What the world needs
/in , /by

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

John Eldredge – American christian counsellor and author (b. 1960)

Significant
/in , , /by

What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.

Nelson Mandela – South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, 1994-99 president, Nobel Peace Prize (1918-2013), from his speech on the 90th birthday of Walter Sisulu (South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, 1912-2003, May 18th, 2002), Quotations book 2021

Everyone is edifying
/in , /by

I have rarely if ever found anyone out of whom I could not extract amusement or edification.

Sir Walter Scott – Scottish historical novelist, playwright, poet and historian (1771-1832), from his diary, published as “The Journal of Sir Walter Scott”, volume 1 (1890)

Team
/in , /by

In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words, people, product and profits. Unless you’ve got a good team, you can’t do much with the other two.

Lee Iacocca – American entrepreneur, savior of Chrysler (1924-2019), Quotations book 2016

About Happiness
/in , /by

If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.

Chinese wisdom, said by Prem Watsa – Canadian investor, chairman and founder of Fairfax Financial Holdings (b. 1950), Quotations book 2013

Hybris
/in , /by

Celui qui se juge trop important pour de petits travaux est souvent trop petit pour les travaux importants.

attribué à Jacques Tati – né Jacques Tatischeff, réalisateur et acteur français (1907-1982)

Tolerance
/in , /by

You must, therefore, live with your enemies, as you cannot always live with your friends.

Alexis de Tocqueville – French publisher and politician (1805-1859), from a letter to Eugène Stoffels, September 16th, 1823, Quotations book 2011

Blasphemy
/in , /by

Do not pay Attention to every word People say or you may hear your servant coursing you – for you know in your heart that many times you you yourselv have cursed others.

The Bible, Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 (NIV) – Quotations book 2002

Leader and boss
/in , /by

People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.

Theodore Roosevelt – American politician, 1901-09 26th president, Nobel Peace Prize 1906 (1858-1919), from his speech in Birmingham, New York, on October 24th, 1910

Strong beliefs
/in , /by

Strong beliefs win strong men, and then make them stronger.

Walter Bagehot – English economist and author, editor in chief of “The Economist” (1826-1877), from “Physics and Politics Or Thoughts on the Application of the Principles of Natural Selection and Inheritance to Political Society” (1872), Quotations book 2020

Contrast
/in , /by

I have lerned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet, strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers.

Khalil Gibran – Lebanese poet, philosopher and artist, aka Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), from “Sand and Foam” (1926)

Understand, not just tolerate
/in , , /by

I am not asking you to merely tolerate each other. Tolerance is for cowards. Being tolerant requires nothing of you, but to be quiet and not make waves, holding tightly to your views and judgments without being challenged. Do not merely tolerate each other. Work hard! Move into uncomfortable territory and seek to understand each other.

Randall L. Stephenson Jr. – American telecommunications executive , CEO AT&T (b. 1960), in a meeting with AT&T employees, September 23, 2016

Role models
/in , /by

It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you’ll drift in that direction.

Warren Buffett – American value investor, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (b. 1930), Quotations book 2020

Potere
/in , /by

In sé il potere non è né buono né cattivo, ma riceve il proprio senso solo dalla decisione di colui che lo esercita.

Romano Guardini – filosofo religioso cattolico e teologo (1885-1968), da “Il potere” (1951)

Experience
/in , /by

You want to learn from experience, but you want to learn from other people’s experience when you can.

Warren Buffett – American value investor, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (b. 1930), Q&A session with MBA students at Tuck School of Business, Dartmout (2005)

Kind words
/in , /by

Kind words do not cost much, yet they accomplish much.

attributed to Blaise Pascal – French mathematician and philosopher (1623-1662)

War without people
/in , /by

Sometime they’ll give a war and nobody will come.

Carl Sandburg – American poet and historian (1878-1967), from “The People, Yes” (1936), was used by the Peace movement and changed into “Imagine, it is war and nobody goes there.” These words were falsely attributed to Bertolt Brecht..

Prosperity and adversity
/in , /by

Prosperity does best discover vice, but adversity does best discover virtue.

Sir Francis Bacon – English philosopher, politician and writer (1561-1626), from his Essay “Of Adversity” (1625)

Счастье
/in , /by

Счастье не в том, чтобы делать всегда, что хочешь, а в том, чтобы всегда хотеть того, что делаешь.

Лев Николаевич Толстой – русский писатель (1828-1910), котировки выпуска 2018

Storytelling
/in , /by

People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.

Simon O. Sinek – American author, speaker and optimist (b. 1973), from “Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action” (2009), Quotations book 2018
see Startwithwhy.com

Age
/in , /by

To me, old age is always fifteen years older than I am.

Bernard M. Baruch – American financier, advisor to several American presidents (1870-1965), at his 85th birthday, quoted in “The Observer”, August 21st, 1955, Quotations book 2012

Peer pressure
/in , /by

Anyone taken as an individual is tolerably sensible and reasonable – as a member of a crowd, he at once becomes a blockhead.

Friedrich Schiller – German writer (1759-1805)

Hope
/in , /by

Every child has its own statistic:

Wise medical doctors answer to the question of worried parents what survivial chance percentage their child would have: The child is well and alive today.

said at the Ira W. Sohn Conference for Tomorrows Childrens Fund – Quotations book 2005

Estimate
/in , /by

Never underestimate the man who overestimates himself.

Charlie Munger – Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (b. 1924), at the Daily Journal annual meeting (February 12th, 2020)

Big jobs
/in , /by

Big jobs generally go to men who prove their ability to outgrow smaller jobs.

American proverb

Birthdays
/in , /by

The secret of happiness is to count the highlights of life instead of birthdays.

attributed to Mark Twain – born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, American writer (1835-1910)

Attitude
/in , /by

Attitude is the “little” thing that makes the big difference.

Zig Ziglar – American author, motivational speaker and entrepreneur (1926-2012), from “See You At The Top” (1975), Quotations book 2020

Learning
/in , , /by

You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him to discover it in himself.

Galileo Galilei – Italian astronomist und physicist (1564-1642), Quotations book 2005

Valor da libertade
/in , /by

Educate your children, educate yourself, in the love for the freedom of others, for only in this way will your own freedom not be a gratuitous gift from fate. You will be aware of its worth and will have the courage to defend it.

Joaquim Aurélio Barreto Nabuco de Araújo – Brazilian politician, historian and journalist, co founder of the Academia Brasileira de Letras (1849-1910), from “Abolitionism: The Brazilian Antislavery Struggle” (1883), Quotations book 2019

Eduquem os seus filhos, eduquem-se a si mesmos, no amor da liberdade alheia, único meio de não ser a sua própria liberdade uma doação gratuita do Destino, e de adquirirem a consciência do que ela vale, e coragem para defendê-la.

Joaquim Aurélio Barreto Nabuco de Araújo – político, historiador e jornalista brasileiro, co-fundador da Academia Brasileira de Letras (1849-1910), de “O Abolicionismo” (1883), Livro de cotações 2019

Stay young
/in , /by

A person is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.

John Barrymore – American actor (1882-1942), as quoted in the biography “Good Night, Sweet Prince: The Life and Times of John Barrymore” by Gene Fowler (1949)

Forgive
/in , /by

One of the secrets of a long and fruitful life is to forgive everybody everything every night before you go to bed.

attributed to Bernard M. Baruch – American financier, adviser to several American presidents (1870-1965), Quotations book 2010

Cohesion
/in , /by

When an election is passed, it is altogether befitting a free people, that until the next election, they should be as one people.

Abraham Lincoln – American politician, 1861-65 16th president (1809-1865), abolished slavery in 1863, to New York Governor E. D. Morgan and his delegation in Albany, New York, 18th February 1861

Desiderata
/in , /by

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble, it’s a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantement, it is as perrenial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And wh

ether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann – American lawyer and author (1872-1945), written in 1927

Trust
/in , , /by

The greatest trust between man and man is the trust of giving counsel.

Summa quae intercedit inter homines fides, et illa consilium impertiendi.

Sir Francis Bacon – English philosopher, politician and writer (1561-1626), from his essay “De Consilio” (“Of Counsils”) in “Essayes: Religious Meditations. Places of Perswasion and Disswasion. Seene and Allowed” (1625), Quotations book 2018

Ability
/in , /by

I will pay more for the ability to deal with people than for any other under the sun.

John D. Rockefeller – American oil magnate, sundays school teacher at at his time richest man of the world (1839-1937), Quotations book 2015

Daviate
/in , /by

Progress is not possible without deviation (from the norm).

Frank Zappa – American rock musician (1940-1993), from an interview with VPRO (February 11th, 1971)

Why?
/in , , /by

I’ve just been a machine for making money. I seem to have spent my life in a golden tunnel looking for the outlet which would lead to happiness. But the tunnel kept going on. After my death there will be nothing left.

attributed to Aristoteles Onassis – Greek reeder (1906-1975), known as one of the richest menin his time

Dream
/in , /by

A dream you dream alone is only a dream.
A dream you dream together is reality.

Yōko Ono – American artist and musicien (b. 1933), quoted by husband John Lennon (British musician and composer, 1940-1980) in an interview in December 1980, published in “All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono” (2000)

Migrants
/in , /by

Migrants do not so much break the law as the law breaks them.

Hernando de Soto – Peruvian economist (b. 1941), from “The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else” (2000), second chapter, Quotations book 2009

Characters
/in , /by

The world consists of those who make things happen, those who watch something happening, and those who ask what happened.

Norman R. Augustine – American manager, former CEO of Lockheed Martin Corporation (b. 1935), Quoations book 2009

Age
/in , /by

In youth we learn; in age we understand.

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach – Austrian writer (1830-1916), from her “Aphorisms”, published in “Collected Works”, book 1 (1893), Quotations book 2022

Germans
/in , /by

Germans are honest men.

William Shakespeare – English author (1564-1616), in “The Merry Wives of Windsor” (1597), Quotations book 2003

Change
/in , /by

Каждый думает изменить мир, но никто не думает изменить себя.

Everyone thinks of changing humanity, but no one thinks of changing himself.

Leo N. Tolstoy – Russian writer (1828-1910), from “Three Methods of Reform” in his collection “Pamphlets” (1900)

Civilization
/in , /by

The highest Test of the civilization of any race is in its willingness to extend a helping hand to the less fortunate. A, race like an individual, lifts itself up by lifting others up.

Booker T. Washington – American educator, social reformer and civil rights activist (1856-1915), Quotations book 2011

Easy things
/in , /by

I have seen no trend towards value investing in the 35 years that I’ve practiced it. There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.

Warren Buffett – American value investor, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (b. 1930)

Duty
/in , /by

I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.

John D. Rockefeller jr. – American philanthropist (1874-1960), Quotations book 2003

Be yourself
/in , /by

Det Store er ikke at være Dette eller Hiint, men at være sig selv.

The greatness is not to be this or that but to be oneself.

Søren Aabye Kierkegaard – Danish Protestant theologian an philosopher (1813-1855), known as one of the most important academics in Denmark; from “Either – Or. A Life Fragment” (1843), Quotations book 2016

Happiness
/in , /by

It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.

Dale Carnegie – born Dale Carnagey, American author and personality coach (1888-1955), from “How to Win Friends and Influence People” (1936), Quotations book 2019

True or new
/in , /by

Men are willing to forego the old for the sake of the new. But commonly it is found in theology that that which is true is not new, and that which is new is not true.

Robert Shindler – American Baptist priest, close friend to preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon (c. 1824-1903), from his article “The Down Grade “, published in “Sword and the Trowel” (March 1887), Quotations book 2019

Arbitrarity
/in , /by

For the power of Man to make himself what he pleases means […] the power of some men to make other men what they please.

C. S. Lewis – British writer (1898-1963), from “The Abolition of Man” (1943)

Difference
/in , /by

The world is as it is – we make the difference.

Dr. Jagdish Parikh – Indian manager, author and speaker (b. 1940)

Forces
/in , /by

What a curious phenomenon it is that you can get men to die for the liberty of the world who will not make the little sacrifice that is needed to free themselves from their own individual bondage.

Bruce Barton – American author and Advertising expert (1886-1967), Quotations book 2006

Seeing the world
/in , /by

You don’t see the world as it is, you see the world as you are.

Wisdom – Quotations book 2017

Making better
/in , /by

My job is not to be easy on people. My job is to make them better.

Steve Jobs – American company founder, Apple (1955-2011), Quotations book 2016

Kindness
/in , /by

Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can read.

wisdom, often attributed to Mark Twain – born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, American writer (1835-1910), could not be verified by the Mark-Twain-collection at the University of Berkeley, first published without an author’s name in “The Ladie‘s Repository” (June 1861), Quotations book 2019

Need and greed
/in , /by

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.

Mahatma Gandhi – Indian politician (1869-1948), Quotations book 2005

People are possibilities
/in , /by

Love sees people – not as problems, better as possibilities.

Dr. Robert H. Schuller – Americanisch evangelist and reformed priest (1926-2015)

Know people
/in , /by

Business, real business, is not numbers and it’s not money. It’s people. You have to be able to know and to judge people.

André Meyer – French-born American Investment banker (Lazard), advisor to US presidents Kennedy and Johnson (1898-1979), Quotations book 2016

People
/in , /by

Never blame anyone in your life.
Good people give you happiness.
Bad people give you experience.
Worst people give you a lesson.
And best people give you memories.

wisdom – Quotations book 2022

Why
/in , /by

The two most important days of a man’s life are the day on which he was born and the day on which he discovers why he was born.

wisdom – quoted in a sermon by Ernest T. Campbell, American pastor (1923-2010), at the Riverside Church, New York (January 25th, 1970)

Form
/in , /by

We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.

Sir Winston L. Churchill – British politician, 1940-45 and 1951-55 Prime Minister, Nobel Prize in literature 1953 (1874-1965), in his speech to the reconstruction of the House of Commons, Quotations book 2009

Working for money
/in , , /by

Taking a job for money is like marrying for money, which is especially dumb if you are already rich.

Warren Buffett – American value investor, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (b. 1930), Quotations book 2006

Perfect Church
/in , /by

If you wait for a perfect church, you must wait until you get to heaven; and even if you could find a perfect assenbly on earth, I am sure they would not admit you to their fellowship, for you are not perfect yourself.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon – English baptist pastor (1834-1892), from “Additions to the Church”, Predigt 1167 (1874)

Obedience
/in , , /by

Obedience to princes is a general compact of human society – how much more, then, ought we unhesitatingly to obey God, the Governor of all his creatures!

Generale quippe pactum est societatis humanae oboedire regibus suis – quanto magis deo regnatori universae creaturae suae ad ea quae iusserit sine dubitatione serviendum est!

Augustine of Hippo – known as Aurelius Augustinus, early Christian theologian and philosopher, one of the four Latin Doctors of Church (354-430), from “Confessions” (“Confessiones”, c. 397/400)

Security
/in , /by

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 – American deaf-blind writer (1880-1968), from “The Open Door” (1957), Quotations book 2018

Revisendique dei
/in , , /by

Non moeremus, quod talem amisimus; sed gratias agimus, quod habuimus, imo habeamus.
Deo enim vivunt omnia. Et quidquid revertitur ad Dominum, in familiae numero computatur.

Sophronius Eusebius Hieronymus – early Christian academic and theologian, one of the four Latin Doctors of Church (347-420), from “Ad Eustochium virginem, Epitaphium Paulae matris” (c. 400), Quotations book 2014

Too lazy to think
/in , /by

There is no expedient to which man will not resort to avoid the real labour of thinking.

Sir Joshua Reynolds – English painter (1723-1792)

Courage instaed of conformity
/in , /by

The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity.

Rollo May – American existential psychologist (1909-1994), alongside Viktor E. Frankl, was a major proponent of existential psychotherapy, following a passage from “Man’s Search for himself” (1953), Quotations book 2018

Forgiveness
/in , /by

Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.

often attributed to Oscar Wilde – Irish writer (1854-1900), couls not be verified in his writings, Quotations book 2012

Achieving collaboratively
/in , , /by

Firms come into being in order to enable human beings to achieve collaboratively what they could not achieve alone.

Prof. Morten T. Hansen/Prof. Nitin Nohria – Professor at University of California (b. 196?)/Deacan at Harvard Business School (b. 1962), from “How to Build Collaborative Advantage” (MIT Sloan Management Review, 2004)

Habits
/in , /by

Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed down-stairs a step at a time.

Mark Twain – born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, American writer (1835-1910), from “Pudd’nhead Wilson and Those Extraordinary Twins” (Chapter VI, 1884)

Man of value
/in , /by

Try not to become a man of success but rather become a man of value!

Albert Einstein – German physicist, Nobel Prize in physics 1921 (1879-1955), Quotations book 2005

Strike
/in , /by

Live life as though nobody is watching, and express yourself as though everyone is listening.

advice

Multiply abilities
/in , /by

It is precisely the organization that is the means to multiply the ability of the individuals.

Prof. Guido Stein – Professor of managing at IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Madrid (b. 1964), in “Managing People and Organizations: Peter Drucker’s Legacy” (2010)

Invested
/in , /by

When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.

Simon O. Sinek – American author, speaker and optimist (b. 1973), in a Twitter message from May 22nd, 2012, Quotations book 2018
see Startwithwhy.com

Kindness
/in , /by

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

attributed to Plato – Greek philosopher (c. 428-348 B.C.), Quotations book 2012

Liberty
/in , /by

If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.

George Orwell – British writer and journalist (1903-1950), from an unused preface to “Animal Farm” (1945), Quotations book 2022

Capacities
/in , , /by

The capacities which are within a man are greater than he knows and the capacities with which God can endow a man are greater than he dreams.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon – English Baptist pastor (1834-1892), from his sermon N° 1690 “Chariots Of Iron” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington (September 28, 1882), Quotations book 2019

Thinking instead of judging
/in , /by

Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment.

Dr. Carl Gustav Jung – Swiss psychologist (1875-1961), from “Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Sky” (1959), Quotations book 2017

Content
/in , /by

Content makes poor men rich; Discontent makes rich men poor.

Benjamin Franklin – American politician, writer and scientist (1706-1790), from “Poor Richard Improved” (1749), Quotations book 2017

Self-pity
/in , /by

Generally speaking, envy, resentment, revenge and self-pity are disastrous modes of thought. […] You do not want to drift into self-pity. … Self-pity will not improve the situation.

Charlie Munger – Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (b. 1924), from his USC School of Law Commencement speech (May 13th, 2007)

Together
/in , /by

When someone dreams alone, it is just a dream.
When we dream together, it is the beginning of a new reality.

Raul Seixas – Brazilian musician (1945-1989), lyrics of “Prelúdio” (1974), Quotations book 2020

Sonho que se sonha só, e só um sonho que se sonha só.
Mas sonho que se sonha junto é realidade.

Raul Seixas – músico brasileiro (1945-1989), letras para “Prelúdio”, Livro de cotações 2020

Bad business
/in , /by

After some other mistakes, I learned to go into business only with people whom I like, trust, and admire. We’ve never succeeded in making a good deal with a bad person.

Warren Buffett – American value investor, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (*1930), Quotations books 2002 + 2006

Geniusses
/in , /by

All geniusses are leeches, so to speak. They feed from the same source – the blood of life … We all derive from the same source. There is no mystery about the origin of things. We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up, only to discover what is already there.

Henry Miller – American writer and painter  (1891-1980), from “Sexus” (1949)

Children See What They Live
/in , /by

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.

If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.

If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.

If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty.

If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.

If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence.

If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.

If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.

If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.

If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.

If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world.

seen at Guthrie Castle, Scotland – Quotations book 2002

Focus
/in , /by

Men make decisions, boys want it all.

English proverb – Quotations book 2020

Conversion
/in , /by

There are three conversions: first the head, then of the heart, and finally of the pocketbook..

attributed to Martin Luther- German reformer (1483-1546), Quotations book 2009

Bevore you …
/in , /by

Before you speak, listen.
Before you write, think.
Before you spend, earn.
Before you invest, investigate.
Before you criticize, wait.
Before you pray, forgive.
Before you quit, try.
Before you retire, save.
Before you die, give.

William Arthur Ward – American writer (1921-1994), from his poem “Before You” (1963), Quotations book 2020

Employ money
/in , , /by

If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known, how he employs it.

attributed to Socrates – Greek philosopher (469-399 v. Chr.)

Grace
/in , /by

Grace is loving people for who they are, where they are. It’s loving people before they change, not just after they change.

Mark Batterson – American pastor and author (b. 1969), from “All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life” (2013), Quotations book 2020

Truth
/in , /by

Let us, then, be what we are, and speak what we think, and in all things keep ourselves loyal to the truth.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – American poet (1807-1882), from “The Courtship of Miles Standish” (1858)

Facilitate rather than arbiter
/in , /by

Frequently, we act as arbiters of grace rather than its facilitators. But the Church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the Father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems.

Pope Francis – born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, since 2013 Holy Father (b. 1936), from the Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium”, N° 47 (2013), Quotations book 2015

Heroes
/in , /by

Without heroes we’re all plain people and don’t know how far we can go.

Bernard Malamud – American novelist (1914-1986), from “The Natural” (1952), Quotations book 2022

Freedom
/in , /by

Give people freedom and they’ll amaze you.

Frank Kohl-Boas – German lawyer, Human Resources Manager at Google (b. 1969), about his company’s philosophy on human resources, Quotations book 2015

Peace
/in , /by

When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.

The Bible, Proverbs 16:7 (NIV) – Quotations book 2011

Generosity
/in , /by

Generosity is taking care of the others.

Jean-Pascal Bobst – Swiss mechanical engineer and manager (b. 1965), Quotations book 2019

Position
/in , /by

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. – American civil rights activist and pastor, Nobel Peace Prize 1964 (1929-1968), in his essay “On Being a Good Neighbor” (1963), Quotations book 2018

Kingdom of Heaven
/in , , /by

If we think that heaven is our country, we should send our wealth thither rather than reatin it here, where on our sudden daparture it will be lost to us.

John Calvin – born Jean Cauvin, French reformator and founder of the Calvinism (1509-1564)

Contribution
/in , /by

Both optimists and pessimists contribute to society. The optimist invents the aeroplane, the pessimist the parachute.

attributed to George Bernard Shaw – Irish writer, Nobel Prize in literature 1925 (1856-1950), Quotations book 2022

Fortune
/in , , /by

Fortune doesn’t change a man, it only unmasks him.

Proverb

Trust
/in , /by

The first thing is character. Before money or anything else. Money cannot buy it. … A man I do not trust could not get money from me on all the bonds in Christendom. I think that is the fundamental basis of business.

John Pierpont Morgan – American banker (1837-1913), from a statement before a Congressional committee (1912),  Quotations book 2006

Good
/in , /by

When you look for the good in others, you discover the best in yourself.

attributed to Martin Walsh – English film cutter (b. 1955), Quotations book 2013

Treat people right
/in , /by

If you want the cooperation of humans around you, you must make them feel they are important, and you do that by being genuine and humble.

Nelson Mandela – South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, 1994-99 president, Nobel Peace Prize (1918-2013), from an interview with Oprah Winfrey for the “O magazine” (April 2001)

Dislike
/in , /by

Since half the people are not going to like me anyway, they may as well not like me for the right reason.

Patrick Morley – English auhor and former BBC journalist

Determination
/in , /by

Nothing great is done without great men, an they are great because they are determined to be so.

Charles de Gaulle – French politician, 1959-69 president of the Fifth Republic (1890-1970), from “The Army of the future” (“Vers l’armée de métier”, 1934), Quotations book 2011

Character
/in , /by

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

John Wooden – American basketball player and coach (1910-2010), Quotations book 2011

Spes
/in , /by

Omnia, quae fiunt in toto mundo, in spe fiunt.

Martin Luther – German reformatorian (1483-1546), from his speech N° 38, published in “Luthers Werke in Auswahl”, Book eight (1930), Quotations book 2020

Bonum vero commune
/in , /by

Bonum vero commune summam complectitur earum vitae socialis condicionum, quibus homines, familiae et consociationes, suam ipsorum perfectionem plenius atque expeditius consequi possint.

Indeed, the common good embraces the sum of those conditions of the social life whereby men, families and associations more adequately and readily may attain their own perfection.

Second Vatican Council – from the Pastoral Constitution “Gaudium et Spes – On the Church in the modern World” promulgated by His Holiness, pope Paul VI (Chapter IV, 74, December 7th, 1965)

Watchword 2016
/in , , , /by

God says: As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you.

The Bible, Isaiah 66:13 (NRSV) – Quotations book 2016

The Protestant pastor and song writer Otto Riethmüller (1889-1939) – he belonged to the Confessing Church – decided in 1930 under the impression of the Nacional Socialism’s propaganda, to give henceforth every calendar year a headline with a Bible verse. An act of civil courage! He has established a tradition that still exists today. Meanwhile, the annual solution is set by the Ecumenical Association for Bible Reading (Ökumenische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Bibellesen) three years in advance.

Character
/in , /by

Reputation is what others think of us; character is what God and the angels know of us.

Thomas Paine – American independece fighter and human rights activist, known as “voice of the American revolution” (1737-1809), Quotations book 2005

See
/in , /by

We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.

wisdom

Laws
/in , /by

Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.

Frédéric Bastiat – French economist and journalist (1801-1850)

Stay together
/in , /by

The family that prays together stays together.

Al Scalpone – American author and scriptwriter (1913-2000), Quotations book 2013

Riches
/in , /by

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own.

attributed to Benjamin Disraeli – English writer and politician, 1868 and 1874-80 Prime Minister (1804-1881)

Respect
/in , /by

Respect people for who they are, not for what their titles are.

Herbert D. “Herb” Kelleher – American entrepreneur, co-founder of Southwest Airlines (1931-2019)

Utomordentlig
/in , /by

Extraordinary people need extraordinary conditions.

Melker Schörling – Swedish businessman and investor (Securitas AB, Assa Abloy, b. 1947)

Utomordentliga personer behöver utomordentliga förutsättningar.

Melker Schörling – svensk affärsman och investerare (Securitas AB, Assa Abloy, f. 1947)

Anyway
/in , /by

People are unreasonable,
illogical and self-centered,
LOVE THEM ANYWAY!

If you do good,
people will accuse you of selfish,
ulterior motives,
DO GOOD ANYWAY!

If you are successful,
you win false friends and true enemies,
SUCCEED ANYWAY!

The good you do today
will be forgotten tomorrow,
DO GOOD ANYWAY!

Honesty and frankness
make you vulnerable,
BE HONEST AND FRANK ANYWAY!

What you spent years building
may be destroyed overnight,
BUILD ANYWAY!

People who really need help
but may attack you if you help them,
HELP PEOPLE ANYWAY!

Give the world your best
and you’ll get kicked in the teeth,
GIVE THE WORLD YOUR BEST ANYWAY!

from a boeard in Sishu Bhavan, a children’s home in Calcutta, where Mother Teresa (Albanian nun, 1910-1997) used to work. “Anyway”) is a text from eight of the “Paradoxical Commandments” by Dr. Kent M. Keith (see below), Quotations book 2002

Original PARADOXICAL COMMANDMENTS

1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
3. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
6. The biggest men with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
7. People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
9. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.
10. Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.
Additional to “Paradoxical Commandments” at  “The Final Analysis”: You see, in the final analysis, it is all between you and God; I was never between you and them anyway.

Satisfying life
/in , /by

Believing in our hearts that who we are is enough is the key to a more satisfying and balanced life.

Ellen Sue Stern – American life advisor and author (b. 1954)

Confidence
/in , /by

A good leader inspires men to have confidence in him; a great leader inspires them to have confidence in themselves.

Wisdom – Quotations book 2015

Prejudices
/in , /by

It is never too late to give up our prejudices.

Henry David Thoreau – American writer (1817-1862), from “Walden” (1854), Quotations book 2022

Innovative Interaction
/in , , /by

For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument, debate.

Margaret Heffernan – American entrepreneur, author and speaker (b. 1955)

Free people
/in , /by

Free people make mistakes and willingly take risks. If we hold politicians responsible for everything that goes wrong, they will take away our liberty so that nothing can go wrong. They will do this not for our protection against risk, but for their own protection against criticism.

Jonathan Philip Chadwick Sumption, Lord Sumption – British author, medieval historian and judge, 2012-2018 Justice of the Supreme Court (b. 1948), from the interview “Set us free from lockdown, ministers, and stop covering your backs.” in “The Sunday Times” (May 17th, 2020), Quotations book 2022

Be thankful for what
/in , /by

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep … you are richer than 75 % of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish some place … you are among the top 8 %  of the world’s wealthy.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness … you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation … you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death … you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If your parents are still alive and still married … you are very rare.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful … you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

If you can hold someone’s hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder … you are blessed because you can offer healing touch.

If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing that someone was thinking of you, and furthermore … you are more blessed than 780 Million people in the world that cannot read at all.

Have a good day, count your blessings, and pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are.

Blessing – found on the Internet, Quotations book 2016

Repeat, repeat, repeat
/in , , /by

You need to repeat yourself so often, you get sick of hearing yourself say it, and only then will people begin to internalize what you’re saying.

Jeffrey “Jeff” Weiner – American businessman, CEO LinkedIn (b. 1970), from an interview with “Time” (April 28th, 2014), Quotations book 2021

Sense of Christmas
/in , , /by

The most precious gift that we can give to someone is the time we take to spend with them.
If we appreciate this, we have understood the meaning of Christmas.

Roswitha Bloch – German lyricist, aphorist and lecturer (b. 1957), Quotations book 2017

Miracles
/in , /by

Les miracles arrivent à ceux qui y croient.

proverbe français

Discussions
/in , /by

Great minds discuss ideas.
Average minds discuss events.
Small minds discuss people.

Eleanor Roosevelt – American presidential spouse 1933-45 and philanthropist, co-writer of the UN Charta for human rights (1884-1962)

Value of life
/in , /by

The value of life ist not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them; a man may live long yet very little.

Michel de Montaigne – French writer and philosopher (1533-1592)

Waste
/in , , /by

Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.

William Penn Adair “Will” Rogers – American humorist (1879-1935)

Sympathy with suffering
/in , /by

It is much more easy to have sympathy with suffering, than it is to have sympathy with thought. Accordingly, with admirable though misdirected intentions, they very seriously and very sentimentally set themselves to the task of remedying the evils that they see. But their remedies do not cure the disease, they merely prolong it. Indeed, their remedies are part of the disease..

Oscar Wilde – Irish writer (1854-1900), from “The Soul of Man under Socialism” (1891), Quotations book 2004

Communication
/in , /by

What is thought is not said.
What is said is not heard.
What is heard is not understood.
What is understood is not believed.
What is believed is not yet advocated.
What is advocated is not yet acted on.
What is acted on is not yet completed.

scheme from communication research, falsely attributed to Konrad Lorenz – Austian zoologist and ethologist, Nobel Prize in Medicine 1973 (1903-1989), Quotations book 2022

Listen instead of speaking
/in , /by

We have two ears, but one mouth so that we may hear more but speak less.

διὰ τοῦτο … δύο ὦτα ἔχομεν, στόμα δὲ ἕν, ἵνα πλείονα μὲν ἀκούωμεν, ἥττονα δὲ λέγωμεν.

Zeno of Citium – Greek philosopher (c. 333-c. 261 BC), from “Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers” (book seven, Zeno of Citium) by Diogenes Laërtius (Greek historian and doxographer, 3rd century)

What expenditures tell you
/in , , /by

Give me five minutes with a persons checkbook, and I will tell you where their heart is.

attributed to Billy Graham – born William Franklin Graham jr., American evangelist (1918-2018)

Accept decisions
/in , /by

Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.

wisdom, often attributed to Abraham Lincoln – American politician, 1861-65 16th president (1809-1865), abolished slavery in 1863;
the Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield (Illinois) called his authorship unlikely, Quotations book 2019

Humanity
/in , /by

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.
People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.
Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.

Audrey Hepburn – American actress (1929-1993), Quotations book 2005

Religion
/in /by

When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion.

Abraham Lincoln – American politician, 16th president 1896-65 (1809-1865)

Responsibility
/in , /by

Freedom means responsibility; that is the reason why most people are afraid of it.

George Bernard Shaw – Irish writer, Nobel Prize in literature 1925 (1856-1950), Quotations book 2005

Drive
/in , /by

There are two levers to set a man in motion, fear and self-interest.

Napoleon Bonaparte – French general and 1804-14 and 1815 emperor (1769-1821)

Elections in times of a rebellion
/in , , /by

The present rebellion brought our republic to a severe test; and a presidential election occurring in regular course during the rebellion added not a little to the strain. If the loyal people, united, were put to the utmost of their strength by the rebellion, must they not fail when divided, and partially paralyzed, by a political war among themselves? But the election was a necessity. We can not have free government without elections.

Abraham Lincoln – American politician, 1861-65 16th president (1809-1865), abolished slavery in 1863, speech as Response to a serenade after his re-election, 10th November 1864

Forgiveness
/in , /by

The weak can never forgive.

Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

Mahatma Gandhi – Indian politician (1869-1948), Quotations book 2004

False estimation
/in , , /by

Most people ignore probabilities and exaggerate risk.

Ralf Wanger – American fund manager (b. 1934), from “A Zebra in Lion Country” (1999)

Laughing
/in , /by

No animal but man ever laughs.

Aristoteles – Greek philosopher (384-322 B.C.), in “De partibus animalium” (4th century B.C.), Quotations book 2014

Church
/in , /by

The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.

attributed to Abigail van Buren – born Pauline Esther Friedman, American advice columnist

(1918-2013), Quotations book 2010

Opportunity
/in , , /by

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

Thomas Alva Edison – American inventor (1847-1931)

Elegance
/in , /by

Elegance is not to be noticed, it’s to be remembered.

attributed to Giorgio Armani – Italian fashion designer (b. 1934)

L’eleganza non è farsi notare, ma farsi ricordare.

attribuita a Giorgio Armani – stilista italiano (*1934)

Character
/in , /by

The best index to a persons character is (a) how he treats people who can’t do him any good, and (b) how he treats people who can’t fight back.

Abigail van Buren – born Pauline Esther Friedman, American advice columnist (1918-2013), Quotations book 2003

Liberty or tyranny
/in , /by

When the people fear the government you have tyranny.
When the government fears the people you have liberty.

John Basil Barnhill – American writer (1864-1929), Quotations book 2012