such thing as a self-made men. You will reach your goals only with the help of others” – George Shimm

Failure

“The biggest failure you can have in life is making the mistake of never trying at all.” – Unknown

“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and falling over.” – Richard Branson

“You miss 100% of the shots you’ve never taken” – Wayne Gretzky

“Nothing fails like success because we don’t learn from it. We learn only from failure” – Kenneth Ewart

“Words that will guarantee failure… Could… Should… Won’t” – Jim Rohn

“Failure is not the crime- low aim is” – Jack Gibson

Excuses

“I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse” – Florence Nightingale

“If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t you’ll find an excuse” – Jim Rohn

“Your excuses are nothing more than the lies you fears have sold you” – Robin Sharma

“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.

“The conditions are never right, people who delay action until all factors are favourable – do nothing.” – Unknown

“If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?” – John Wooden

“Someday is not a day of the week.” – Denise Brennan-Nelson

“People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it” – Anonymous

“A problem is only a problem when viewed as a problem’ – Robin Sharma

“Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time’, is like saying ‘I don’t want to’” – Lao-Tzu

“Win without boasting, lose without excuse” – Jack Gibson

Criticism

“Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember- the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you” – Zig Zagler

“Criticism is the price of ambition”- Robin Sharma

“Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them more” – Oscar Wilde

“There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing and be nothing” – Aristotle

“Most people just want to see you fall, that’s more reason to stand tall” – Emma Michelle

“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner” – Lao Tzu

“Speak only well of people and you will never need to whisper” –Richard Moss

“I’m not afraid of burning bridges, cause I know they are going to light my way”- Bon Jovi

“Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing it is stupid.” – Einstein

“An eye for an eye and the whole world would be blind”- Kahil Gibran

“Barking dogs seldom bite” – Jack Gibson

Just do it

“Don’t count every hour in the day. Make every hour in the day count” – Mark Amend

“You can’t hit a home run unless you step up to the plate. You can’t catch fish unless you put your line in the water. You can’t reach your goals if you don’t try.” – Kathy Seligman

“Do or do not. There is no try.” – Yoda

“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.” – Napoleon Hill

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games, 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed” – Michael Jordan

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right” – Henry Ford

“Winning isn’t everything but wanting to win is” – Vince Lombardi

“Success isn’t permanent and failure isn’t fatal” – Mike Ditka

“What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success” – Robert Kiyosaki

“Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” ― Carl Bard.

“A year from now you may wish you had started today” – Karen Lamb

“Determination is more important than talent” – Jack Gibson

Persistence

“Life has two rules: # Never quit #2 Always remember rule # 1” – Unknown

“Success is moving from failure without loss of enthusiasm” – Winston Churchill

“Persevere… because on the road to success there is never a crowd on the extra mile” – Charity Gibson

“Fall down seven times, get up eight times: – Japanese proverb

“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I’m possible” – Victor Aguirre

“Winners lose much more often than losers. So if you keep losing but you’re still trying, keep it up! You’re right on track.” – Matthew Keith Groves

“I never tried quitting and I never quit trying” – Dolly Parton

Courage

“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” – David Brinkley

“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently” – Maya Angelou

“You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honour” – Aristotle

“You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore” – Christopher Columbus

“Fear is like fire. If you can control it, it can cook for you, it can heat your house. If you can’t control it, it will burn everything around you” – Cus D’Amato

Adversity

“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” – Aristotle Onassis

“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. It is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead-end street”- Denis Waitley

“I learned that good judgement comes from experience and that experience grows out of mistakes” – Omar Bradley

“Life’s problems wouldn’t be called “hurdles” if there wasn’t a way to get over them.” –  Unknown

“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” – Henry Ford

“Pressure makes diamonds” – General Patton

“You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.” – Unknown

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall ” – Confucius

“Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” – George Addair

“Life is not always a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well.” – Jack London

“Tough times never last but tough people do” – Dr Robert Schuller

“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one”- Anonymous

“Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.” – Unknown

Hard work

“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary” – Vidal Sassoon

“There are no short cuts to any place worth going.” – Beverly Sills

“Difficult doesn’t mean impossible, it simply means that you have to work hard.” – Unknown

“Hard work will not guarantee anything. Without it you don’t stand a chance” – Pat Riley

“Don’t let anyone outwork you” – Derek Jeter

“I’m not out there sweating for three hours every day just to find out what’s it feels like to sweat” – Michael Jordan

“On the road to success, there is never a crowd on the extra mile” – Anonymous

“No one ever drowned in sweat” – Jack Gibson

“The problem with doing nothing is not knowing when you’re finished” – Benjamin Franklin

“The fight is won far away from witnesses- behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road – long before I dance under those lights” – Muhammad Ali

“Too many people are ready to carry the stool when a piano is to be moved” – Jack Gibson

Life

“Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it” – Charles Swindoll

“Living isn’t done in months or years, it’s done in experiences.” – Unknown

“If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough.” – Oprah Winfrey

“It’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.” – Unknown

“Life isn’t worth living until you have found something worth dying for” – Martin Luther King Jr

“Life is the most difficult exam. Many people fail because they try to copy others – Not realising that everyone has a different question paper!” – Unknown

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that counts. It’s the life in your years” – Abraham Lincoln

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself” – George Bernand Shaw

“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching” – Anonymous

“Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden

“You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live” – Joan Baez

“Don’t count the days, make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali

“Carpe diem (seize the day)” – Horace

“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” – Henry David Thoreau

“There is only one success: to be able to spend your life in your own way.” – Christopher Morley

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans” – John Lennon

“ The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn” – David Russell

Happiness

“Happiness is your nature. It is not wrong to desire it. What is wrong is seeking it outside when it is inside.” – Unknown

“Keep your face to the sunshine and you can never see the shadow.” – Helen Keller

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius

“The only way to do is great work is to love what you do” – Steve Jobs

Change

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone” – Neale Donald Walsch

“By changing nothing, nothing changes.” – Tony Robbins

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Gandhi

“Disgust and resolve are two of the great emotions that lead to change” – Jim Rohn

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start” – Nido Quebin

“Small daily improvements over time lead to stunning results” – Robin Sharma

 General

“Risk is what’s left over when you think you’ve thought of everything”- Carl Richards

“The past is a great place and I don’t want to erase it or to regret it but I don’t want to be a prisoner either” – Mick Jagger

“If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.” – Mario Andretti

“Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living and the other helps you make a life” – Sandra Carey

“There are three constants in life… change, choice and principles” – Stephen Covey

“The greatest tragedy in life its people who have sight but no vision” – Helen Keller

“You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist” – Golda Meir

“When it comes to credibility, there is no hallway house – you either have it or you don’t” – Jack Gibson

“Worry is like a rocking-chair. It gives you something to do but gets you nowhere” – Wayne Bennett

“Sitting on the fence can only give you one thing. Splinters!” – Anonymous

“What is common sense isn’t common practice” – Stephen Covey

“Humility is a virtue; timidity is a disease” – Jim Rohn

“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple” – Dr Seuss