I’ve had a long standing conflict with reading, reciting and tweeting famous quotes. I have always felt that one should be original and make statements that are quotable rather than use someone else’s. It wasn’t until I was reading a book by Jim Rohn that my attitude shifted.
I have always been a living example to the power of emulating other successful people. If you want to become a famous writer, write like Ernest Hemingway or other famous writers. If you want to become a famous Salesman, live the same schedule each day as a famous Salesman. If you want to become a famous marketer and challenger of the status quo, live like Seth Godin. Doing the same thing and expecting different results is non sense. Doing the same thing as someone famous and expecting the same result makes sense.
What Jim Rohn turned the light on to let me see was that quotes are the best of the best thoughts, ideas and teachings by famous people. Quotes are meant to be meditated on and emulated. They are the shortest keys to becoming a successful whatever-you-want. If living the schedule of someone famous does not work out, live the words they left behind. Instead of reading a book, read a quote. Instead of following a step by step process, turn one quote to action each day.
“It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations” – Winston Churchill
With that being said, here are some of my favorite quotes.
If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive. – Audre Lorde
The hardest thing in the world is to simplify your life. it’s so easy to make it complex – Yvon Chouinard
The greatest discovery you’ll ever make, is the potential of your own mind. – Jose Silva
Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today. – Will Rogers
You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need. – Vernon Howard
Education is of no value and talent is worthless – unless you have an unwavering aim. Never find yourself without a compass. – C. Rice
Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. – Will Rogers
Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win. – Jonathan Kozol
When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself. – Wayne Dyer
Feed your mind with the good, the clean, the pure, the powerful, and the positive – Zig Ziglar
Once you surrender to your vision, success begins to chase you. – The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
What I dislike least in my former self are the moments of prayer. – Andre Gide
Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. – Marcus Aurelius
Perhaps imagination is only intelligence having fun. – George Scialabba
When a man is freed of religion, he has a better chance to live a normal and wholesome life. – Sigmund Freud
Success is something you attract by the person you become. – Jim Rohn
History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it. – Winston Churchill
Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity. – Louis Pasteur
All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. – Pablo Picasso
The secret to success in any human endeavor is total concentration. – Kurt Vonnegut
Language learning deserves special mention here. It is, bar none, the best thing you can do to hone clear thinking. – Tim Ferriss
I will study and prepare, and someday my opportunity will come. -Abraham Lincoln
Success is dependent upon the glands – sweat glands. – Zig Ziglar
Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live. – Henry Van Dyke
The way out is through. – Robert Frost
When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. – Lao Tzu
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. – Paulo Coelho
To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions. – Benjamin Franklin
A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. – Francis Bacon
Success builds character. Failure reveals it. – Dave Checketts
Change almost never fails because it’s too early. It almost always fails because it’s too late. – Seth Godin
Opportunity: It’s not an opportunity, it’s an obligation – Flynn Berry
Optimism is the one quality more associated with success and happiness than any other – Brian Tracy
Whatever we think about and thank about we bring about. – Dr John F Demartini
I am deliberate and afraid of nothing – Audre Lorde
Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. – Scott Adams
Growth itself contains the germ of happiness. – Perl S . Buck
Acknowledge your good fortune by sharing it. – Stephen King
Success isn’t a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire. – Arnold Glasow
More Guts-When you expose yourself to the opportunities that scare you, you create something scarce, something others won’t do. – Seth Godin
Awareness, even at a subconscious level, beats fancy checklists without it, track or you will fail. – Tim Ferriss
You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late. – Ralph Emerson
A great leader will encourage his or her team to not fear failure as it is inevitable – Jason Chatrand
People with goals succeed because they know where they are going. It’s as simple as that. – Earl nightingale
Worry is interest paid on trouble before it comes due. – William Ralph Inge
I don’t do drugs. I am drugs. – Dali
Styling your life is all about taking accountability for what exists in your orbit. – Latham Thomas
To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself. – Soren Aabye Kierkegaard
Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune. – Jim Rohn
People have to snatch at happiness when they can, in this world. It is always easier to lose than to find. – O Pioneers!
Eat like a bird, poop like an elephant – Guy Kawasaki
Laughing at our mistakes can lengthen our own life. Laughing at someone else’s can shorten it. – Cullen Hightower
What makes success is not your genius idea, but the execution and follow-through around it – Robin Sharma
If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere. – Frank A. Clark
You don’t have to be great to get started, but you do have to start to be great – Joe Sabah
The few things that work fantastically well should be identified, cultivated, nurtured, and multiplied. – Richard Koch
Drag your thoughts away from your troubles… by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it. – Mark Twain
Creativity is a muscle that you must use on a regular basis in order for it to function effectively – Keri Smith
Never deny a diagnosis, but do deny the negative verdict that may go with it. – Norman Cousins
It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up. – Babe Ruth
I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work. – Pearl S. Buck
Those who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try nothing and succeed. – Lloyd Jones
Income is renewable, but some other resources—like attention—are not. – Tim Ferriss
If you want to stand out, don’t be different, be outstanding. – Meredith West
Throughout the centuries, there were men who took first steps, down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision. – Ayn Rand
The possibilities are numerous once we decide to act and not react. – George Bernard Shaw
Quit bitching about how tired you are. The world doesn’t care. – Corbett Barr
They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. – Andy Warhol
Optimism, unaccompanied by personal effort, is merely a state of mind, and not fruitful. – Edward L. Curtis
No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now. – Alan Watts
Almost everything comes from nothing. – Henri Amiel
No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks. – James Allen
If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of. – Bruce Lee
The most practical, beautiful, workable philosophy in the world won’t work – if you won’t. – Zig Ziglar
Listen to what you know instead of what you fear. – Richard Bach
From wonder into wonder existence opens. – Lao Tzu
It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well. – Rene Descartes
The problem with doing nothing is not knowing when you’re finished. – Ben Franklin
If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. – Maya Angelou
Example moves the world more than doctrine. – Henry Miller
So take these doctrines and create examples.
Stay Positive & Emulate
Garth E. Beyer
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