“The
farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.”
Winston Churchill
I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, but attempt to live and work as I always have, with varying degrees of optimism, creativity, altruism and risk-taking, while taking things as they come. Naturally, this requires a little reflection, but I never look back in regret. And though I recall life’s positive experiences, it is typically the negative ones that in hindsight proved very beneficial, even vital for subsequent growth.
The world is full of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Over the years I’ve collected hundreds of quotes from accomplished people. It’s the sage wisdom passed down from those with first-hand experience, who suffered real hardships, that strikes home, and serves as reminders that despite the troubles of our time, there were those whose strength of character was forged in times more troublesome than our own.
So following are a few of my favorites. Happy New Year!
"…everything can be taken from a
man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in
any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
Viktor Frankl, Holocaust survivor
“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”
Helen Keller
“To become a happy person have a
clean soul, eyes that see romance in the commonplace, a child’s heart, and
spiritual simplicity.”
Norman Vincent Peale
"Beware the lollipop of
mediocrity. Lick it once and you'll suck
forever."
Brian Wilson
"The man who can drive himself
further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win."
Roger Bannister (1st to
break 4 minutes in the mile)
"Failure
is unimportant. It takes great courage
to make a fool of yourself."
Charlie
Chaplin
“To
my mind, to be able to make your work your pleasure is the one class
distinction in the world worth striving for…”
Winston
Churchill
"The
best helping hand that you will ever receive is the one at the end of your own
arm."
Fred
Dehner
"Whenever
anyone has offended me, I try to raise my soul so high that the offense cannot
reach it."
Rene
Descartes
"You
may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best
thing in the world for you."
Walt
Disney
“In
the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
Albert
Einstein
"Nonsense
wakes up the brain cells and it helps develop a sense of humor which is awfully
important in this day and age."
Theodore
Geisel (Dr Seuss)
“For beautiful eyes, look for the
good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for
poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.”
Audrey Hepburn
“The
ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and
convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
Martin
Luther King, Jr.
"Do
not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult
one."
Bruce
Lee
“You
must remember that some things that are legally right are not morally right.”
Abraham
Lincoln
"Growing
old is no more than a bad habit which a busy man has no time to form."
Andre
Maurois
"It
is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. He who has not failed somewhere, that man
cannot be great. Faiulre is the true
test of greatness."
Herman
Melville
"For
I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, to be content."
St.
Paul
"You
gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really
stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived
through this horror. I can take the next
thing that comes along.; You must do the thing which you think you cannot
do."
Eleanor
Roosevelt
"It
is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man
stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually
in the arenas; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives
valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great
enthusiasm, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at
best knows in the end the triumph of high achievements; 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 defeat nor victory."
Theodore
Roosevelt
"Lazy
people tend not to take chances, but express themselves by tearing down other's
work."
Anne
Rule
“Life
is no brief candle to me; it is a sort of splendid torch which I’ve got a hold
of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before
handing it on to future generations.”
George
Bernard Shaw
"The
price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it."
Henry
David Thoreau
“It’s
a dangerous business…going out of your door.
You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no
knowing where you might be swept off to.”
JRR
Tolkien
"Always
do right. This will gratify some people
and astonish the rest."
Mark
Twain
"God
gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living
well."
Volataire
"If
you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough."
Oprah Winfrey
"We
all have ability…just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn't mean he
lacks vision."
Stevie
Wonder
©Randall
S. Fong, M.D.
For more topics on
medicine, health and the weirdness of life in general, check out the rest of
the blog site at randallfong.blogspot.com
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