Quotes & Inspiration

It's not just in some of us. It's in everyone.

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Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? 

Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.  

A quote by Marianne Williamson from A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles

This is to be my Symphony

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"To live content with small means;
  to seek elegance rather than luxury
  and refinement rather than fasion;
  to be worthy, respectable and wealth, not rich;
  to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly;
  to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages with open heart;
  to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occassions, hurry never.
  In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious
  grow up through the common.
  This is to be my symphony."

~William Henry Channing 

What Would Yours Say?

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If you chose any quote to put on your desk, what would it be?

Here are the top 10 from Paul Thornton in his article:

1.)    It can be done!

2.)    No whining.

3.)    The buck starts here.

4.)    Be Brief. Be Brilliant. Be Gone.

5.)    Start talking and get to work.

6.)    A designer know he had achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

7.)    Be Realistic. Demand the impossible.

8.)    Strive for excellence.

9.)    A desk is a dangerous place to view the world.

10.) Leaders should be able to stand alone, take the heat, tell the truth and do what’s right.

 

Click here to read the entire list.

I think mine might be “The one who says it cannot be done shouldn’t interrupt the one doing it.”

Or maybe "Don't sit on the sidelines and complain. Get in the game and make a change."

The More You Give, The More You Have

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I’m not sure what it is about this time of year. Maybe it’s feeling humble and blessed when I see 199 people attend the Banquet in Sioux Falls for a warm meal, including 17 children. Maybe it’s walking into my Junior Achievement classroom full of first graders who show me their excitement and humorous honesty each time I visit. Maybe its packing backpacks full of food for children who might otherwise go hungry for the weekend.

I can’t always give the money it takes to make a difference in someone’s life, but I can give my time. I can give a smile. I can give conversation and camaraderie. There are so many ways to volunteer—and it feels good to give back.

 

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and help them become what they are capable of being.”
Goethe

“How can we expect our children to know and experience the joy of giving unless we teach them that the greater pleasure in life lies in the art of giving rather than receiving.”
James Cash Penny

“Living is the art of loving. Loving is the art of caring. Caring is the art of sharing. Sharing is the art of living. If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”
Booker T. Washington

“A volunteer is a person who can see what others cannot see; who can feel what most do not feel. Often, such gifted persons do not think of themselves as volunteers, but as citizens - citizens in the fullest sense; partners in civilization.”
George H. W. Bush

“We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give.”
Winston Churchill

Words to Live By -- Thomas Merton

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“Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul.”

"Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody's business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy."

“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone; we find it with another.”

“Love seeks one thing only: the good of the one loved. It leaves all the other secondary effects to take care of themselves. Love, therefore, is its own reward.”

“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.”

“The tighter you squeeze, the less you have.”

“The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little.”

~Thomas Merton

Gratitude

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"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude." ~Dennis Waitley

"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough." ~Oprah Winfrey

A Collection of Favorite Quotes

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"If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be too cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down." ~ Ray Bradbury

“Putting pen to paper lights more fire than matches ever will." ~Malcolm Forbes

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." ~ Nelson Mandela

"The better organized you are in the simple things, the more spontaneous and free you can be with the important things."~ Brian Tracy

"It is amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares who gets the credit." ~Robert Yates

"Do right. Do your best. Treat others as you want to be treated." ~Lou Holtz

"The most successful people are those who are good at Plan B" ~James Yorke

"The true test of character is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we don't know what to do." ~John Holt

30 Seconds of Truth

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 "Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught."  ~J.C. Watts 

"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain, but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving."  ~Dale Carnegie 

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do the something I can do."  ~Helen Keller

AIGA Design Conference

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AIGA Design Conference, October, 2008
New York City

Invest in your education. Always keep learning. Subscribe to publications from your industry. Attend presentations and conferences that interest you. Read industry blogs and websites. Listen to podcasts and webinars to expand your thinking. Join organizations to meet people with your same profession and interests. Read a book a month. Do anything to learn something new. 

This is what I learned at the AIGA Design Conference with speakers from Target, Martha Stewart, Pinkberry, Saturn, Google, and Rolling Stone:

"Great art and design is not an accident. It is put together beautifully."

"Design is HOPE made visible. Designers bring creation and cause, efficiency and brilliance to a message."

"We will always learn more about human life and possibility from design and art than from science and psychology." ~ Noam Chomsky

"The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes." ~Marcel Proust

"Waiting is a trap. There will always be reasons to wait. The truth is, there are only two things in life, reasons and results. And reasons simply don't count." ~Robert Anthony

"He who has a 'why' to live for, can bear almost any 'how'." ~Friedrich Nietzsche (German Philosopher)

"Inspiration does exist, but it must find you working." ~Pablo Picasso

What will you do to always keep learning?

Anonymous

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Four things you can't recover:

The stone after the throw,
The word after it's said,
The occasion after it's missed,
The time after it's gone.

"If Michelangelo had wanted to play it safe, he would have painted the Sistine Chapel floor."

"At the end of the game, the king and the pawn go in the same box."

“Never be afraid to do something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals build the Titanic.”

Henry David Thoreau

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"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you imagined." 

"Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth." 

"It's never too late to give up on your prejudices." 

"Things do not change; we change." 

"It's not enough to be busy. The question is: What are we busy about?"

~Henry David Thoreau

 

Life's Little Instructions

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~ Life is not a problem to be solved, but a gift to be enjoyed.
~ The measure of a man is not how great his faith is, but how great his love is.
~ People may doubt what you say, but they will always believe what you do.
~ Life can only be understood by looking backward, but it must be lived by looking forward.
~ What a big difference there is between giving advice and lending a hand.
~ Take care of your character and your reputation will take care of itself.
~ Your companions are like the buttons on an elevator--they will either take you up they will take you down.
~ A man is not rich according to what he has, but rich according to what he is.
~ The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
~ The best way to forget your own problems is to help someone else solve his.
~ It's the little things in life that determine the big things.
~ Being at peace with yourself is a direct result of finding peace with God.
~ The first step to wisdom is silence; the second is listening.
~ The most valuable gift you can give another is a good example.
~ A minute of thought is worth more than an hour of talk.
~ Faith is daring the soul to go beyond what the eyes can see.

Anonymous

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"People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it."  ~Anonymous

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."  ~Anonymous

"Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people to treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't. Believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it."  ~Anonymous

"Managers do things right. Leaders do the right thing."  ~Anonymous

Favorite Inspirations

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Live with intention.
Walk to the edge.
Listen hard.
Practice wellness.
Play with abandon.
Laugh.
Choose with no regret.
Continue to learn.
Appreciate your friends.
Do what you love.
Live as if this is all there is.  ~Mary Anne Radmacher

 "Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says 'I'll try again tomorrow'."  ~Mary Anne Radmacher

"The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without the work."  ~Emily Zola

"It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do for which we are accountable."  ~Moliere