β
I am not a teacher, but an awakener.
β
β
Robert Frost
β
Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon.
β
β
E.M. Forster
β
The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.
β
β
William Arthur Ward
β
What is a teacher? I'll tell you: it isn't someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows.
β
β
Paulo Coelho (The Witch of Portobello)
β
Beyond work and love, I would add two other ingredients that give meaning to life. First, to fulfill whatever talents we are born with. However blessed we are by fate with different abilities and strengths, we should try to develop them to the fullest, rather than allow them to atrophy and decay. We all know individuals who did not fulfill the promise they showed in childhood. Many of them became haunted by the image of what they might have become. Instead of blaming fate, I think we should accept ourselves as we are and try to fulfill whatever dreams are within our capability.
Second, we should try to leave the world a better place than when we entered it. As individuals, we can make a difference, whether it is to probe the secrets of Nature, to clean up the environment and work for peace and social justice, or to nurture the inquisitive, vibrant spirit of the young by being a mentor and a guide.
β
β
Michio Kaku
β
Starting over can be the scariest thing in the entire world, whether itβs leaving a lover, a school, a team, a friend or anything else that feels like a core part of our identity but when your gut is telling you that something here isnβt right or feels unsafe, I really want you to listen and trust in that voice.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
This is your life β not your parentsβ, teachersβ or significant otherβs. If you ever find yourself on a path that just doesnβt feel safe anymore, you have every right to stop the car, get out β change your shoes and start walking.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
I never want you to deny anything about yourself because you have grown up thinking itβs unacceptable or inconvenient for the people around you.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
How you spend your time when you are not working or studying says everything about who you are and what is motivating your life.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
You will hardly find wrong people at right places. Choose to be at the right places and you will find the right people who will inspire you to make it happen!
β
β
Israelmore Ayivor (Leaders' Watchwords)
β
To become a better you, remember to be grateful to people who have contributed to making you who you are today.
β
β
Israelmore Ayivor (Become a Better You)
β
When a young person, even a gifted one, grows up without proximate living examples of what she may aspire to become--whether lawyer, scientist, artist, or leader in any realm--her goal remains abstract. Such models as appear in books or on the news, however inspiring or revered, are ultimately too remote to be real, let alone influential. But a role model in the flesh provides more than inspiration; his or her very existence is confirmation of possibilities one may have every reason to doubt, saying, 'Yes, someone like me can do this.
β
β
Sonia Sotomayor
β
The mediocre leader tells. The good leader explains. The superior leader demonstrates. The great leader inspires.
β
β
Gary Patton
β
If you can dream it up, you can team it up.
β
β
Richie Norton
β
Just because people treat you like shit, just because you may feel like shit sometimes, doesn't mean you are shit. You can make something of your life. You can give of yourself in this world to make it a better place." - Jake quoting his mentor, Arnie Coel
β
β
Lisa Unger
β
If expecting something in return is your reason for giving, you are really not giving- you're swapping. If you receive something in return for your gift, what you receive is a bonus - not a repayment of a debt.
β
β
David Cottrell (Monday Morning Mentoring: Ten Lessons to Guide You Up the Ladder)
β
You battled monsters. You sweat and cried your way to this one prolific moment where you finally realize that those dark days and sleepless nights were pre-requisites to your becoming.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
She would be a mentor and an inspiration to girls like herself, the quiet ones who'd sleepwalked their way through high school, knowing nothing except that they couldn't possibly be happy with any of the choices the world seemed to be offering them.
β
β
Tom Perrotta (Little Children)
β
Being a Dream Girl is never going to be about what you look like or how much you weigh. After all, our physical appearances are just reflections of our inner worlds. What makes you a Dream Girl is your emotional sensitivity, your self-awareness, and your ability to communicate who you are effectively and compassionately in the world.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
If you're not reaching back to help anyone then you're not building a legacy.
β
β
Germany Kent
β
Every great achiever is inspired by a great mentor.
β
β
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
β
Service to humanity is service to God.
β
β
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
β
As you become more present in your own life, you will begin to enlighten others by your example.
β
β
Germany Kent
β
We live in a world where there is such a clear definition of what a girl should be that it takes almost no effort at all to completely hate ourselves.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
Learn from those who have paved the way before you. - Kailin Gow on Wisdom
β
β
Kailin Gow
β
Keep those that influence you for the better close and never give them a reason to keep you far away.
β
β
Shannon L. Alder
β
We must never forget our teachers, our lecturers and our mentors. In their individual capacities have contributed to our academic, professional and personal development.
β
β
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
β
I never want a girl to lose all hope that her life canβt completely turn around, even if she feels that she is at the edge, standing on one foot, and ready to say goodbye.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
Leadership is an art expressed by the demonstration of characters worthy of immitation, emulation and inspiration. It is neither a title nor a postion.
β
β
Israelmore Ayivor
β
If you must walk in someone's shadow make sure it's your own
β
β
Rasheed Ogunlaru
β
Remember, nothing happens before itβs supposed to, so trust that, as you are striving for authenticity and personal excellence, the recognition of your lifeβs purpose is nearing closer.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
We must never forget our teachers and our lecturers. In their individual capacities have contributed to our academic, professional and personal development.
β
β
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
β
To the Ultimate Inspiration of the Cosmic Code, The Source of Creativity and Nuanced Realization The Divine Mentor and Channeling Force
Of Awakening and Transformation
β
β
Mohamad Jebara (The Life of the Qur'an: From Eternal Roots to Enduring Legacy)
β
Do not Speak for Anyone.
Just let them know their Right to Speak.
β
β
Vineet Raj Kapoor
β
If youβre not certain of the value of mentorship, think of how many elite athletes or professional sports teams train without a coach. Zero. How many of your favorite films are made without a producer or director? Zero. How many of the best schools in the world function without teachers? Zero. Itβs safe to say that every great leader, in any field, first had a great mentor. Finding a mentor who inspires and guides your growth is a life-changing experience. Mentors help us to transcend the limits, or perceived limits, of our abilities. A mentor can be anyone who teaches us and helps us to grow in ways we couldnβt have on our own.
β
β
Tina Turner (Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good)
β
If you're lucky, in some point in the future when you're in need of guidance or perhaps moral support, you may cross paths with a suitable mentor. Even luckier, you'll realize you had one in your life all along and you'll gain a new appreciation for how you benefited from that relationship. The luckiest relationship of all, of course, is a combination of the two. You've had help all along, and as the path widens or narrows, whatever the case may be, new and powerful influences will enter your life and aid your progress. In my experience, a mentor doesn't necessarily tell you what to do, but more importantly: tells you what they did or might do, then trusts you to draw your own conclusions and act accordingly. If you succeed, they'll take one step back and if you fail, they'll take one step closer. Whatever it is they teach you, pass it on.
β
β
Michael J. Fox (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future...)
β
Only the foolish would think that wisdom is something to keep locked in a drawer. Only the fearful would feel empowerment is something best kept to oneself, or the few, and not shared with all.
β
β
Rasheed Ogunlaru
β
Despite how lonely or broken down you might feel, we need you with us helping to make the world better, kinder and safer, especially for the little girls coming up.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
The barriers are not erected which can say to [aspiring] talents and industry, βThus far and no farther.
β
β
Ludwig van Beethoven
β
Your passions donβt have to connect to one another and no one needs to sign off on them. Passion isnβt logicalβ¦ itβs only the fuel which keeps our souls alive. Let it be that simple.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
Try not to be in a hurry to get older because youth happens once in your life. Thereafter, old age stays with you forever.
β
β
Chris Jirika
β
I don't want to be like my mentor or inspiration, I can do better. Don't get me wrong, I need them to motivate and inspire me but my potential can never be like theirs.
β
β
Unarine Ramaru
β
The best help we can offer the youth of today is to prepare them for tomorrow.
β
β
Mark W. Boyer
β
...dream BIG like a child!
β
β
Ken Poirot (Mentor Me: GA=T+EβA Formula to Fulfill Your Greatest Achievement)
β
Pick a mentor. Select and be closer to someone who is there to talk to you, inspire you, and be on you, monitoring your affairs and movements for the best reasons and ensuring that your dreams become fruitful.
β
β
Israelmore Ayivor (Shaping the dream)
β
As girls, we will do anything for the person whom we love. We will scale buildings in the rain or run through fire if it means saving our loveβs life. There is absolutely nothing more life altering that the fire burning inside of our souls for the one we want mostβ¦
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
The strong spirit empowers others to be stronger souls.
β
β
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
β
Encouragement is a fire of flame. It refreshes the soul and revives the spirit.
β
β
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
β
Passion + Vision +Skill + Mentoring = Success.
β
β
Abhysheq Shukla (KISS Life "Life is what you make it")
β
The only hope for any of us, regardless of our particular sins, lies in a ruthless trust in a God who inexplicably loves sinners, including those who sin differently than we do.
β
β
Philip Yancey (Soul Survivor: How Thirteen Unlikely Mentors Helped My Faith Survive the Church)
β
Some people build custom motorcycles, cars, and knives. I build custom lives.
β
β
Vic Stah Milien
β
The most beautiful people are those who bring out the beauty in others.
β
β
Matshona Dhliwayo
β
I have left you a path, I hope you find it.
β
β
Mitta Xinindlu
β
Just as the athlete has his coach, the Hindu his yogi, and the student his mentor, there are many of us who find wisdom in dogs. Because of their teachings, we are better people.
β
β
Jennifer Skiff (The Divinity of Dogs: True Stories of Miracles Inspired by Man's Best Friend)
β
Mentors should be patient, passionate and should not rest until they see a great development on their mentees.
β
β
Euginia Herlihy
β
A mentor is a trusted teacher that develops lives of the vulnerable ones.
β
β
Euginia Herlihy
β
To be a mentor you must learn to be quick to listen and be slow to speak.
β
β
Euginia Herlihy
β
Live in the shadow of the moon until you're bright enough to give birth to your own suns.
β
β
Curtis Tyrone Jones
β
Focus on your destination but enjoy every sacred moments of the journey
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β
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
β
Even if we try to conform to ideals and strive for perfection, we will always be pulled back to our core identity because itβs the path of least resistance for our souls β an energy force that wants nothing more than for us to honor and accept who we are and discover what weβre meant to do in the world.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
I think it all basically breaks down to something like this: You have to look and feel great first. If you eat well, exercise and get enough sleep, you will have ample energy and the proper self-confidence to create and produce beyond your wildest dreams! Looking great and radiating positive energy, while presenting your highest quality work, is what will always make you the most valuable and only logical choice in whatever it is that you reach for.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
Recognize that you have been chosen to be alive, right now, at this exact moment in time and know that none of that is random. There is something about you, your past or your future that is required at this exact moment in history. We need to know who you are and what you have been through.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
The only way to learn new things is to ask questions and be curious. Find the people who inspire your curiosity because those are the ones you will most learn from.
β
β
James Altucher (The Rich Employee)
β
Do all the work you while you still have strength.
β
β
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
β
Every individual must be given the opportunity to unearth his/her highest potential.
β
β
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
β
I aspire to be an inspirer, not a mentor. As such it would be fulfilling to know that someone read what I wrote and tailored it creatively to serve positively their divine purpose.
β
β
Gloria D. Gonsalves
β
The only way that you can identify and then fulfill your lifeβs purpose is for you to love yourself, charge up your life and serve the world.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
I am only uncomfortable when I find myself comfortable. I literally hate comfort. It is where all dreams go to die.
β
β
Vic Stah Milien
β
You don't need balance if you build the life of your dreams because it is built around everything you enjoy doing and with everyone you love doing it with.
β
β
Vic Stah Milien
β
You never know when youβre creating a spark that will last forever.
β
β
Frank Sonnenberg (Leadership by Example: Be a role model who inspires greatness in others)
β
A sister is often a mentor, a guide, and a best friend especially at a time of need.
β
β
Debasish Mridha
β
The mentors in my life, inspired me to fulfill my highest potential.
β
β
Lailah Gifty Akita
β
Learn from the ocean; when it rises, it carries more than itself along with it.
β
β
Matshona Dhliwayo
β
Can you identify the source preventing you from feeling good every single day, from loving yourself unconditionally and making your dreams come true? Is it a voice in your head or a gut wrenching ache that compromises your inner peace and doesnβt allow you to accept the love around you? Is there one thing, or maybe many things, keeping you from forgiving your past and moving forward, tormenting you with lies like βYou donβt deserve real love so just settle for whatever you can get,β βYouβre not smart enough to achieve your dream so donβt even try,β or βLook at your pastβ¦ you should hate yourself way more than you actually do!β?
Welcome to your Little Monster.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
Although many things may still need to happen before you identify what your exact work will be, I know that every single person whom youβre meeting and every experience that youβre having is necessary to you discovering your purpose. They are points on a map leading you to the moment where a match will finally be lit and you will be able to see through the darkness.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
Finding yourself and creating a life that feels authentic and safe is the hardest, most important work that we will ever do and for girls, especially young girls, there is no one more equipped to do this work.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
Some women think being arrogant, selfish, bitter and looking down on others are qualities of being an Independent, strong, powerful and successful business women. No matter how high you are in life. Never look down on others and never forget humanity.
β
β
D.J. Kyos
β
Reject anything advice, which does not lead to your personal progress.
β
β
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
β
Keep on exploring.
Keep on evolving.
Keep on experimenting.
β
β
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
β
The different shades of colours present cultural diversity.
β
β
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
β
Every great soul had great mentors.
β
β
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
β
Every great soul had a great mentor.
β
β
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
β
Sometimes we get so busy with our daily lives we do not take the steps and time necessary to be introspective.
β
β
Ken Poirot (Mentor Me: GA=T+EβA Formula to Fulfill Your Greatest Achievement)
β
Leaders are farmers; they cultivate human beings by adding values to them till they are fully grown as successful people for harvesting.
β
β
Israelmore Ayivor (Leaders' Ladder)
β
Your children learn what's important, by what you give your attention to.
β
β
J.S. Felts (Ageless Wisdom: A Treasury of Quotes to Motivate & Inspire)
β
The people/brands at the top are the ones who made the decision to be there. It was not by accident and if for any reason it was they will not be there long.
β
β
Vic Stah Milien
β
It was not because I had a strong sense of the virtue of industry, but because Joe had a strong sense of the virtue of industry, that I worked with tolerable zeal against the grain.
β
β
Charles Dickens (Great Expectations)
β
Find mentors to help you out. Always be on the lookout for friendly allies, willing to help and support you. Be willing to help others out too, when asked. What goes around, comes around.
β
β
Mark F. LaMoure
β
The people ahead of you, living in the liberty of instinct-guided uniqueness, will welcome you, encourage you, and mentor you. They will inspire you to be a pioneer and not a poser. Only those incarcerated by their unwillingness to listen to their instincts and to take the risks required for success will seek to deter you.
β
β
T.D. Jakes (Instinct: The Power to Unleash Your Inborn Drive)
β
Real mentoring is less of neither the candid smile nor the amicable friendship that exists between the mentor and the mentee and much more of the impacts. The indelible great footprints the mentor live on the mind of the mentee in a life changing way. How the mentor changes the mentee from ordinariness to extra-ordinariness; the seed of purposefulness that is planted and nurtured for great fruits; the payer from afar from the mentor to the mentee; and the great inspirations the mentee takes from the mentor to dare unrelentingly to face the storms regardless of how arduous the errand may be with or without the presence of the mentor.
β
β
Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
β
the only way we can become more inclusive and ultimately more legitimate and successful at ensuring peace, prosperity and women's rights is by ensuring that all people can see themselves at the table, and that young women in particular have role models, mentors and the necessary support and amplification to ensure that we occupy those spaces. It was the reason I started my own mentorship programme - because, often, we can't be what we can't see.
β
β
Scarlett Curtis (Feminists Don't Wear Pink (And Other Lies): Amazing Women on What the F-Word Means to Them)
β
Sometimes you have to let go a little bit and travel the path of least resistance but this doesnβt mean that you quit when things get tough, as you are working towards a goal! It just means that you may only be able to see a rough draft of your final destination, right now, and that itβs safe to explore along the way.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth
β
Alas, Experience! No other mentor has so wasted and frozen a face as yours, none wears a robe so black, none bears a rod so heavy, none with hand so inexorable draws the novice so sternly to his task, and forces him with authority so resistless to its acquirement. It is by your instructions alone that man or woman can ever find a safe track through life's wilds; without it, how they stumble, how they stray! On what forbidden grounds do they intrude, down what dread declivities are they hurled!
β
β
Charlotte BrontΓ« (Shirley)
β
It is a solemn duty to change lives positively.It is a noble honor to inspire and be there for others.It is an irresistible necessity to have empathy; to understand the situations and the reasons for the actions of others. Real mentoring is less of neither the candid smile nor the amicable friendship that exists between the mentor and the mentee and much more of the impacts. The indelible great footprints the mentor lives on the mind of the mentee in a life changing way. How the mentor changes the mentee from ordinariness to extra-ordinariness; the seed of purposefulness that is planted and nurtured for great fruits; the prayer from afar from the mentor to the mentee; and the great inspirations the mentee takes from the mentor to dare unrelentingly to face the storms regardless of how arduous the errand may be with or without the presence of the mentor
β
β
Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
β
When life hands you questions, answer them.
When life hands you mysteries, unravel them.
When life hands you enigmas, decipher them.
When life hands you tasks, accomplish them.
When life hands you problems, tackle them.
When life hands you skills, develop them.
When life hands you talents, sharpen them.
When life hands you friends, cherish them.
When life hands you family, value them.
When life hands you acquaintances, treasure them.
When life hands you opponents, confront them.
When life hands you acquaintances, celebrate them.
When life hands you allies, support them.
When life hands you riches, multiply them.
When life hands you possessions, protect them.
When life hands you pleasures, ration them.
When life hands you experiences, relish them.
When life hands you students, instruct them.
When life hands you mentors, study them.
When life hands you teachers, esteem them.
When life hands you disciples, inspire them.
When life hands you gurus, honor them.
When life hands you lessons, remember them.
When life hands you teachings, impart them.
When life hands you demands, tackle them.
When life hands you obstacles, challenge them.
When life hands you troubles, overcome them.
When life hands you burdens, conquer them.
When life hands you titles, cherish them.
When life hands you degrees, employ them.
When life hands you medals, welcome them.
When life hands you awards, appreciate them.
When life hands you blessings, count them.
β
β
Matshona Dhliwayo
β
Always β but especially when suffering - surround yourself with those who inspire you to lose yourself more honestly, to love others more thoroughly, to live life more fully, and to trust God more wholly. Huddle with those who care for you and those who are exemplary in their encouragement, patience and understanding of others. Hang out with those who strive to put God and faith at their center. Pray for peers, friends and mentors who will not only encourage you to be your best independent, strong, and vulnerable self all at the same time β but also sincerely humble. Pray that their angel dust will transcend you when even the smallest flecks of their contagious warmth and permeating beauty fall upon you. Then ever pray that you may have the opportunity to likewise ease and nurture others in such authentic ways; thus honing such a charitable, other-oriented nature of your own, β a miraculous healing balm β a buffer of pain if there ever was one. Know this is the most powerful antidote for fear and sorrow; the most effective β and addictive β cure-all known in all of creation; an elixir for that otherwise, elusive kind of happiness β the kind that weathers, endures and remains in all seasons and conditions.
β
β
Connie Kerbs (Paths of Fear: An Anthology of Overcoming Through Courage, Inspiration, and the Miracle of Love (Pebbled Lane Books Book 1))
β
All of us believe you belong here,β Iβd said to the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson girls as they sat, many of them looking a little awestruck, in the Gothic old-world dining hall at Oxford, surrounded by university professors and students whoβd come out for the day to mentor them. I said something similar anytime we had kids visit the White Houseβteens we invited from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation; children from local schools who showed up to work in the garden; high schoolers who came for our career days and workshops in fashion, music, and poetry; even kids I only got to give a quick but emphatic hug to in a rope line. The message was always the same. You belong. You matter. I think highly of you.
An economist from a British university would later put out a study that looked at the test performances of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson students, finding that their overall scores jumped significantly after Iβd started connecting with themβthe equivalent of moving from a C average to an A. Any credit for improvement really belonged to the girls, their teachers, and the daily work they did together, but it also affirmed the idea that kids will invest more when they feel theyβre being invested in. I understood that there was power in showing children my regard.
β
β
Michelle Obama (Becoming)
β
People that think are many,
people that reason are few.
People that theorize are many,
people that prove are few.
People that speculate are many,
people that know are few.
People that assume are many,
people that verify are few.
People that hear are many,
people that listen are few.
People that preach are many,
people that practice are few.
People that see are many,
people that observe are few.
People that recall are many,
people that comprehend are few.
People that question are many,
people that answer are few.
People that entertain are many,
people that educate are few.
People that misguide are many,
people that enlighten are few.
People that lecture are many,
people that demonstrate are few.
People that start are many,
people that finish are few.
People that quit are many,
people that persevere are few.
People that fall are many,
people that rise are few.
People that compete are many,
people that win are few.
People that criticize are many,
people that inspire are few.
People that blame are many,
people that pardon are few.
People that condemn are many,
people that console are few.
People that undermine are many,
people that strengthen are few.
People that take are many,
people that give are few.
People that teach are many,
people that mentor are few.
People that harm are many,
people that heal are few.
People that doubt are many,
people that believe are few.
People that wish are many,
people that strive are few.
People that plan are many,
people that prevail are few.
People that lose are many,
people that gain are few.
People that fail are many,
people that succeed are few.
People that imitate are many,
people that originate are few.
People that innovate are many,
people that invent are few.
People that conceive are many,
people that realize are few.
People that dream are many,
people that achieve are few.
People that divide are many,
people that unify are few.
People that follow are many,
people that lead are few.
People that command are many,
people that influence are few.
People that control are many,
people that guide are few.
People that feel are many,
people that empathize are few.
People that yearn are many,
people that fulfill are few.
People that trust are many,
people that are devoted are few.
People that age are many,
people that mature are few.
People that rage are many,
people that forgive are few.
People that despair are many,
people that hope are few.
People that fear are many,
people that love are few.
People that curse are many,
people that bless are few.
β
β
Matshona Dhliwayo
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Friendship: the word has come to mean many different things among the various races and cultures of both the Underdark and the surface of the Realms. In Menzoberranzan, friendship is generally born out of mutual profit. While both parties are better off for the union, it remains secure. But loyalty is not a tenet of drow life, and as soon as a friend believes that he will gain more without the other, the union - and likely the other's life - will come to a swift end.
I have had few friends in my life, and if I live a thousand years, I suspect that this will remain true. There is little to lament in this fact, though, for those who have called me friend have been persons of great character and have enriched my existence, given it worth. First there was Zaknafein, my father and mentor who showed me that I was not alone and that I was not incorrect in holding to my beliefs. Zaknafein saved me, from both the blade and the chaotic, evil, fanatic religion that damns my people.
Yet I was no less lost when a handless deep gnome came into my life, a svirfneblin that I had rescued from certain death, many years before, at my brother Dinin's merciless blade. My deed was repaid in full, for when the svirfneblin and I again met, this time in the clutches of his people, I would have been killed - truly would have preferred death - were it not for Belwar Dissengulp.
My time in Blingdenstone, the city of the deep gnomes, was such a short span in the measure of my years. I remember well Belwar's city and his people, and I always shall.
Theirs was the first society I came to know that was based on the strengths of community, not the paranoia of selfish individualism. Together the deep gnomes survive against the perils of the hostile Underdark, labor in their endless toils of mining the stone, and play games that are hardly distinguishable from every other aspect of their rich lives.
Greater indeed are pleasures that are shared.
- Drizzt Do'Urden
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R.A. Salvatore (Exile (Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy, #2; Legend of Drizzt, #2))
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We live in a world where we have to sacrifice our comfort for the sake of others. Where we have to go an extra mile to meet others' needs. Where we have to dig deep in our resources to please others.
I have gone out of my comfort zone for some people. Some people have gone out of their comfort zone for me. And I'm grateful.
It's life. It's a common thing.
There is no right or wrong to this behaviour. We do it because either we want to or that we must.
By the way, our self-sacrificing service can be unhealthy to us.
Some people burn themselves down trying to keep others warm. Some break their backs trying to carry the whole world. Some break their bones trying to bend backwards for their loved ones.
All these sacrifices are, sometimes, not appreciated. Usually we don't thank the people who go out of their comfort zone to make us feel comfortable.
Again, although it's not okay, it's a common thing. It's another side of life.
To be fair, we must get in touch with our humanity and show gratitude for these sacrifices.
We owe it to so many people. And sometimes we don't even realise it.
Thanks be to God for forgiving our sins β which we repeat.
Thanks to our world leaders and the activists for the work that they do to make our economic life better.
Thanks to our teachers, lecturers, mentors, and role models for shaping our lives.
Thanks to our parents for their continual sacrifices.
Thanks to our friends for their solid support.
Thanks to our children, nephews, and nieces. They allow us to practise discipline and leadership on them.
Thanks to the doctors and nurses who save our lives daily.
Thanks to safety professionals and legal representatives. They protect us and our possessions.
Thanks to our church leaders, spiritual gurus and guides, and meditation partners. They shape our spiritual lives.
Thanks to musicians, actors, writers, poets, and sportspeople for their entertainment.
Thanks to everyone who contributes in a positive way to our society. Whether recognised or not.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!
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Mitta Xinindlu