INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES
World Knowledge & Education

My mother said to me, “If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope.” Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso.

- Pablo Picasso (Artist, 1881-1973)

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

Albert Einstein, PhD (Genius, Physicist, 1879-1955)

I think education is power. I think that being able to communicate with people is power. One of my main goals on the planet is to encourage people to empower themselves.

- Oprah Winfrey (Business woman, 1954-)

Until you're ready to look foolish, you'll never have the possibility of being great.

- Cher (Singer, actress, producer, 1946-)

Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're probably right.

- Henry Ford (Founder, Ford Motor Co. 1863-1947)

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.

Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.

Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.

- Calvin Coolidge (30th US president, 1872-1933)

The only thing that I have done that is not mitigated by luck, diminished by good fortune, is that I persisted, and other people gave up.

- Harrison Ford (actor 1942-)

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

- Thomas Edison (Inventor, 1847-1931)

Keep away from people who try to belittle your dreams. Small people always do that, but the really great ones make you feel that you, too, can become great.

- Mark Twain (Writer, lecturer, 1835-1910)

When people hurt you over and over, think of them like sandpaper. They may scratch and hurt you a bit, but in the end, you end up polished and they end up useless.

- Chris Colfer (Actor, singer, 1990-)

Integrity is not a conditional word. It doesn't blow in the wind or change with the weather. It is your inner image of yourself, and if you look in there and see a man who won't cheat, then you know he never will.

- John D. MacDonald (Novelist, 1916-1986)

I am afraid we must make the world honest before we can honestly say to our children that honesty is the best policy.

- George Bernard Shaw (Playright, 1856-1950)

There are seven things that will destroy us:

Wealth without work;

Pleasure without conscience;

Knowledge without character;

Religion without sacrifice;

Politics without principle;

Science without humanity;

Business without ethics.

- Gandhi (1869-1948)

As a leader, you have to not only do the right thing, but be perceived to be doing the right thing.

A consequence of seeking a leadership position is being put under intense public scrutiny, being held to high standards, and enhancing a reputation that is constantly under threat.

— Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Andrew Ward (Firing Back)

In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you.

- Warren Buffett (Businessman, 1930-)

Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.

- Oprah Winfrey (Business woman, 1954)

Power perceived is power achieved

- Principal Claude Rolle ("The Substitute" 1996)

When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life.

When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down "happy."

They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.

- John Lennon (Singer, songwriter, 1940-1980)

Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you.

- H. Jackson Brown, Jr (American author, 1940-)

Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.

- Oprah Winfrey (Business woman, 1954)

The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way.

- Keanu Reeves (Actor, 1964-)

Winners lose more than losers. They win and lose more than losers, because they stay in the game.

- Terry Paulson (Psychologist)

I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.

I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

- Michael Jordan (Athlete, 1963-)

It is better to play than do nothing.

- Confucius (Philosopher, 551 BC-479 BC)

It ain't over till it's over.

- Yogi Berra (New York Yankees, 1925-)

It's a sad day when you find out that it's not accident or fortune but just yourself that kept things from you.

- Lillian Hellman (Playwright, writer, 1905-1984)

A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits.

- Richard Nixon (37th US President 1913-1994)

You learn you can do your best even when it's hard, even when you're tired and maybe hurting a little bit. It feels good to show some courage.

- Joe Namath (Athlete, 1943-)

A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.

- Benjamin Franklin (Founding father, America's first millionaire, 1706-1790)

Never ruin an apology with an excuse.

- Benjamin Franklin (Founding father, America's first millionaire, 1706-1790)

When your work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt.

- Henry J. Kaiser (Industrialist, 1882-1967)

A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.

- Oscar Wilde (Writer, 1854-1900)

A false friend and a shadow attend only while the sun shines.

- Benjamin Franklin (Founding father, America's first millionaire, 1706-1790)

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances.

The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them.

- George Bernard Shaw (Playwright, critic, 1856-1950)

Change can come in either of two important ways:

Start behaving positively or stop behaving negatively.

- Dr. Phil (TV host, 1950-)

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.

- Abraham Lincoln (16th US president, 1809-1865)

You are responsible for your life. You can't keep blaming somebody else for your dysfunction. Life is really about moving on.

- Oprah Winfrey (Business woman, 1954)

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.

- Buddha (Founder of Buddhism, circa 563 BCE-483 BCE)

A prophet is without honor in his own community.

- The Bible
Matt 13:57. “Then Jesus told them, ‘A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.’ "

The other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going.

- George Carlin (Comedian 1937-2008)

The first half of our lives is ruined by our parents and the second half by our children.

- Clarence Darrow (Attorney, 1857-1938)

The reason grandparents and grandchildren get along so well is that they have a common enemy.

- Sam Levenson (Writer, teacher 1911-1980)

The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, the young know everything.

- Oscar Wilde (Writer, 1854-1900)

We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies.

- Shirley Abbott (Writer, 1934-)

A window of opportunity won't open itself.

- Dave Weinbaum (Online philosopher)

Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is the doing something else.

- Leonardo da Vinci (Artist, 1452-1519)

The man who leaves money to charity in his will is only giving away what no longer belongs to him.

Voltaire (Writer, philosopher, 1694-1778)

You can't accomplish anything worthwhile if you inhibit yourself. If life teaches you nothing else, know this for sure:

When you get the chance, go for it.

- Oprah Winfrey (Business woman, 1954)

Imagination rules the world.

- Napoleon Bonaparte (Emperor, 1769-1821)

The man who has no imagination has no wings.

- Muhammad Ali (Boxer 1942-)

If you owe the bank $100 that's your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, that's the bank's problem.

- J. Paul Getty (Industrialist, 1892-1976

Don't be afraid your life will end. Be afraid that it will never begin.

- Grace Hansen

Thirteen roadways lead through life

To thirteen doors of death,

Homeward from foolish fears and strife

We float on failing breath.

- Tao (Chinese Philosophy, 6th century, B.C.)

A wedding is just like a funeral except that you get to smell your own flowers.

- Grace Hansen

The most beautiful people I've known are those who have known trials, have known struggles, have known loss, and have found their way out of the depths.

- Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (Psychiatrist, 1926-2004)

Grief does not change you... It reveals you.

- John Green (Author)

As a well spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death.

- Leonardo da Vinci (Artist, 1452-1519)

I would like to be remembered as a man who had a wonderful time living life, a man who had good friends, fine family — and I don't think I could ask for anything more than that, actually.

- Frank Sinatra (Singer, 1915-1998)

The children have been a wonderful gift to me, and I'm thankful to have once again seen our world through their eyes. They restore my faith in the family's future.

- Jacqueline Kennedy (First Lady, 1929-1994)

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.

- Thoreau (Philosopher, 1817-1862)

Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.

- Stephen King (Novelist, screenwriter, film director, 1947-)

If you need something done ask as busy man, no one else will have time to do it.

- Unknown

The biggest thing separating people from their artistic ambitions is not a lack of talent. It's the lack of a DEADLINE.

- Chris Baty (Writer)

His talent was as natural as the pattern that was made by the dust on a butterfly's wings. At one time he understood it no more than the butterfly did and he did not know when it was brushed or marred.

Later he became conscious of his damaged wings and of their construction and he learned to think and could not fly any more because the love of flight was gone and he could only remember when it had been effortless.

- Ernest Hemingway (Writer, 1899-1961)

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

- Leonardo da Vinci (Artist, 1452-1519)

That old law about "an eye for an eye" leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing.

- Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (Activist, 1929-1968)

Don’t ever wrestle with a pig. You’ll both get dirty, but the pig will enjoy it.

- Cale Yarborough (NASCAR driver, 1939)

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.

- Dr. Seuss (P

Your intellect may be confused, but your emotions will never lie to you.

- Roger Ebert (Film critic, historian, journalist)

If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people.

- Confucius (Philosopher, 551 BC-479 BC)

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you've got to put up with the rain.

- Dolly Parton (Singer, actor, 1946-)

I dwell in possibility.

- Emily Dickenson (Poet, 1830-1886)

Big shots are only little shots who keep shooting.

- Christopher Morley (Journalist, 1890-1957)

A stranger stabs you in the front; a friend stabs you in the back; a boyfriend stabs you in the heart, but best friends only poke each other with straws.

- Unknown

If you come to a fork in the road, take it.

- Yogi Berra (New York Yankees, 1925-)

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

- Confucius (Philosopher, 551 BC-479 BC)

The safest way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket.

- Kin Hubbard (Humorist, 1868-1930)

If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write something worth reading or do things worth the writing.

- Benjamin Franklin (Founding father, America's first millionaire, 1706-1790)

Girl & The Rattlesnake

A young girl walking along a mountain path to her grandmother's house heard a rustle at her feet. Looking down, she saw a snake, but before she could react, the snake spoke to her.

"I am about to die," he said. "It's too cold for me up here, and I am freezing. There is no food in these mountains, and I am starving. Please put me under your coat and take me with you."

"No," the girl replied. "I know your kind. You are a rattlesnake. And if I pick you up, you will bite me and your bite is poisonous."

"No, no," the snake said. "If you help me, you will be my best friend. I will treat YOU differently."

The young girl sat down on a rock for a moment to rest and think things over. She looked at the beautiful markings on the snake and she had to admit he was the most beautiful snake she had ever seen.

Suddenly, she said, "I believe you. I will save you. All living things deserve to be treated with kindness."

She then reached over, put the snake gently under her coat and continued toward her grandmother's house.

Within a moment, she felt a sharp pain in her side. The snake had bitten her!

"How could you do this to me?" she cried. "You promised that you would not bite me, and I trusted you!"

"You knew what I was when you picked me up," he hissed as he slithered away

- Ann Landers' column (with minor edits)
- Rattle Snake photo: G BALLARD

I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.

- Jimmy Dean (Singer, 1928-2010)

Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you was beyond my control.

- Unknown

Nobody is worth your tears, and the one who is won't make you cry.

- Unknown

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.

And so we must straighten our backs... A man can't ride you unless your back is bent.

- Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (Activist, 1929-1968)

- Unknown

There's a Genius in all of us.

Albert Einstein (Genius 1879-1955)

TRADITIONAL Native American Indian Quotations

The song that I will sing is an old song, so old that none knows who made it. It has been handed down through generations and was taught to me when I was but a little lad. It is now my own song. It belongs to me. This is a holy song (medicine song), and great is its power. The song tells how, as I sing, I go through the air to a holy place where Yusun (The Supreme Being) will give me power to do wonderful things. I am surrounded by little clouds, and as I go through the air I change, becoming spirit only.

- Geronimo, Apache warrior/leader (1829-1909)

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