It is generally understood among bloggers that an all-quote posting is a “cheat” as it is the easiest of writings. Now that I’ve made that acknowledgement, here is MY all-quote posting!
Last month my niece Mary celebrated her 30th birthday. I was flummoxed as to how to celebrate her milestone. Back in June my goddaughter Clare, who is friends with Mary, celebrated her 30th birthday and for her celebration I offered a listing of the “30 Things I Know For Certain.” In the span of two months, I haven’t learned an additional 30 new things for certain and so I’ve turned to quotes.
Mary is a collector of quotes – one of the things we have in common. I decided to gift her with the 30 quotes that I am guided by as I navigate life. So, yes, I know these 30 quotes to be true for certain, though you may not know that based on some of the decisions I’ve made and continue to make!
But here’s what I do know – embrace these flashes of truth and the next 30 years will be glorious – which is my wish for Mary and for all of you who read this posting!
- The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. Mark Twain
And finding that “why” may take more than 30 years!
- Don’t ask what the world needs; ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.Howard Thurman
There is a world of difference between “living” and “coming alive.”
- 20 years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. Mark Twain
That’s not to say you won’t have some disappointment by what you did – but – Twain is right on this.
- You must not ever give anyone else the responsibility for your life. Mary Oliver
Including your parents.
- And you ask, “What if I fall?” Oh, but my darling, what if you fly? Erin Hanson
Now there’s a scary thought – what if you succeed?
- Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Steve Jobs
Imagine all that would not have been if he had!
- Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. George Bernard Shaw
There’s a difference between being a professional and an artist.
- If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be. Maya Angelou
You want to be amazing, yes?
- When we die and we go to Heaven, and we meet our Maker, our Maker is not going to say to us, “Why didn’t you become a messiah? Why didn’t you discover the cure for such and such?” The only thing we’re going to be asked is, “Why didn’t you become YOU?” Eli Wiesel
Becoming YOU – that’s what it means to become amazing.
- Whenever someone comes to me for help, I listen very hard and ask myself, “What does this person really want— and what will they do to keep from getting it?” William Perry
Ponder that.
- He allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction that human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love In The Time Of Cholera
A life-giving life, indeed!
- Never say anything about yourself you do not want to come true. Brian Tracy
We live in a time when talk is cheap – but words have magic.
- Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle. Philo of Alexandria
I’ve yet to meet the person who isn’t fighting some battle.
- If you want to impress people, talk about your successes. But if you want to impact people, talk about your failures. John Maxwell
Real vulnerability comes from strength and creates connection.
- Our full humanity is contingent on our hospitality; we can be complete only when we are giving something away; when we sit at the table and pass the peas to the person next to us we see that person in a whole new way. Alice Waters
Or as they say in Yap, “Hosachigachig!”
- A student asked Soen Nakagawa during a meditation retreat, “I am very discouraged. What should I do?” Soen replied, “Encourage others.” from Essential Zen
Perhaps the easiest of human acts.
- I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.Maya Angelou
Why do so many forget this?
- Every single job I got in Hollywood was based on knowing someone. Here’s a piece of advice: Don’t try finding people who can help you. Find people you can help. Lewis Teague – Cujo / director
From a horror film comes hearty truth.
- All real living is meeting. Martin Buber
And so, there is no need to be afraid.
- You can’t be everything to everyone, but you can be something great for someone. Arielle Jackson
Sigh a sigh of relief!
- The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.Henry Miller
Which is why Anais Nin loved him.
- I can’t go back to yesterday — because I was a different person then. Lewis Carroll
Happy present! Happy future!
- Am I a success or a failure?” is not a very useful question. It is better to ask “what am I learning?” Bob Sutton
A great question from the man who wrote the book, “The No Asshole Rule.”
- Comparison is the thief of joy. Theodore Roosevelt
Easy to rob yourself blind.
- Just because you’ve gotten accustomed to behaving in a certain way doesn’t mean it’s the right way. Maybe it’s time to get unstuck. Twyla Tharp
Wisdom from a goddess.
- The business of life is the acquisition of memories. Carson / Downton Abbey
And cherishing them.
- There are only two ways to live your life: one is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. Einstein
He really was a genius.
- There is no such thing in anyone’s life as an unimportant day. Alexander Woollcott
Although many days I might want to argue with this truth.
- The only thing we never get enough of is love; and the only thing we never give enough of is love. Henry Miller
And in the end – as in the beginning – love is all there is. . .
- Why not? Why not you? Why not now? Aslan / “The Chronicles of Narnia
What’s your answer?
I thank you God for this most amazing day,
for the leaping greenly spirits of trees,
and for the blue dream of sky
and for everything which is natural,
which is infinite,
which is yes.
e.e. cummings