Excellent Motivational Quotes

We've searched our database for all the quotes and captions related to Excellent Motivational. Here they are! All 100 of them:

β€œ
Focus on making yourself better, not on thinking that you are better.
”
”
Bohdi Sanders (The Secrets of Worldly Wisdom: Your Key to Unlocking Success)
β€œ
Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.
”
”
Mario Andretti
β€œ
Your comfort zone is a place where you keep yourself in a self-illusion and nothing can grow there but your potentiality can grow only when you can think and grow out of that zone.
”
”
Rashedur Ryan Rahman
β€œ
Don't live the same day over and over again and call that a life. Life is about evolving mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.
”
”
Germany Kent
β€œ
Roses do not bloom hurriedly; for beauty, like any masterpiece, takes time to blossom.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
Whatever your passion is, keep doing it. Don't waste time chasing after success or comparing yourself to others. Every flower blooms at a different pace. Excel at doing what your passion is and only focus on perfecting it. Eventually people will see what you are great at doing, and if you are truly great, success will come chasing after you.
”
”
Suzy Kassem (Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem)
β€œ
The difference between being mediocre and achieving excellence is you.
”
”
Stephen Richards (Think Your way to Success: Let Your Dreams Run Free)
β€œ
If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got.
”
”
James P. Lewis (Working Together: 12 Principles for Achieving Excellence in Managing Projects, Teams, and Organizations)
β€œ
Go higher and higher, until it becomes impossible to bring you down, I wanna use a microscope to locate you, don't even dream of coming down.
”
”
Michael Bassey Johnson
β€œ
I choose to live by choice, not by chance; to make changes, not excuses; to be motivated, not manipulated; to be useful, not used; to excel, not to compete. I choose self-esteem, not self-pity. I choose to listen to my inner voice, not the random opinion of others. I choose to be me.
”
”
Miranda Marrott
β€œ
Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.
”
”
Harriet B. Braiker
β€œ
You are people with a present and with a future. Don't muff the ball. Be excellent.
”
”
Gordon B. Hinckley (Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes)
β€œ
Anyone can fail at something they really don’t want. What really takes courage is going after something you want and then failing. There is more fulfillment in life knowing that you tried, rather than settled without a fight.
”
”
Shannon L. Alder
β€œ
Stars do not pull each other down to be more visible; they shine brighter.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
I pulled myself up and told myself to stop these ridiculous thoughts, wondering why it is that we can never stop trying to analyse the motives of people who have no personal interest in us, in the vain hope of finding that perhaps they may have just a little after all.
”
”
Barbara Pym (Excellent Women)
β€œ
Tweet others the way you want to be tweeted.
”
”
Germany Kent (You Are What You Tweet: Harness the Power of Twitter to Create a Happier, Healthier Life)
β€œ
WINNER:is A Runner who β€œWins Inspite Of Ninety Nine Excellent Runners!
”
”
Sujit Lalwani (Life Simplified!)
β€œ
Preparation time is necessary for your growth. Trust and believe everything you're going through is preparing you for some request you put out into the Universe.
”
”
Germany Kent
β€œ
Your VISION and your self-willingness is the MOST powerful elements to conquer your goal
”
”
Rashedur Ryan Rahman
β€œ
The pursuit of excellence with unrestrained passion can lead to the accomplishment of wonders with unsurpassed joy.
”
”
Aberjhani (Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays)
β€œ
You don't excel by conforming to society, you excel by conforming to your higher self.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things for the observer- excellent for drawing the veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained observer to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his.
”
”
Arthur Conan Doyle (The Complete Sherlock Holmes)
β€œ
Never seek to please anyone. Seek to evolve thyself.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
β€œ
Do not be obsessed with expensive things. Instead, be obsessed with excellence. Things don't make you excellent. However, excellence will make you expensive.
”
”
Janna Cachola
β€œ
Learn to master your thoughts and watch closely what you deposit into your spirit. Speak over your life. Living in peace has transformative power.
”
”
Germany Kent
β€œ
am blessed. I am prosperous. I am successful.” β€œI am victorious. I am talented. I am creative.” β€œI am wise. I am healthy. I am in shape.” β€œI am energetic. I am happy. I am positive.” β€œI am passionate. I am strong. I am confident.” β€œI am secure. I am beautiful. I am attractive.” β€œI am valuable. I am free. I am redeemed.” β€œI am forgiven. I am anointed. I am accepted.” β€œI am approved. I am prepared. I am qualified.” β€œI am motivated. I am focused. I am disciplined.” β€œI am determined. I am patient. I am kind.” β€œI am generous. I am excellent. I am equipped.” β€œI am empowered. I am well able.” β€œI am a child of the Most High God.
”
”
Joel Osteen (The Power of I Am: Two Words That Will Change Your Life Today)
β€œ
Be like the sun; never let the opinions of those who hate you dull your shine.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
Whatever is going on inside your head has everything to do with how well you end up performing.
”
”
D.C. Gonzalez (The Art of Mental Training: A Guide to Performance Excellence (Collector's Edition))
β€œ
Even where the affections are not strongly moved by any superior excellence, the companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds which hardly any later friend can obtain. They know our infantine dispositions, ...; and they can judge of our actions with more certain conclusions as to the integrity of our motives.
”
”
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
β€œ
The sun announces its presence with light, not words; do likewise.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
Childhood trauma doesn't excuse toxic behaviors in adulthood. Once you are aware, it's your duty to heal. It's called accountability.
”
”
Kierra C.T. Banks
β€œ
And the excellent thing about success is that it always comes down to one simple thing: the decision to keep going until you’ve reached your goal.
”
”
Jen Sincero (You Are a Badass Every Day: How to Keep Your Motivation Strong, Your Vibe High, and Your Quest for Transformation Unstoppable)
β€œ
Don’t ever let rejections or failures put you down and keep you from trying. Believe in yourself, have an unwavering desire to excel, put in your best your efforts, persevere and you will blaze your trail.
”
”
Roopleen
β€œ
Excellence in obscurity is better than mediocrity in the spotlight.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
Don't run with the crowd; fly with the stars.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
Autumn is a momentum of the natures golden beauty…, so the same it’s time to find your momentum of life
”
”
Rashedur Ryan Rahman
β€œ
Have an attitude of positive expectation.
”
”
Germany Kent
β€œ
Be positive. Stay happy and don't let the negativity of the world get you down.
”
”
Germany Kent
β€œ
Do what no one else can do and you will become what no one else can become.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
We weren't born to create excuses, we were born to create excellence.
”
”
Janna Cachola
β€œ
Passion makes you good, but pride stops you to get better.
”
”
Amit Kalantri (Wealth of Words)
β€œ
Grow your talents and skills through a consistent practice and progressive learning. Learn to relearn and unlearn. Raise the bar for yourself always.
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (Become a Better You)
β€œ
The pursuit of perfection may be impossible, but if we chase perfection, we just might catch excellence.
”
”
Vince Lombardi
β€œ
How you think and create your inner world that you gonna become in your outer world. Your inner believe manifest you in the outside
”
”
Rashedur Ryan Rahman
β€œ
Your traditional EDUCATION is not going to CHANGE your life but the life you are experiencing that can change you. Choose a POSITIVE life STYLE with positive ATTITUDE which could bring you a life with HAPPINESS and WISDOM
”
”
Rashedur Ryan Rahman
β€œ
If you make a choice in this conference and you stick to it to be an excellent person in everything you do and you stick to it especially to be excellent when nobody is looking and do it not to get a result but to glorify God you’re going to have peace and joy and you’re going to have results. My concern is that if we just do something to get results then we’re not likely to follow things all the way through to the finish, because we get very discouraged, and I think that’s one of the reasons we have such discouragement among people. β€œWell, I’m doing this, and I expected to get a breakthrough before now.” ….. Well, I think God has to purify our hearts and get us to the point where we are not just doing something right just to get something!
”
”
Joyce Meyer
β€œ
Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal--a commitment to excellence--that will enable you to attain the success you seek. --Mario Andretti
”
”
Mario Andretti (Race to Win: How to Become a Complete Champion Driver)
β€œ
Compassion is a seed, empathy is the root, kindness is the stem, charity is the tree, and love is the fruit. Intelligence is a seed, understanding is the root, intuition is the stem, knowledge is the tree, and wisdom is the fruit. Skill is a seed, talent is the root, excellence is the stem, brilliance is the tree, and genius is the fruit.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
Talent silences your competition; genius deafens them.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
Shine your light so bright, and no one will need a telescope to see you.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
When excellence becomes a habit, success becomes a lifestyle.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
Yes!" He says. "Fear is an excellent motivator. I find that it really brings out the true ingenuity of a creature.
”
”
M.D. Elster (Four Kings)
β€œ
The desire for excellence becomes a reality when an individual sets a standard, reach it and surpass it consistently.
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (Become a Better You)
β€œ
Sow the seeds of hard work and you will reap the fruits of success. Find something to do, do it with all your concentration. You will excel.
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (Become a Better You)
β€œ
Conduct yourself in a manner that is worthy of respect and don't worry about what others think.
”
”
Bohdi Sanders (Modern Bushido: Living a Life of Excellence)
β€œ
Don’t train to be ordinary; train to be extraordinary. You have to go beyond the ordinary in order to become extraordinary. You must develop a style that works for you.
”
”
Bohdi Sanders (BUSHIDO: The Way of the Warrior)
β€œ
If you are not EXCITED enough at your present life its mean your future is not EXITING. Excitement will give you ENTHUSIASM and enthusiasm will give you a positive energetic LIFE STYLE which could give you a successful exiting life…
”
”
Rashedur Ryan Rahman
β€œ
Competence makes the rules, intelligence follows the rules, excellence bends the rules, and brilliance breaks the rules. Skill follows the rules, talent replaces the rules, mastery shatters the rules, but genius makes its own rules.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
… Damned is the soul that dies while the evil it committed lives on. And the most damned of all are those who see the evil coming for others and refuse to confront it. For it is not out of fear that heroes are born, but rather out of their selfless love that will not allow them safety bought from the torture, death, and degradation of others. It is better to die in defense of another than to live with the knowledge that you could have saved them but chose to do nothing. And to those who think that one person cannot make a difference, I say this … the deadliest tidal wave begins as an unseen ripple in a vast ocean. Live your life so that your integrity will motivate others to strive for excellence long after you’ve passed on, and know that no good deed or sacrifice, or offer of sincere friendship or love, is ever forgotten by the one who receives it.
”
”
Sherrilyn Kenyon (Inferno (Chronicles of Nick, #4))
β€œ
Serving my generation with excellence will mean my generation can in turn lead with excellence.
”
”
Onyi Anyado
β€œ
Negotiation is permissible for mediocrity not for excellence.
”
”
Amit Kalantri
β€œ
Work for what you want, the pursuit of life.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
β€œ
Leaders motivate people to understand that they can do better than they’ve already done and go farther than they’ve reached.
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (Leaders' Ladder)
β€œ
You become the master of what you master.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
If records refuse to be broken, shatter them.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
You are God's chisel; it is you He uses to create masterpieces.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
Your original self is worth more than your imitation of someone else.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
If you water your dreams with excellence, success will grow.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
People tell me I excel in Public Relations, what I suck at are private affairs.
”
”
Ioana-Cristina Casapu (DeviaΘ›ii de stereo)
β€œ
With discipline, you can lose weight, you can excel in work, you can win the war.
”
”
Amit Kalantri (Wealth of Words)
β€œ
Be excellent in your own terms. Do not look for approval from a single soul on this planet. Respect yourself and in time the whole world will respect you.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (The Education Decree)
β€œ
When You Step Your Game Up, Your Life Will LEVEL UP!
”
”
Jeanette Coron
β€œ
CONFIDENCE is not showing off your VANITY, it’s about to be HUMBLED and KIND to others what are you truly SKILLED and PROFESSIONAL about…
”
”
Rashedur Ryan Rahman
β€œ
Let these 2 quotes sink in. In tandem together. "A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves as something to aim at." - Bruce Lee "Gentlemen, we will chase perfection, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence.” - Vince Lombardi The key here is thing to take away from the tandem of these quotes is that even those you will never achieve perfection, the fact that you will aim towards unfathomable goals you will along the journey catch greatness.
”
”
Matthew Donnelly
β€œ
β€žI choose to excel, not compete - do you? I choose to make changes, not excuses - do you? To be motivated, not manipulated. To be useful, not used. I choose to live by choice, not by chance - do you?
”
”
Megan Abbott (Dare Me)
β€œ
They were admirable things for the observer - excellent for drawing the veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his.
”
”
Arthur Conan Doyle (The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes)
β€œ
Give up your attachment to comfortable ways of living - show yourself in the gymnasium (gymnos = 'naked'), prove that you are not indifferent to the difference between perfect and imperfect, demonstrate to us that achievement - excellence, arete, virtu - has not remained a foreign word to you, admit that you have motives for new endeavours! Above all: only grant the suspicion that sport is a pastime for the most stupid as much space as it deserves, do not misuse it as a pretext to drift further in your customary state of self-neglect, distrust the philistine in yourself who thinks you are just fine as you are! Hear the voice from the stone, do not resist the call to get in shape! Seize the chance to train with a god!
”
”
Peter Sloterdijk (Du mußt dein Leben Àndern)
β€œ
Most of us are continually engaged in some form of pursuit. We are seeking excellence within one or more areas in our lives, and that is the basis of our motivation. It is human nature to have a need to get ahead, need a little something moreβ€”it’s in our DNA. Although we may not be certain of what we need at any given moment, we know there’s something. It’s a competitive itch and desire to improve that never goes away.
”
”
Lorii Myers (No Excuses, The Fit Mind-Fit Body Strategy Book (3 Off the Tee, #3))
β€œ
Now is the time to enliven, ennoble and enrich your life's tapestry.
”
”
Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha
β€œ
Pursue great things. You are destiny for greatness.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita
β€œ
Fear is an excellent motivator.
”
”
Jeekeshen Chinnappen (Psychic Gang)
β€œ
when you become addict in to MATERIAL things in life then the TRUE natural life start to run away from you, YES! it's can give you certain pleasure in the society but in the same time it will sabotage your true HAPPINESS of life which we could have simply with GRATITUDE and FORGIVENESS
”
”
Rashedur Ryan Rahman
β€œ
Excellence must be pursued, it must be wooed with all of one’s might and every bit of effort that we have each day there’s a new encounter, each week is a new challenge. All of the noise and all of the glamour all of the color all of the excitement all of the rings and all of the money. These are the things that linger only in the memory. But the spirit, the will to excel, the will to win, these are the things that endure.” β€” Vince Lombardi (The winning coach from Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II)
”
”
Vince Lombardi
β€œ
It was now some years since Anne had begun to learn that she and her excellent friend could sometimes think differently; and it did not surprise her, therefore, that Lady Russell should see nothing suspicious or inconsistent, nothing to require more motives than appeared, in Mr Elliot's great desire of a reconciliation.
”
”
Jane Austen (Persuasion)
β€œ
I confessed that I had a burning desire to be excellent, but no faith that I could be. Martha said to me, very quietly: β€œThere is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. As for you, Agnes, you have so far used about one-third of your talent.” β€œBut,” I said, β€œwhen I see my work I take for granted what other people value in it. I see only its ineptitude, inorganic flaws, and crudities. I am not pleased or satisfied.” β€œNo artist is pleased.” β€œBut then there is no satisfaction?” β€œNo satisfaction whatever at any time,” she cried out passionately. β€œThere is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.
”
”
Agnes de Mille (Martha: The Life and Work of Martha Graham- A Biography)
β€œ
Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. β€”Aristotle
”
”
Candace Cameron Bure (Reshaping It All: Motivation for Physical and Spiritual Fitness)
β€œ
To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things for the observerβ€”excellent for drawing the veil from men’s motives and actions. But for the trained
”
”
Arthur Conan Doyle (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)
β€œ
I thank you, Walton," he said, "for your kind intentions towards to miserable a wretch; but when you speak of new ties and fresh affections think you that any can replace those who are gone? Can any man be to me as Clerval was, or any woman another Elizabeth? Even where the affections are not strongly moved by any superior excellence, the companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds which hardly any later friend can obtain. They know our infantine dispositions, which, however they may be afterwards modified, are never eradicated; and they can judge of our actions with more certain conclusions as to the integrity of our motives." -- Victor Frankenstein; Frankenstein
”
”
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
β€œ
To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things for the observerβ€”excellent for drawing the veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory.
”
”
Arthur Conan Doyle (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes, #3))
β€œ
[A]s it is impossible that any man endowed with rational faculties, and being in a state of freedom, should willingly agree, without some motive of love or friendship, absolutely to sacrifice his own interest to that of another; it becomes necessary to impose upon him, to persuade him, that his own good is designed, and that he will be a gainer by coming into those schemes, which are, in reality, calculated for his destruction. And this, if I mistake not, is the very essence of that excellent art, called the art of politics.
”
”
Henry Fielding (Miscellanies by Henry Fielding, Esq: Volume Three, [Jonathan Wild] (Wesleyan Edition of The Works of Henry Fielding))
β€œ
You have everything within you to do great things in this world. Maybe, you are inspired to sing a song, write a book or poems, create art in various forms. Or you may decide to find a cure for disease, end world hunger, prevent abuse, or take a stand politically. The question is how to begin the process of fulfilling your vision. Start where you are and use the resources you have to build from there. Inspiration is what motivates you to achieve your remarkable ideas. Also it takes time and dedication to excel to the next level.
”
”
Amaka Imani Nkosazana
β€œ
In one study, participants were primed with high-achievement words (related to winning, excellence, etc.) flashed on a computer screen. Each word appeared only for an instant, too fast for conscious deliberation. Participants with high-achievement motivation performed significantly better on tasks after being primed with the words than those with low achievement motivation.
”
”
David DiSalvo (What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite)
β€œ
He is not a challenge, he is not a conquest. You were once that for him, back when he used to call you a little beast and defeated you handily, time and again. You got the feeling over time and then again that he didn’t want to win, when he sparred with you. That was the motivation you needed. The opportunity presented itself; his weakness presented itself. You took it, you beat him, you got better, you stayed neck and neck. Just stay strong, was the first directive. Get stronger, was the next. Don’t die, was the final, and that is where you remain. Daunting, to excel at a game that you must eventually lose. Unless you really are an angel. Unless he really is already a ghost.
”
”
Vee Hoffman
β€œ
Where there is no rest there is energy. Where there is no disruption there is normality. Where there is no profit there is bankruptcy. Where there is no gain there is insolvency. Where there is no injury there is safety. Where there is no team there is individuality. Where there is no hindrance there is opportunity. Where there is no injury there is safety. Where there is no sense there is inefficiency. Where there is no failiure there is competency. Where there is no decline there is industry. Where there is no strength there is infirmity. Where there is no idleness there is activity. Where there is no weakness there is intensity. Where there is no failiure there is industry. Where there is no leadership there is anarchy. Where there is no repetition there is originality. Where there is no increase there is deficiency. Where there is no ignorance there is capacity. Where there is no impotence there is ability. Where there is no falseness there is authenticity. Where there is no excellence there is mediocrity. Where there is no mistake there is quality. Where there is no amatuer there is ingenuity. Where there is no error there is mastery. Where there is no defect there is virtuosity.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
Mother Nature, truly we are grateful for what you have made us. No doubt you did the best you could. However, with all due respect, we must say that you have in many ways done a poor job with the human constitution. You have made us vulnerable to disease and damage. You compel us to age and die – just as we’re beginning to attain wisdom. And, you forgot to give us the operating manual for ourselves! … What you have made is glorious, yet deeply flawed … We have decided that it is time to amend the human constitution … We do not do this lightly, carelessly, or disrespectfully, but cautiously, intelligently, and in pursuit of excellence … Over the coming decades we will pursue a series of changes to our own constitution … We will no longer tolerate the tyranny of aging and death … We will expand our perceptual range … improve on our neural organization and capacity … reshape our motivational patterns and emotional responses … take charge over our genetic programming and achieve mastery over our biological and neurological processes.
”
”
Max More (The Transhumanist Reader: Classical and Contemporary Essays on the Science, Technology, and Philosophy of the Human Future)
β€œ
If you are to live in this world, then you must be willing to actively participate in life." You cannot just be an expectator. You cannot just be sitting down at the bleachers and comtemplate the game and expect to win. You are to step out of your comfortable zone. You are to participate and do your very best. Remember, "Every pro was once an amateur. Every expert was once a beginner." And every beginner once decided to step down from the bleachers and start participating. Build a solid foundation for your life. Stay rooted in the Word. Don't let the holy things become common. Be disciplined and be committed. Sacrifice what you are to sacrifice in order to succeed. But never ever your values, integrity, character, and principles. Never give up nor give in. Be aware that people will hate you on your way up. People will rate you. They'll will shake you and try to bring you down. "But how strong you stand, is what makes you." Choose to live by choice not by chance. Be motivated and not manipulated. BE useful not used. Make changes and not excuses. Aim to excel not to compete. Choose self-esteem, not self pitty. Choose to listen to your inner voice, (which is GOd's word whispering to you) not to the random opinions of others. And finally, choose to live for yourself and not to please others. Word of advice, "make your goals so big, that your everyday problems seem insignificant." Have a bless day
”
”
Rafael GarcΓ­a
β€œ
I was chiefly disgusted with modern history. For having strictly examined all the persons of greatest name in the courts of princes, for a hundred years past, I found how the world had been misled by prostitute writers, to ascribe the greatest exploits in war, to cowards; the wisest counsel, to fools; sincerity, to flatterers; Roman virtue, to betrayers of their country; piety, to atheists; chastity, to sodomites; truth, to informers: how many innocent and excellent persons had been condemned to death or banishment by the practising of great ministers upon the corruption of judges, and the malice of factions: how many villains had been exalted to the highest places of trust, power, dignity, and profit: how great a share in the motions and events of courts, councils, and senates might be challenged by bawds, whores, pimps, parasites, and buffoons. How low an opinion I had of human wisdom and integrity, when I was truly informed of the springs and motives of great enterprises and revolutions in the world, and of the contemptible accidents to which they owed their success.
”
”
Jonathan Swift (Gulliver's Travels)
β€œ
A disdain for the practical swept the ancient world. Plato urged astronomers to think about the heavens, but not to waste their time observing them. Aristotle believed that: β€œThe lower sort are by nature slaves, and it is better for them as for all inferiors that they should be under the rule of a master.… The slave shares in his master’s life; the artisan is less closely connected with him, and only attains excellence in proportion as he becomes a slave. The meaner sort of mechanic has a special and separate slavery.” Plutarch wrote: β€œIt does not of necessity follow that, if the work delight you with its grace, the one who wrought it is worthy of esteem.” Xenophon’s opinion was: β€œWhat are called the mechanical arts carry a social stigma and are rightly dishonoured in our cities.” As a result of such attitudes, the brilliant and promising Ionian experimental method was largely abandoned for two thousand years. Without experiment, there is no way to choose among contending hypotheses, no way for science to advance. The anti-empirical taint of the Pythagoreans survives to this day. But why? Where did this distaste for experiment come from? An explanation for the decline of ancient science has been put forward by the historian of science, Benjamin Farrington: The mercantile tradition, which led to Ionian science, also led to a slave economy. The owning of slaves was the road to wealth and power. Polycrates’ fortifications were built by slaves. Athens in the time of Pericles, Plato and Aristotle had a vast slave population. All the brave Athenian talk about democracy applied only to a privileged few. What slaves characteristically perform is manual labor. But scientific experimentation is manual labor, from which the slaveholders are preferentially distanced; while it is only the slaveholdersβ€”politely called β€œgentle-men” in some societiesβ€”who have the leisure to do science. Accordingly, almost no one did science. The Ionians were perfectly able to make machines of some elegance. But the availability of slaves undermined the economic motive for the development of technology. Thus the mercantile tradition contributed to the great Ionian awakening around 600 B.C., and, through slavery, may have been the cause of its decline some two centuries later. There are great ironies here.
”
”
Carl Sagan (Cosmos)
β€œ
I have talked with many pastors whose real struggle isn’t first with the hardship of ministry, the lack of appreciation and involvement of people, or difficulties with fellow leaders. No, the real struggle they are having, one that is very hard for a pastor to admit, is with God. What is caused to ministry become hard and burdensome is disappointment and anger at God. We have forgotten that pastoral ministry is war and that you will never live successfully in the pastorate if you live with the peacetime mentality. Permit me to explain. The fundamental battle of pastoral ministry is not with the shifting values of the surrounding culture. It is not the struggle with resistant people who don't seem to esteem the Gospel. It is not the fight for the success of ministries of the church. And is not the constant struggle of resources and personnel to accomplish the mission. No, the war of the pastor is a deeply personal war. It is far on the ground of the pastor’s heart. It is a war values, allegiances, and motivations. It's about the subtle desires and foundational dreams. This war is the greatest threat to every pastor. Yet it is a war that we often naΓ―vely ignore or quickly forget in the busyness of local church ministry. When you forget the Gospel, you begin to seek from the situations, locations and relationships of ministry what you already have been given in Christ. You begin to look to ministry for identity, security, hope, well-being, meeting, and purpose. These things are already yours in Christ. In ways of which you are not always aware, your ministry is always shaped by what is in functional control of your heart. The fact of the matter is that many pastors become awe numb or awe confused, or they get awe kidnapped. Many pastors look at glory and don't seek glory anymore. Many pastors are just cranking out because they don't know what else to do. Many pastors preach a boring, uninspiring gospel that makes you wonder why people aren't sleeping their way through it. Many pastors are better at arguing fine points of doctrine than stimulating divine wonder. Many pastors see more stimulated by the next ministry, vision of the next step in strategic planning than by the stunning glory of the grand intervention of grace into sin broken hearts. The glories of being right, successful, in control, esteemed, and secure often become more influential in the way that ministry is done than the awesome realities of the presence, sovereignty, power, and love of God. Mediocrity is not a time, personnel, resource, or location problem. Mediocrity is a heart problem. We have lost our commitment to the highest levels of excellence because we have lost our awe.
”
”
Paul David Tripp (Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry)
β€œ
Self-Management If you can read just one book on motivationβ€”yours and others: Dan Pink, Drive If you can read just one book on building new habits: Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit If you can read just one book on harnessing neuroscience for personal change: Dan Siegel, Mindsight If you can read just one book on deep personal change: Lisa Lahey and Bob Kegan, Immunity to Change If you can read just one book on resilience: Seth Godin, The Dip Organizational Change If you can read just one book on how organizational change really works: Chip and Dan Heath, Switch If you can read just two books on understanding that change is a complex system: Frederic Laloux, Reinventing Organizations Dan Pontefract, Flat Army Hear interviews with FREDERIC LALOUX, DAN PONTEFRACT, and JERRY STERNIN at the Great Work Podcast. If you can read just one book on using structure to change behaviours: Atul Gawande, The Checklist Manifesto If you can read just one book on how to amplify the good: Richard Pascale, Jerry Sternin and Monique Sternin, The Power of Positive Deviance If you can read just one book on increasing your impact within organizations: Peter Block, Flawless Consulting Other Cool Stuff If you can read just one book on being strategic: Roger Martin and A.G. Lafley, Playing to Win If you can read just one book on scaling up your impact: Bob Sutton and Huggy Rao, Scaling Up Excellence If you can read just one book on being more helpful: Edgar Schein, Helping Hear interviews with ROGER MARTIN, BOB SUTTON, and WARREN BERGER at the Great Work Podcast. If you can read just two books on the great questions: Warren Berger, A More Beautiful Question Dorothy Strachan, Making Questions Work If you can read just one book on creating learning that sticks: Peter Brown, Henry Roediger and Mark McDaniel, Make It Stick If you can read just one book on why you should appreciate and marvel at every day, every moment: Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything If you can read just one book that saves lives while increasing impact: Michael Bungay Stanier, ed., End Malaria (All money goes to Malaria No More; about $400,000 has been raised so far.) IF THERE ARE NO STUPID QUESTIONS, THEN WHAT KIND OF QUESTIONS DO STUPID PEOPLE ASK?
”
”
Michael Bungay Stanier (The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever)