“
History is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books-books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napoleon once said, 'What is history, but a fable agreed upon?
”
”
Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2))
“
Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success.
”
”
Robert T. Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad)
“
There are always sides. There is always a winner and a loser. For every person who gets, there's someone who must give.
”
”
Jodi Picoult (My Sister's Keeper)
“
The act of taking the first step is what separates the winners from the losers.
”
”
Brian Tracy
“
Problem #1: Winners and losers have the same goals.
”
”
James Clear (Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones)
“
winners see the gain; losers see the pain.
”
”
Shiv Khera (You Can Win : A Step by Step Tool for Top Achievers)
“
In this world, whenever there is light, there are also shadows. As long as the concept of winners exist, there must also be losers. The selfish desire of wanting to maintain peace causes wars and hatred is born to protect love.
”
”
Masashi Kishimoto
“
We all got to be winners sometimes. But what he didn’t understand was that we all had to be losers, too. Because you can’t have one without the other.
”
”
Jennifer Brown (Hate List)
“
Doing the tough things sets winners apart from losers.
”
”
Stephen Richards (Cosmic Ordering: You can be successful)
“
The difference between winners and losers is that winners do things losers don't want to do.
”
”
Phillip C. McGraw
“
What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate.
”
”
Donald J. Trump
“
Winners and losers aren't born, they are the products of how they think
”
”
Lou Holtz
“
I'd rather be your loser than some other girl's winner.
”
”
Chelsea M. Cameron (My Favorite Mistake (My Favorite Mistake, #1))
“
Where's the pleasure in bein' the winner if the loser ain't alive to know they've lost?
”
”
Terry Pratchett (Witches Abroad (Discworld, #12; Witches, #3))
“
What a lousy earth! He wondered how many people were destitute that same night even in his own prosperous country, how many homes were shanties, how many husbands were drunk and wives socked, and how many children were bullied, abused, or abandoned. How many families hungered for food they could not afford to buy? How many hearts were broken? How many suicides would take place that same night, how many people would go insane? How many cockroaches and landlords would triumph? How many winners were losers, successes failures, and rich men poor men? How many wise guys were stupid? How many happy endings were unhappy endings? How many honest men were liars, brave men cowards, loyal men traitors, how many sainted men were corrupt, how many people in positions of trust had sold their souls to bodyguards, how many had never had souls? How many straight-and-narrow paths were crooked paths? How many best families were worst families and how many good people were bad people? When you added them all up and then subtracted, you might be left with only the children, and perhaps with Albert Einstein and an old violinist or sculptor somewhere.
”
”
Joseph Heller (Catch-22)
“
A winner knows how much he still has to learn, even when he is considered an expert by others; a loser wants to be considered an expert by others before he has learned enough to know how little he knows.
”
”
Sydney J. Harris
“
Success in life is not for those who run fast, but for those who keep running and always on the move.
”
”
Bangambiki Habyarimana (Pearls Of Eternity)
“
Wars make history seem deceptively simple. They provide clear turning points, easy distinctions.: before and after, winner and loser, right and wrong. True history, the past, is not like that. It isn't flat or linear. It has no outline. It is slippery, like liquid; infinite and unknowable, like space. And it is changeable: just when you think you see a pattern, perspective shifts, an alternate version is proffered, a long-forgotten memory resurfaces.
”
”
Kate Morton (The House at Riverton)
“
H is for Habit, winners make a habit of doing the things losers don't want to do.
”
”
Lucas Remmerswaal (The A-Z of 13 Habits: Inspired by Warren Buffett)
“
There doesn’t need to be a winner and a loser. You just have to care how the other person feels. You have to care more about them than you do about being right.
”
”
Emily Henry (Happy Place)
“
A winner is just a loser who tried one more time.
”
”
George Moore
“
Law is made by the winner to preserve victory over the loser.
”
”
Toba Beta (Betelgeuse Incident: Insiden Bait Al-Jauza)
“
Winners will be losers if they don't support the losers.
”
”
Arthur Hailey
“
A person either hates losing enough to change or he hates changing enough to lose.
”
”
Orrin Woodward
“
Losers, like autodidacts, always know much more than winners. If you want to win, you need to know just one thing and not to waste your time on anything else: the pleasures of erudition are reserved for losers. The more a person knows, the more things have gone wrong.
”
”
Umberto Eco (Numero Zero)
“
REMEMBER YOUR GREATNESS
Before you were born,
And were still too tiny for
The human eye to see,
You won the race for life
From among 250 million competitors.
And yet,
How fast you have forgotten
Your strength,
When your very existence
Is proof of your greatness.
You were born a winner,
A warrior,
One who defied the odds
By surviving the most gruesome
Battle of them all.
And now that you are a giant,
Why do you even doubt victory
Against smaller numbers,
And wider margins?
The only walls that exist,
Are those you have placed in your mind.
And whatever obstacles you conceive,
Exist only because you have forgotten
What you have already
Achieved.
Poetry by Suzy Kassem
”
”
Suzy Kassem (Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem)
“
People don't change. There are two kinds of people in the world: winners and losers. Black and white. I don't know where gray fits in, or if you can even live in that shade.
”
”
Julie Anne Peters (By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead)
“
Long before I became a feminist in any explicit way, I had turned from writing love stories about women in which women were losers, and adventure stories about men in which the men were winners, to writing adventure stories about a woman in which the woman won. It was one of the hardest things I ever did in my life.
”
”
Joanna Russ
“
Losers have goals. Winners have systems.
”
”
Timothy Ferriss (Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers)
“
The gain to the winner is always less than the loss to the loser.
”
”
Ian Fleming (Live and Let Die (James Bond, #2))
“
A loser doesn’t know what he’ll do if he loses but talks about what he’ll do if he wins and a winner doesn’t talk about what he’ll do if he wins but knows what he’ll do if he loses.
”
”
Eric Berne
“
This is a war universe. War all the time. That is its nature. There may be other universes based on all sorts of other principles, but ours seems to be based on war and games. All games are basically hostile. Winners and losers. We see them all around us: the winners and the losers. The losers can oftentimes become winners, and the winners can very easily become losers.
”
”
William S. Burroughs
“
You were not born a winner, and you were not born a loser. You are what you make yourself be.
”
”
Lou Holtz
“
If losers can exploit what their adversaries teach them, yes, losers can become winners in the long term.
”
”
David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas)
“
Obstacles are challenges for winners and excuses for losers
”
”
M.E. Kerr
“
You were born a winner, a warrior, one who defied the odds by surviving the most gruesome battle of them all - the race to the egg. And now that you are a giant, why do you even doubt victory against smaller numbers and wider margins? The only walls that exist are those you have placed in your mind. And whatever obstacles you conceive, exist only because you have forgotten what you have already achieved.
”
”
Suzy Kassem (Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem)
“
Part of being a big winner is the ability to be a big loser. There is no paradox involved. It is a distinctly Harvard thing to be able to turn any defeat into victory
”
”
Erich Segal
“
I have seen flowers come in stony places
And kind things done by men with ugly faces,
And the gold cup won by the worst horse at the races,
So I trust, too.
”
”
John Masefield
“
Losers have goals. Winners have systems.
”
”
Scott Adams
“
So winners, Hae-Joo proposed, are the real losers because they learn nothing? What, then, are losers? Winners?
”
”
David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas)
“
They ought to do away with divorce settlements. Instead, both parties should flip a coin. The winner gets to stay where he or she is and keep everything. The loser goes to Paraguay. That´s it.
”
”
Suzanne Finnamore (Split: A Memoir of Divorce)
“
Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser - in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough.
”
”
Abraham Lincoln
“
THE GREATEST DISAPPOINTMENT IS WINNING ALL THE BATTLES THEN LOSING THE WAR
”
”
Mouloud Benzadi
“
Non-violence means dialogue, using our language, the human language. Dialogue means compromise; respecting each other’s rights; in the spirit of reconciliation there is a real solution to conflict and disagreement. There is no hundred percent winner, no hundred percent loser—not that way but half-and-half. That is the practical way, the only way.
”
”
Dalai Lama XIV
“
Don’t be disappointed, the winning side is not always the right one.
”
”
M.F. Moonzajer
“
The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.
”
”
Greg Laurie (Losers and Winners, Saints and Sinners: How to Finish Strong in the Spiritual Race)
“
I have to introduce the part of me that feels like a winner to the part of me convinced I’m a loser, and see if they can’t agree to exist somewhere closer to the middle.
”
”
Lauren Graham
“
Peace
We passed their graves:
The dead men there,
Winners or losers,
Did not care.
In the dark
They could not see
Who had gained
The victory.
”
”
Langston Hughes
“
Remember, it's the winners write the history books, and the losers get the leavings.
”
”
Joanne Harris
“
The winner is just the loser who never gave up!
”
”
Mika (The Small Stock Trader) (The Small Stock Trader)
“
The difference between winners and losers is... winners provide energy while losers consume energy.
”
”
Meir Ezra
“
Winners have no interest or association in the opinions, actions or affairs of losers.
”
”
Jeffrey Fry
“
I have it in my head that when we’re born, God writes things down on our hearts. See, on some people’s hearts he writes “happy” and on some people’s hearts he writes “sad” and on some people’s hearts he writes “crazy” and on some people’s hearts he writes “genius” and on some people’s hearts he writes “angry” and on some people’s hearts he writes “winner” and on some people’s hearts he writes “loser.”
I keep seeing a newspaper being tossed around in the wind. And then a strong gust comes along and the newspaper is thrown against a barbed wire fence and it gets ripped to shreds in an instant. That’s how I feel. I think God is the wind. It’s all like a game to him. Him. God. And it’s all pretty much random. He takes out his pen and starts writing on our blank hearts. When it came to my turn, he wrote “sad.” I don’t like God very much. Apparently, he doesn’t like me very much either.
”
”
Benjamin Alire Sáenz (Last Night I Sang to the Monster)
“
There's two kinds of people in this world, there's winners and there's losers. Okay, you know what the difference is? Winners don't give up.--Little Miss Sunshine
”
”
Richard Hoover
“
I just keep losing. I mean, some people just...are supposed to lose? For balance in the universe? I mean, like, are there just some people on earth who...are supposed to be here just to make it easier for the winners?
”
”
Donald Glover
“
In the game of life;
Sometimes we win,
Sometimes we loss,
Either ways, we should always keep playing.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
“
Is it always to be a winners-losers world, or can we keep everyone in the game? Do we still have what it takes to find a better way?
”
”
Robert Fulghum (Maybe, Maybe Not)
“
An entrepreneur is a man who knows he can fail, but he does not accept to fail before he actually fails, and when he fails he learns from his errors and moves on.
”
”
Bangambiki Habyarimana (Pearls Of Eternity)
“
Be brave. Even if you're not, pretend to be. No one can tell the difference. Don't allow the phone to interrupt important moments. It's there for your convenience, not the callers. Don't be afraid to go out on a limb. That's where the fruit is. Don't burn bridges. You'll be surprised how many times you have to cross the same river. Don't forget, a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated. Don't major in minor things. Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Helen Keller, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein. Don't spread yourself too thin. Learn to say no politely and quickly. Don't use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved. Don't waste time grieving over past mistakes Learn from them and move on. Every person needs to have their moment in the sun, when they raise their arms in victory, knowing that on this day, at his hour, they were at their very best. Get your priorities straight. No one ever said on his death bed, 'Gee, if I'd only spent more time at the office'. Give people a second chance, but not a third. Judge your success by the degree that you're enjoying peace, health and love. Learn to listen. Opportunity sometimes knocks very softly. Leave everything a little better than you found it. Live your life as an exclamation, not an explanation. Loosen up. Relax. Except for rare life and death matters, nothing is as important as it first seems. Never cut what can be untied. Never overestimate your power to change others. Never underestimate your power to change yourself. Remember that overnight success usually takes about fifteen years. Remember that winners do what losers don't want to do. Seek opportunity, not security. A boat in harbor is safe, but in time its bottom will rot out. Spend less time worrying who's right, more time deciding what's right. Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life. Success is getting what you want. Happiness is liking what you get. The importance of winning is not what we get from it, but what we become because of it. When facing a difficult task, act as though it's impossible to fail.
”
”
Jackson H. Brown Jr.
“
You don't need to work hard to earn an empire; there is an army of slaves to do it for you.
”
”
Bangambiki Habyarimana (Pearls Of Eternity)
“
Associating with winners may not make you a winner, but associating with losers will definitely not make you one.
”
”
Jeffrey Fry
“
Magic always happens when you direct your inner powers to the object you want to change.
”
”
Bangambiki Habyarimana (Pearls Of Eternity)
“
This world was designed to generate winners and losers, and it showed a lack of character to wish yourselves a winner without accepting what it does to those who lose.
”
”
Jonathan Sims (Thirteen Storeys)
“
It’s important never to be ‘ambitious.’ Men of ‘ambition’ are losers. Act and feel like a winner and good things, friends, and victory will come.
”
”
Bronze Age Pervert (Bronze Age Mindset)
“
Nothing says "you're a loser" more than owning a motivational poster about being a winner.
”
”
Justin Sewell
“
You aren't born a winner, you aren't born a loser, you're born a chooser.
”
”
Shawn L. Harper
“
You crave winning and fear losing instead of just doing. To succeed you must remove your self-imposed limitations.
”
”
Wayne Gerard Trotman (Veterans of the Psychic Wars)
“
In a way, Nick had been right: We all got to be winners sometimes. But what he didn't understand was that we all had to be losers, too. Because you can't have one without the other.
”
”
Jennifer Brown (Hate List)
“
Guns make losers feel like winners. That's why people who suck at life don't want to give up their guns.
”
”
Oliver Markus Malloy (Inside The Mind of an Introvert)
“
If you have an orderly mind, you'll be a winner no matter where you end up. If your mind is a jumble of junk, you'll be a loser. It's as simple as that.
”
”
Jack Gantos (Jack on the Tracks: Four Seasons of Fifth Grade (Jack Henry, #4))
“
Treason is a charge invented by winners as an excuse for hanging the losers.
”
”
Sherman Edwards (1776: A Musical Play)
“
Never seek to please anyone. Seek to evolve thyself.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
Most important, understand that goals are for losers and systems are for winners.
”
”
Scott Adams (How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life)
“
Why did her family think pachinko was so terrible? Her father, a traveling salesman, had sold expensive life insurance policies to isolated housewives who couldn't afford them, and Mozasu created spaces where grown men and women could play pinball for money. Both men had made money from chance and fear and loneliness. Every morning, Mozasu and his men tinkered with the machines to fix the outcomes--there could only be a few winners and a lot of losers. And yet we played on, because we had hope that we might be the lucky ones. How could you get angry at the ones who wanted to be in the game? Etsuko had failed in this important way--she had not taught her children to hope, to believe in the perhaps-absurd possibility that they might win. Pachinko was a foolish game, but life was not.
”
”
Min Jin Lee (Pachinko)
“
People who hold important positions in society are commonly labelled "somebodies," and their inverse "nobodies"-both of which are, of course, nonsensical descriptors, for we are all, by necessity, individuals with distinct identities and comparable claims on existence. Such words are nevertheless an apt vehicle for conveying the disparate treatment accorded to different groups. Those without status are all but invisible: they are treated brusquely by others, their complexities trampled upon and their singularities ignored.
”
”
Alain de Botton (Status Anxiety)
“
But it is very, very rare that young white Americans come across someone who tells them in harsh, unforgiving terms that they might be merely the easy winners of an ugly game, and indeed because of their ignorance and misused power, they might actually be the losers within a greater moral universe.
”
”
Suzy Hansen (Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World)
“
In the wake of the Neoliberal proclamation of the end of class struggle, the only social categories remaining are winner and loser. No more capitalists and workers; no more exploiters and exploited. Either you are strong and smart, or you deserve your misery. The establishment of capitalist absolutism is based on the mass adhesion...to the philosophy of natural selection. The mass murderer is someone who believes in the right of the fittest and the strongest to win in the social game, but he also knows or senses that he is not the fittest or the strongest. So he opts for the only possible act of retaliation and self assertion: to kill and be killed.
”
”
Franco "Bifo" Berardi (Heroes: Mass Murder and Suicide (Futures))
“
Success sits on a mountain of mistakes
”
”
Bangambiki Habyarimana (The Great Pearl of Wisdom)
“
Winners have simply formed the habit of doing things losers don't like to do.
”
”
Albert Gray
“
That's what war was. A great motion and then a great stillness in which the winner crouches and the loser lies facing the sky.
”
”
Kathy Hepinstall (Blue Asylum)
“
Life is unfair and there are winners and losers, regardless of how much overprotective parents attempt to shield their offspring from reality.
”
”
Jen Lancaster (Jeneration X: One Reluctant Adult's Attempt to Unarrest Her Arrested Development; Or, Why It's Never Too Late for Her Dumb Ass to Learn Why Froot Loops Are Not for Dinner)
“
Losers sulk; posers talk; winners walk - choose wisely.
”
”
Orrin Woodward
“
Never bring a lot of money to where a poor man lives. He can only lose what little he has. On the other hand it is mathematically possible that he might win whatever you bring with you. What you must do, with money and the poor, is never let them get too close to one another.
”
”
Charles Bukowski (Ham on Rye)
“
Those reasons are much more basic: it is flagrantly unjust to keep women out, by whatever unconscious means we do so; and we simply cannot afford to do without women’s expertise, whether it is in technology, the economy or social care. If that means fewer men get into the legislature, as it must do – social change always has its losers as well as its winners – I am happy to look those men in the eye.
”
”
Mary Beard (Women & Power: A Manifesto)
“
Obsessed with success and wealth and despising failure and poverty, our society is systematically dividing the population into winners and losers, using institutions like the courts to speed the process.
”
”
Matt Taibbi (The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap)
“
Every game has rules. Obey the rules, win the game; disobey the rule, lose it! The game of life has loser and winners. Play fairly and win!
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (The Great Hand Book of Quotes)
“
Winners win losers make excuses.
”
”
Keith Lee Johnson (The Honeymoon is Over)
“
True success is the achievement of many failures
”
”
Válgame
“
It doesn't matter if you win or lose; what matters is if you learn from it or not.
”
”
Mohith Agadi
“
In this life, you have winners and losers. the more you win, the higher you go.
”
”
Daniel Nayeri (Another Faust (The Marlowe School, #1))
“
Concentrate your time, your brains, and your advertising money on your successes. Back your winners, and abandon your losers.
”
”
David Ogilvy (Ogilvy on Advertising)
“
Hindsight is a zero-sum game where time is the winner and you’re the loser. Always.
”
”
Nikki St. Crowe (The Fae Princes (Vicious Lost Boys, #4))
“
The best winners are the worst losers.
”
”
Habeeb Akande
“
Missing once is an accident. Missing twice is the start of a new habit. This is a distinguishing feature between winners and losers. Anyone can have a bad performance, a bad workout, or a bad day at work. But when successful people fail, they rebound quickly. The breaking of a habit doesn’t matter if the reclaiming of it is fast. I think this principle is so important that I’ll stick to it even if I can’t do a habit as well or as completely as I would like. Too often, we fall into an all-or-nothing cycle with our habits. The problem is not slipping up; the problem is thinking that if you can’t do something perfectly, then you shouldn’t do it at all.
”
”
James Clear (Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones)
“
I've come to realize that life is neither a battle nor a game to be won, it is a game nonetheless, but to be played... enjoyed. There are neither winners nor losers... just players--and what's great is that you can choose who to play with
”
”
Val Uchendu
“
You can perhaps, in a number of circumstances, tell yourself that you can't have more than you have until you do better than you're doing, but by all means steer clear of its reverse, the creed of defeat, in saying that you can't do better than you're doing until you can have more than you have.
”
”
Criss Jami (Healology)
“
Every morning, Mozasu and his men tinkered with the machines to fix the outcomes-there could only be a few winners and a lot of losers. And yet we played on, because we had hope that we might be the lucky ones. How could you get angry at the ones who wanted to be in the game?
”
”
Min Jin Lee (Pachinko)
“
A winner knows how much he still has to learn, even when he is considered an expert by others. A loser wants to be considered an expert by others before he has learned enough to know how little he knows.
”
”
John C. Maxwell (Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success)
“
Everyone Is A Potential Winner. Some People Are Disguised As Losers. Don’t Let Their Appearances Fool You.
”
”
Kenneth H. Blanchard (The New One Minute Manager)
“
Blames create no change; winners don't apportion blames; only losers have the potentials to do that!
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (Shaping the dream)
“
Success is not as easy as winners make it look nor as hard as losers make it sound.
”
”
Orrin Woodward
“
Education should not be a competition resulting in winners and losers. Education should be a competition against ignorance, and all should be encouraged to win.
”
”
K.A. Brill
“
Everyone tries to be an optimist. But being an optimist is a bit boring and not honest. Losers are more interesting than winners.
”
”
Xiaolu Guo (A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers)
“
Pressure will squeeze whining out of losers and winning out of achievers.
”
”
Orrin Woodward
“
The typical big winner in the Lynch portfolio (I continue to pick my share of losers, too!) generally takes three to ten years or more to play out.
”
”
Peter Lynch (One Up On Wall Street: How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money In)
“
Losers visualize the penalties of failure. Winners visualize the rewards of success.
”
”
Robert Gilbert
“
If I had to name my disability, I would call it an unwillingness to fall. On the one hand, this is perfectly normal. I do not know anyone who likes to fall. But, on the other hand, this reluctance signals mistrust of the central truth of the Christian gospel: life springs from death, not only at the last but also in the many little deaths along the way. When everything you count on for protection has failed, the Divine Presence does not fail. The hands are still there – not promising to rescue, not promising to intervene – promising only to hold you no matter how far you fall. Ironically, those who try hardest not to fall learn this later than those who topple more easily. The ones who find their lives are the losers, while the winners come in last.
”
”
Barbara Brown Taylor (Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith)
“
Jesus tended to honor the losers of this world, not the winners. Our modern culture extravagantly rewards beauty, athletic skill, wealth, and artistic achievement, qualities which seemed to impress Jesus not at all.
”
”
Philip Yancey (What Good Is God?: In Search of a Faith That Matters)
“
As a general rule, whenever the dust settles and we find losers looking and speaking like winners (and vice versa), we should be especially wary of the conditions that kicked up the dust—in
”
”
Robert B. Cialdini (Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials))
“
Let the sun go down on you like King Harold at the battle of Hastings — fighting gloriously. Maybe a loser but what a loser! Greater in defeat than the conqueror. Certainly not a coward that rusted out lurking in his tent.
”
”
Zora Neale Hurston (A Life in Letters)
“
Before he slept he reflected, as he had often reflected in other moments of triumph at the card table, that the gain to the winner is, in some odd way, always less than the loss to the loser.
”
”
Ian Fleming (Moonraker (James Bond, #3))
“
So, if I'm no cheerleader of sports, why write a chapter about it? Sports do have some positive impact on society. They solve problems, such as how to get inner-city kids to spend $175 on shoes. They serve as a backdrop for some of our most memorable commercials. And they remain the one and only relevant application of math. Not only that, but we have sports to thank for most of the last century's advances in manliness. The system starts in school, where gym class separates the men from the boys. Then those men are taught to be winners, or at least, losers that hate themselves.
”
”
Stephen Colbert (I Am America (And So Can You!))
“
So what does the winner get in the end?" Tate asked.
"They get to sit around with the losers and say, 'I am King Xavier of the world.' Repeat after me."
"And me?" Tate asked.
"You get to be my queen."
"How come you're the leader of the community?" Narnie asked, almost smiling. "Why can't Tate be?"
Webb looked at his sister, grinning. "Why can't you, Narnie?"
Fitz leaned his head on Narnie's shoulder. "And I'll be your queen?"
"You can be the eunuch," Jude said, shoving him out of the way, "and I'll be her prince." He bowed and took Narnie's hand, kissing it, and their eyes met. It was awkward for a moment until Narnie looked away.
”
”
Melina Marchetta (On the Jellicoe Road)
“
No man will love you, though you gave your life for him, unless you have a pretty face. So (might it not be?), the gods will not love you (however you try to pleasure them, and whatever you suffer) unless you have that beauty of soul. In either race. for the love of men or the love of a god, the winners and losers are marked out from birth. We bring our ugliness, in both kinds, with us into the world, with it our destiny.
”
”
C.S. Lewis (Till We Have Faces)
“
There are always sides. There is always a winner, and a loser. For everyone person who gets, there's someone who must give.
”
”
Jodi Picoult (My Sister's Keeper)
“
A winner has more skills than a loser," Vor said, "no matter how you define the competition.
”
”
Brian Herbert (The Butlerian Jihad (Legends of Dune, #1))
“
I don’t mind losing
in this game of love,
if it means You
will be the winner.
”
”
Kamand Kojouri
“
At war, there's no right or wrong.
Winner's right while loser's wrong.
”
”
Toba Beta (My Ancestor Was an Ancient Astronaut)
“
What’s the opposite of start? Would the average person think stop or finish? The answer may reflect the difference between a winner and a loser.
”
”
Jarod Kintz (The Days of Yay are Here! Wake Me Up When They're Over.)
“
winner's make it happen ;
losers let it happen .
”
”
Justin Herald
“
Think you're a slave and you'll find a master; think you're a master and slaves will find you
”
”
Bangambiki Habyarimana (The Great Pearl of Wisdom)
“
Pressure squeezes effort out of winners and excuses out of losers.
”
”
Orrin Woodward
“
I'm a pretty good winner. I'm a terrible loser. And I rub it in pretty good when I win.
”
”
Tom Brady
“
What is life?
Life is living in this moment,
experiencing and experimenting
but experience isn’t life.
Life is reflecting and meditating
but reflection isn’t life.
Life is helping and guiding
but philanthropy isn’t life.
Life is eating and drinking
but food isn’t life.
Life is reading and dancing
but art isn’t life.
Life is kissing and pleasuring
but sex isn’t life.
Life is winning and losing
but competition isn’t life.
Life is loving and caring
but love isn’t life.
Life is birthing and nurturing
but children aren’t life.
Life is letting go and surrendering
but death isn’t life.
Life is all these things
but all these things aren’t life.
Life is
always more.
”
”
Kamand Kojouri
“
Because," he said in an even voice, "you're used to winning, so you don't even think about how, every time there's a game, both sides get that 'rah, rah, team' speech from their coaches both sides hear 'you're the best!' 'You've got to win!' 'You're the greatest!' But half of the people playing that game are going to walk away losers. Half!
”
”
Margaret Peterson Haddix (Game Changer)
“
Dostoevsky was writing about losers. The main character of The Iliad, Hector, is a loser. It’s very boring to talk about winners. The real literature always talks about losers. Madame Bovary is a loser. Julien Sorel is a loser. I am doing only the same job. Losers are more fascinating. Winners are stupid … because usually they win by chance
”
”
Umberto Eco
“
I choose to suppress the initial categories I want to put people in - rich, poor, together, not together, druggie, yuppie, rocker, loser, winner, cool, uncool. I choose to remember that I don't know their struggle or their pain. I choose to err on the side of grace because someday I'll stand before God, and I pray He'll err on the side of grace with me.
”
”
Jud Wilhite (Stripped: Uncensored Grace on the Streets of Vegas)
“
There is always a winner, and a loser. For every person who gets, there’s someone who must give.
”
”
Jodi Picoult (My Sister's Keeper)
“
In a capitalistic society the losers slaved for the winners and you have to have more losers than winners.
”
”
Charles Bukowski
“
So when they win, it's their hard work
And when they lose, it's their bad luck
”
”
Sanhita Baruah
“
The Loser always fall in love with the past, the fool always fall in love with the future and the winner always fall in love with the present.
”
”
Lord Robin
“
Keep it calm and watch the company you keep. It's either a red card or a green card you are holding. One guides you to go on, and the other makes you give up on scoring your goals
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (The Great Hand Book of Quotes)
“
Basketball is a game with winners and losers, but if you play this game with your heart, you're always a winner.
”
”
C.M.
“
Winners take responsibility, losers blame others.
”
”
Brit Hume
“
Choose to be at peace with yourself and you will never have any battle to lose. Find yourself every reason and season to share your peace with others!
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (Daily Drive 365)
“
If success is a miracle then you must be the miracle worker
”
”
Bangambiki Habyarimana (The Great Pearl of Wisdom)
“
The winners are simply willing to do what losers won't.
”
”
Million Dollar Baby
“
The Republican Party was built on a coalition of the nation's biggest winners from globalization and its biggest losers.
”
”
David Frum (Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic)
“
For winners, losing inspires them. For losers, losing defeats them.
”
”
Robert T. Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad)
“
Winners take responsibility. Losers blame others.
”
”
Megyn Kelly (Settle for More)
“
Winners never cheat because cheaters never win and I'd rather be a loser than a quitter who never had a chance to be either
”
”
FL-dash-OH
“
I intend to achieve my goals during my lifetime, but if I fail, I will not rest even in the afterlife
”
”
Bangambiki Habyarimana (The Great Pearl of Wisdom)
“
I have to introduce the part of me that feels like a winner to the part of me convinced I'm a loser, and see if they can't agree to exist somewhere closer to the middle.
”
”
Lauren Graham (Someday, Someday, Maybe)
“
On athleticism, God knows no favor. It seems rather he is in the business of teaching winners how to lose and losers how to win.
”
”
Criss Jami (Healology)
“
Winners are losers who got back up.
”
”
Grace Bonney (In the Company of Women: Inspiration and Advice from over 100 Makers, Artists, and Entrepreneurs)
“
Your "best"! Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and fuck the prom queen.
”
”
Sean Connery
“
Ungenerous to the losers and oppressive to the winners, merit becomes a tyrant.
”
”
Michael J. Sandel (The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good?)
“
I suppose if the relationship is between two people who are keeping score, then you are right—there will be a winner and a loser. However, if no one is keeping score, then no one loses.
”
”
Penny Reid (Neanderthal Seeks Human (Knitting in the City, #1))
“
People say that scars are the sign of victory; the winning marks against what broke them. But how about the wound that never heals? What would that make you? A winner, a loser, a survivor?
”
”
E. Mellyberry (I Won't Break (A Broken Love Story, #2))
“
When the fight ends you can afford to relax. That’s the worst part. Winner or loser you have again eyes to see around you. Blood, butchered bodies, bodies pierced by arrows. You stir inside, your heart tightens, the feeling of loss wells up. The sense of smell is the next thing to revive, adding a new dimension of pain. I closed the eyes of the last cadet, blue eyes, unseeing, his body, so small, almost a child, the youngest cadets were all gone, their faces surprised in death. Cold lips never able again to kiss a girl. It’s then that the emptiness swallows you and you mourn inside. Damn you, Scharon. No! Damn you, Travellers.
”
”
Florian Armas (Io Deceneus: Journal of a Time Traveler (The Living Universe, #1))
“
Here we are on top of the world. We have arrived at this peak to stay there forever. There is, of course, this thing called history. But history is something unpleasant that happens to other people. —Arnold Toynbee, recalling the 1897 diamond jubilee celebration of Queen Victoria Like other practicing historians, I am often asked what the “lessons of history” are. I answer that the only lesson I have learnt from studying the past is that there are no permanent winners and losers. —Ramachandra Guha
”
”
Graham Allison (Destined For War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?)
“
For people with a winner mentality, there’s a positive waiting for you no matter the outcome. For those with a loser mentality, if there’s a negative outcome anywhere along the way, you perceive that you’ve lost. That’s why I always say winning and losing isn’t an event; it’s a mind-set.
”
”
Chip Gaines (Capital Gaines: Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff)
“
And within that cycle there are neither winners nor losers; there are only stages that must be gone through. When the human heart understands this, it is free and able to accept difficult times without being deceived by moments of glory.
”
”
Paulo Coelho (Manuscript Found in Accra)
“
Gathered around me were the weak instead of the strong, the ugly instead of the beautiful, the losers instead of the winners. It looked like it was my destiny to travel in their company through life. That didn’t bother me so much as the fact that I seemed irresistible to these dull idiot fellows.
”
”
Charles Bukowski (Ham on Rye)
“
The one struggling against the odds and getting defeated is a Loser. And this Loser with persistent determination turns a Winner one day....
”
”
Saurabh Dudeja
“
Everyone is a loser. Winners are just losers with more patience.
”
”
George Hammond
“
If you don’t stay with your winners, you are not going to be able to pay for the losers.
”
”
Jack D. Schwager (Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders)
“
Don't fear mistakes, they are your stepping stone to success
”
”
Bangambiki Habyarimana (The Great Pearl of Wisdom)
“
The most successful men work smart, not hard
”
”
Bangambiki Habyarimana (The Great Pearl of Wisdom)
“
Owning the stock market over the long term is a winner's game, but attempting to beat the market is a loser's game.
”
”
John C. Bogle (The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns)
“
Adversity discourages losers; adversity inspires winners.
”
”
Debasish Mridha
“
In the war of egos, the winner is the bigger loser
”
”
Chaitanya Charan Das (Gita for Daily enrichment)
“
Failure inspires winners. Failure defeats losers.
”
”
Robert T. Kiyosaki (Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That The Poor And Middle Class Do Not!)
“
This is the explanation I used to have on the site before my page got turned into an author's page.
Don't get butt hurt if I give you a 2 or 3 star rating. That means your book was good. I give very few 4 star ratings cause that means your book is gonna be a reread for me. I don't reread a lot of books. I think I gave less than a handful of 5 stars. 5 stars means that I think the book is a GREAT GREAT. Like a classic that will still be read in a 100 years, at least if I were alive it would be.
As you can see I don't buy into the hoopla that everybody is great. It's not true. Most are average. Some suck. Some are great. If you want a visual go google bell curve.
Life has winners and losers. Not everyone deserves a gold star. Suck it up.
”
”
D.R. Slaten
“
I would like to see you. But: I would only like to see you with your feeling space, and desire, the parents of bravery, and curiosity. I would like you to want to see me without you feeling seduced or pressured. I would like to see you without our playing games: for games are for winners and losers and I do not ever want to win against you, or for you to lose against me, and I do not want to lose against you or for you to win against me. For we are part of the whole, the main, as Donne said—and your gain is mine and my loss is yours. Love is about finding one’s match, which means we shall touch our minds and hearts together at once, and never condescend or aim for any goal between us but the truth.
”
”
Waylon H. Lewis (Things I Would Like To Do With You)
“
I have come to realize that bad times coupled with good reflections provide some of the best lessons, and not just about business but also about relationships. One has many more supposed friends when one is up than when one is down, because most people like to be with winners and shun losers. True friends are the opposite.
”
”
Ray Dalio (Principles: Life and Work)
“
If God allows you to wrestle with him, it is not so there will be a winner and a loser. He doesn’t need to prove he is stronger and you are weaker. No. The point of wrestling with God is to give you an opportunity to cling to him. God wants you to hang on to him no matter what — and the result will be blessing. You are blessed when you bring your hurts and questions to God and struggle with them in his presence. In that divine wrestling match, you may feel wounded, but you will also receive a blessing you couldn’t have received any other way.
”
”
Jennifer Rothschild (God Is Just Not Fair: Finding Hope When Life Doesn't Make Sense)
“
The phrases “I am not…” has a great creative power. When you tell yourself “I am not…”, remember you have just created something. Be careful of whom you say you are not; you will never be such a person! You are not a loser!
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (Daily Drive 365)
“
My mind was a mess back then as I drove across the country. I was driving to clear my head, and all I could do was obsess on my uncertain future. It's like you're at a crap game, and on your biggest roll, the dice go in slow motion. For months, you watch them spin and roll and bounce around, waiting for them to land so you know if you're a
winner or a loser. Total limbo.
”
”
Drew Carey (Dirty Jokes and Beer: Stories of the Unrefined)
“
The child of a controlling caregiver believes that there are always winners and losers in life, and that the winners have all the power and the losers must neglect their own senses, needs, and wants. The result is that they gain a deformed and inaccurate picture of the world—the only world they know.
”
”
Darius Cikanavicius (Human Development and Trauma: How Childhood Shapes Us into Who We Are as Adults)
“
Take care of your soul; it will never lose its tournament if Jesus is the coach of your life. He will substitute your sins for righteousness and you will not be tempted to suffer a penalty for defeat! You are a winner, not a loser!
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (The Great Hand Book of Quotes)
“
Live in the world without any idea of what is going to happen. Whether you are going to be a winner or a loser, it doesn’t matter. Death takes everything away. Whether you lose or win is immaterial. The only thing that matters, and it has always been so, is how you played the game. Did you enjoy it?—the game itself? Then each moment is a moment of joy. ALSO BY OSHO INSIGHTS FOR A NEW WAY OF LIVING SERIES Awareness: The Key to Living in Balance Courage: The Joy of Living Dangerously Creativity: Unleashing the Forces Within Intimacy: Trusting Oneself and the Other Intuition: Knowing Beyond Logic Maturity: The Responsibility of Being Oneself OTHER BOOKS Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic The Book of Secrets India My Love: A Spiritual Journey Love, Freedom, and Aloneness Meditation: The First and Last Freedom
”
”
Osho (Joy: The Happiness That Comes from Within)
“
Song of myself
With music strong I come, with my cornets and my drums,
I play not marches for accepted victors only, I play marches for
conquer'd and slain persons.
Have you heard that it was good to gain the day?
I also say it is good to fall, battles are lost in the same spirit
in which they are won.
I beat and pound for the dead,
I blow through my embouchures my loudest and gayest for them.
Vivas to those who have fail'd!
And to those whose war-vessels sank in the sea!
And to those themselves who sank in the sea!
And to all generals that lost engagements, and all overcome heroes!
And the numberless unknown heroes equal to the greatest heroes known!
”
”
Walt Whitman
“
By asking questions rather than thinking for the audience, we invite them to join us as a partner and think for themselves. If we approach an argument as a war, there will be winners and losers. If we see it more as a dance, we can begin to choreograph a way forward. By considering the strongest version of an opponent’s perspective and limiting our responses to our few best steps, we have a better chance of finding a rhythm.
”
”
Adam M. Grant (Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know)
“
What, after all this time, is the purpose of mass schooling supposed to be? Reading, writing, and arithmetic can’t be the answer, because properly approached those things take less than a hundred hours to transmit — and we have abundant evidence that each is readily self-taught in the right setting and time. Why, then, are we locking kids up in an involuntary network with strangers for twelve years? Surely not so a few of them can get rich? Even if it worked that way, and I doubt that it does, why wouldn’t any sane community look on such an education as positively wrong? It divides and classifies people, demanding that they compulsively compete with each other, and publicly labels the losers by literally de-grading them, identifying them as “low-class” material. And the bottom line for the winners is that they can buy more stuff! I don’t believe that anyone who thinks about that feels comfortable with such a silly conclusion. I can’t help feeling that if we could only answer the question of what it is that we want from these kids we lock up, we would suddenly see where we took a wrong turn. I have enough faith in American imagination and resourcefulness to believe that at that point we’d come up with a better way — in fact, a whole supermarket of better ways.
”
”
John Taylor Gatto (Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling)
“
Child Labor laws, the minimum wage, workplace safety regulations, and other protections we now take for granted, came about when we chose to place the wellbeing of people above money.
There are losers and winners. There are losers because there are winners. 'Every condition exists,' Martin Luther King, Jr. once wrote, 'simply because someone profits by its existence.
”
”
Matthew Desmond (Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City)
“
There was nothing worse, Veppers thought, than a loser who’d made it. It was just part of the way things worked – part of the complexity of life, he supposed – that sometimes somebody who absolutely deserved nothing more than to be one of the down-trodden, the oppressed, the dregs of society, lucked out into a position of wealth, power and admiration.
At least people who were natural winners knew how to carry themselves in their pomp, whether their ascendancy had come through the luck of being born rich and powerful or the luck of being born ambitious and capable. Losers who’d made it always let the side down. Veppers was all for arrogance – he possessed the quality in full measure himself, as he’d often been informed – but it had to be deserved, you had to have worked for it. Or at the very least, an ancestor had to have worked for it.
Arrogance without cause, arrogance without achievement – or that mistook sheer luck for true achievement – was an abomination. Losers made everybody look bad. Worse, they made the whole thing – the great game that was life – appear arbitrary, almost meaningless. Their only use, Veppers had long since decided, was as examples to be held up to those who complained about their lack of status or money or control over their lives: look, if this idiot can achieve something, so can anybody, so can you. So stop whining about being exploited and work harder.
Still, at least individual losers were quite obviously statistical freaks. You could allow for that, you could tolerate that, albeit with gritted teeth. What he would not have believed was that you could find an entire society – an entire civilization– of losers who’d made it.
”
”
Iain Banks (Surface Detail (Culture, #9))
“
See El Dorado. Take El Dorado. Find another El Dorado. The envy of others is a self-replenishing feast. A rationalization a day keeps your conscience at bay. Never bang your head against a wall. Bang someone else’s. Don’t break the law. Break the Law. Losers make hurdles. Winners hurdle them.
”
”
Anthony O'Neill (The Dark Side)
“
A true friend does not make you win by making you the winner to the detriment of the true winner. He makes sure that you become a loser, not because he likes the way you fail, but to enlighten you on how it feels to be treated that way and to demonstrate that love and respect are not exclusive.
”
”
Michael Bassey Johnson
“
It is confidence in the men and women who administer the judicial system that is the true backbone of the rule of law. Time will one day heal the wound to that confidence that will be inflicted by today's decision [in Bush v. Gore]. One thing, however, is certain. Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's Presidential election, the identity of the loser is pellucidly clear. It is the Nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law.
”
”
John Paul Stevens (The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court)
“
Grace doesn't sell; you can hardly even give it away, because it works only for losers and no one wants to stand in their line. The world of winners will buy case lots of moral advice, grosses of guilt-edged prohibitions, skids of self-improvement techniques, and whole truckloads of transcendental hot air. But it will not buy free forgiveness because that threatens to let the riffraff into the Supper of the Lamb.
”
”
Robert Farrar Capon (Kingdom, Grace, Judgment: Paradox, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus)
“
Well, Hae-Joo probed, what did I do to relax?
I play Go against my sony, I said.
"To relax?" he responded, incredulous. "Who wins, you or the sony?"
The sony, I answered, or how would I ever improve?
So winners, Hae-Joo proposed, are the real losers because they learn nothing? What, then, are losers? Winners?
I said, If losers can xploit what their adversaries teach them, yes, losers can become winners in the long term.
”
”
David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas)
“
The winner has a different memory and the loser has a different memory of the same event. Where then is the question of a shared memory? What is history? Where is the notion of a We? Unless, the victory has the grace to accept the loser into his moment of glory or the loser has the grace to accede the winner his moment of glory ?
”
”
Srividya Srinivasan
“
I have written about what I call “the gravity of past success” in chess. Each victory pulls the victor down slightly and makes it harder to put in maximum effort to improve further. Meanwhile, the loser knows that he made a mistake, that something went wrong, and he will work hard to improve for next time. The happy winner often assumes he won simply because he is great. Typically, however, the winner is just the player who made the next-to-last mistake. It takes tremendous discipline to overcome this tendency and to learn lessons from a victory.
”
”
Garry Kasparov (Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped)
“
When you study success, you become a dreamer.
When you study failure, you become a victor.
When you study organisations, you become a mentor.
When you study management, you become a leader.
When you study nature, you become a scholar.
When you study people, you become a counselor.
When you study life, you become a thinker.
When you study God, you become a philosopher.
When you study magic, you become a sorcerer.
When you study stars, you become an astronomer.
When you study oracles, you become a seer.
When you study visions, you become a diviner.
When you study combat, you become a warrior.
When you study war, you become a commander.
When you study policy, you become a governor.
When you study politics, you become a ruler.
When you study nothing, you become a loser.
When you study little, you become a loafer.
When you study much, you become a winner.
When you study all, you become a master.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
I don't know that you'll understand this, but once upon a time, long ago, I was a scholar and a marathon man, but that fella's gone now, dead I suppose, but I remember something he thought, which was that if you don't learn the mistakes of the past, you'll be doomed to repeat them. Well we've been making a mistake with people like you, because public trials are bullshit and executions are games for winners - all this time we should have been giving back pain. That's the real lesson. That's the loser's share, just pain, pure and simple, pain and torture, no hotshot lawyers running around trying to see that justice is done. I think we'd have a nice peaceful place here if all you warmakers knew you better not start something because if you lost, agony was just around the bend. That's what I'd like to give you. Agony. Not what you're suffering now. I mean a lifetime of it, 'cause that's the only degree of justice I think we're ready for down here yet, and I know any humanist might disagree with me too, but I don't think you will, because you had a lot to do with educating me, I'm like you now, except I'm better at it, because you're going to die and I've still got a long way to go.
”
”
William Goldman (Marathon Man)
“
Who is subordinate to whom in a marriage?” After all, each might reason, as people commonly do, that such an arrangement is a zero-sum game, with one winner and one loser. But a relationship does not have to be and should not be a question of one or the other as winner, or even each alternating in that status, in an approximation of fairness. Instead, the couple can decide that each and both are subordinate to a principle, a higher-order principle, which constitutes their union in the spirit of illumination and truth. That ghostly figure, the ideal union of what is best in both personalities, should be constantly regarded as the ruler of the marriage—and, indeed, as something as close to divine as might be practically approached by fallible individuals
”
”
Jordan B. Peterson (Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life)
“
You were born a giver, don't die a taker.
You were born an earner, don't die a begger.
You were born a sharer, don't die a hoader.
You were born a lover, don't die a hater.
You were born a builder, don't die a destroyer.
You were born a creator, don't die an immitator.
You were born a leader, don't die a follower.
You were born a learner, don't die a teacher.
You were born a doer, don't die a talker.
You were born a dreamer, don't die a doubter.
You were born a winner, don't die a loser.
You were born an encourager, don't die a shamer.
You were born a defender, don't die an aggressor.
You were born a liberator, don't die an executioner.
You were born a soldier, don't die a murderer.
You were born an angel, don't die a monster.
You were born a protecter, don't die an attacker.
You were born an originator, don't die a repeater.
You were born an achiever, don't die a quitter.
You were born a victor, don't die a failure.
You were born a conqueror, don't die a warrior.
You were born a contender, don't die a joker.
You were born a producer, don't die a user.
You were born a motivator, don't die a discourager.
You were born a master, don't die an amateur.
You were born an intessessor, don't die an accusor.
You were born an emancipator, don't die a backstabber.
You were born a sympathizer, don't die a provoker.
You were born a healer, don't die a killer.
You were born a peacemaker, don't die an instigater.
You were born a deliverer, don't die a collaborator.
You were born a savior, don't die a plunderer.
You were born a believer, don't die a sinner.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
Propaganda infuses our culture with messages that there are just a few winners and many losers; that we are killing the earth and time is running out; that prosperity is an anachronism and detrimental to life; that individual freedom is selfish and injures those who are less free. These messages are crafted to shame and pressure you, and to create a sense of urgency that impairs your ability to reason clearly.
”
”
Rosa Koire (Behind the Green Mask: UN Agenda 21)
“
Speaking truth to bullshit and practicing civility start with knowing ourselves and knowing the behaviors and issues that both push into our own BS or get in the way of being civil. If we go back to BRAVING and our trust checklist, these situations require a keen eye on: 1. Boundaries. What’s okay in a discussion and what’s not? How do you set a boundary when you realize you’re knee-deep in BS? 2. Reliability. Bullshitting is the abandonment of reliability. It’s hard to trust or be trusted when we BS too often. 3. Accountability. How do we hold ourself and others accountable for less BS and more honest debate? Less off-loading of emotion and more civility? 4. Vault. Civility honors confidentiality. BS ignores truth and opens the door to violations of confidentiality. 5. Integrity. How do we stay in our integrity when confronted with BS, and how do we stop in the midst of our own emotional moment to say, “You know what, I’m not sure this conversation is productive” or “I need to learn more about this issue”? 6. Nonjudgment. How do we stay out of judgment toward ourselves when the right thing to do is say, “I actually don’t know much about this. Tell me what you know and why it’s important to you.” How do we not go into “winner/loser” mode and instead see an opportunity for connection when someone says to us, “I don’t know anything about that issue”? 7. Generosity. What’s the most generous assumption we can make about the people around us? What boundaries have to be in place for us to be kinder and more tolerant? I know that the practice of speaking truth to bullshit while being civil feels like a paradox, but both are profoundly important parts of true belonging.
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Brené Brown (Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone)
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They're arguing for giving homework and tests to all young children, or separating them into winners and losers, because these tykes need to get used to such things -- as if exposure itself will inoculate them against the negative effects they would otherwise experience later. If we were interested in helping children to anticipate and deal with unpleasant experiences, it might make sense to discuss the details with them and perhaps guide them through role-playing exercises. But why would we subject kids to those experiences? After all, to teach children how to handle a fire emergency, we talk to them about the dangers of smoke inhalation and advise them where to go when the alarm sounds. We don't actually set them on fire. But the key point is this: From a developmental perspective, BGUTI [Better-Get-Used-To-It worldview] is flat-out wrong. People don't get better at coping with unhappiness because they were because they were deliberately made unhappy when they were young On the contrary, what best prepares children to deal with the challenges of the real world is to experience success and joy, to feel supported and respected, to receive loving guidance and unconditional care and the chance to have some say about what happens to them.
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Alfie Kohn (The Myth of the Spoiled Child: Coddled Kids, Helicopter Parents, and Other Phony Crises)
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Narcissistic Parents often enlist other family members on their side, causing rifts and building alliances against a “bad” child. In other words, they may bully their own children. The victims of such behavior often describe themselves as a “scapegoat,” held accountable for all the family troubles. Their mothers often compare them unfavorably to a sibling viewed as “golden,” one child a loser and the other a winner. Narcissistic Parents tell blatant lies, too, painting themselves as victims and their children as heartless ingrates.
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Joseph Burgo (The Narcissist You Know: Defending Yourself Against Extreme Narcissists in an All-About-Me Age)
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The very identity of racist Southerners depends upon contrasting themselves with those dirty black “nigras.” But, conversely, the out-groups feel that they are really and truly “in,” and nourish their collective ego with relishingly indignant conversation about squares, Ofays, Wasps, Philistines, and the blasted bourgeoisie. Even Saint Thomas Aquinas let it out that part of the blessedness of the saints in Heaven was that they could look over the battlements and enjoy the “proper justice” of the sinners squirming in Hell. All winners need losers; all saints need sinners; all sages need fools—that is, so long as the major kick in life is to “amount to something” or to “be someone” as a particular and separate godlet.
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Alan W. Watts (The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are)
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The students who feel alienated by current systems of standardization and testing may walk out the door, and it’s left to them and others to pay the price in unemployment benefits and other social programs. These problems are not accidental by-products of standardized education; they are a structural feature of these systems. They were designed to process people according to particular conceptions of talent and economic need and were bound to produce winners and losers in just those terms. And they do. Many of these “externalities” could be avoided if education genuinely gave all students the same opportunities to explore their real capabilities and create their best lives.
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Ken Robinson (Creative Schools: Revolutionizing Education from the Ground Up)
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Givers are worth more than takers.
Earners are worth more than beggars.
Sharers are worth more than hoarders.
Lovers are worth more than haters.
Builders are worth more than destroyers.
Creators are worth more than imitators.
Leaders are worth more than followers.
Learners are worth more than teachers.
Doers are worth more than talkers.
Dreamers are worth more than doubters.
Winners are worth more than losers.
Encouragers are worth more than detractors.
Defenders are worth more than aggressors.
Liberators are worth more than jailers.
Soldiers are worth more than murderers.
Angels are worth more than monsters.
Protectors are worth more than attackers.
Originators are worth more than copiers.
Achievers are worth more than quitters.
Victors are worth more than failures.
Conquerors are worth more than warriors.
Contenders are worth more than spectators.
Producers are worth more than users.
Motivators are worth more than discouragers.
Masters are worth more than amateurs.
Intercessors are worth more than accusers.
Emancipators are worth more than backstabbers.
Sympathizers are worth more than provokers.
Healers are worth more than killers.
Peacemakers are worth more than instigators.
Deliverers are worth more than collaborators.
Saviors are worth more than invaders.
Believers are worth more than sinners.
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Matshona Dhliwayo
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People slice up tree trunks, nail the pieces together into boxy shapes, and then go inside to sleep. Trees use the wood in their trunks for a different purpose—namely, they use it to fight with other plants. From dandelions to daffodils, from ferns to figs, from potatoes to pine trees—every plant growing on land is striving toward two prizes: light, which comes from above, and water, which comes from below. Any contest between two plants can be decided in one move, when the winner simultaneously reaches higher and digs deeper than the loser. Consider the tremendous advantage that wood confers to one of the contestants during such a battle: armed with a stiff-yet-flexible, strong-yet-light prop that separates—and connects—leaves and roots, trees have dominated the tournament for more than four hundred million years.
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Hope Jahren (Lab Girl)
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You don’t want to do this, Miss Sheffield,” he warned.
“Oh,” she said with great feeling, “I do. I really, really do.” And then, with quite the most evil grin her lips had ever formed, she drew back her mallet and smacked her ball with every ounce of every single emotion within her. It knocked into his with stunning force, sending it hurtling even farther down the hill.
Farther . . .
Farther . . .
Right into the lake.
Openmouthed with delight, Kate just stared for a moment as the pink ball sank into the lake. Then something rose up within her, some strange and primitive emotion, and before she knew what she was about, she was jumping about like a crazy woman, yelling, “Yes! Yes! I win!”
“You don’t win,” Anthony snapped.
“Oh, it feels like I’ve won,” she reveled.
Colin and Daphne, who had come dashing down the hill, skidded to a halt before them. “Well done, Miss Sheffield!” Colin exclaimed. “I knew you were worthy of the mallet of death.”
“Brilliant,” Daphne agreed. “Absolutely brilliant.”
Anthony, of course, had no choice but to cross his arms and scowl mightily.
Colin gave her a congenial pat on the back. “Are you certain you’re not a Bridgerton in disguise? You have truly lived up to the spirit of the game.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” Kate said graciously. “If you hadn’t hit his ball down the hill . . .”
“I had been hoping you would pick up the reins of his destruction,” Colin said.
The duke finally approached, Edwina at his side. “A rather stunning conclusion to the game,” he commented.
“It’s not over yet,” Daphne said.
Her husband gave her a faintly amused glance. “To continue the play now seems rather anticlimactic, don’t you think?”
Surprisingly, even Colin agreed. “I certainly can’t imagine anything topping it.”
Kate beamed.
The duke glanced up at the sky. “Furthermore, it’s starting to cloud over. I want to get Daphne in before it starts to rain. Delicate condition and all, you know.”
Kate looked in surprise at Daphne, who had started to blush. She didn’t look the least bit pregnant.
“Very well,” Colin said. “I move we end the game and declare Miss Sheffield the winner.”
“I was two wickets behind the rest of you,” Kate demurred.
“Nevertheless,” Colin said, “any true aficionado of Bridgerton Pall Mall understands that sending Anthony into the lake is far more important than actually sending one’s ball through all the wickets. Which makes you our winner, Miss Sheffield.” He looked about, then straight at Anthony. “Does anyone disagree?”
No one did, although Anthony looked close to violence.
“Excellent,” Colin said. “In that case, Miss Sheffield is our winner, and Anthony, you are our loser.”
A strange, muffled sound burst from Kate’s mouth, half laugh and half choke.
“Well, someone has to lose,” Colin said with a grin. “It’s tradition.”
“It’s true,” Daphne agreed. “We’re a bloodthirsty lot, but we do like to follow tradition.
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Julia Quinn (The Viscount Who Loved Me (Bridgertons, #2))
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And yet that performance has a method. Trump's artlessness, like Mark Antony's, is only apparent. Listen, for example, as he performs one of his favorite riffs. He begins by saying something critical of Mexicans and Chinese. Then he turns around and says, 'I love the Mexican and Chinese people, especially the rich ones who buy my apartments or stay at my hotels or play on my golf courses.' It's their leaders I criticize, he explains, but then in a millisecond he pulls the sting from the criticism: 'they are smarter and stronger than our leaders; they're beating us.' And then the payoff all this has been leading up to, the making explicit of what has been implied all along. 'If I can sell them condominiums, rent space to them in my building at my price, and outfox them in deals, I could certainly outmaneuver them when it came to trade negotiations and immigration.' (And besides, they love me.)
Here is the real message, the message that makes sense of the disparate pieces of what looks like mere disjointed fumbling: I am Donald Trump; nobody owns me. I don't pander to you. I don't pretend to be nice and polite; I am rich and that's what you would like to be; I'm a winner; I beat people at their own game, and if you vote for me I will beat our adversaries; if you want wonky policy details, go with those losers who offer you ten-point plans; if you want to feel good about yourselves and your country, stick with me.
So despite the lack of a formal center or an orderly presentation, Trump was always on point because the point was always the same. He couldn't get off message because the one message was all he had.
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Stanley Fish
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I am sure you’re very pleased to have a pair of foxes,” Kestrel told Irex now, “but you’ll have to do better.”
“I set down my tile,” Irex said coldly. “I cannot take it back.”
“I’ll let you take it back. Just this once.”
“You want me to take it back.”
“Ah. So you agree that I know what tile you mean to play.”
Benix shifted his weight on Lady Faris’s delicate chair. It creaked. “Flip the damn tile, Irex. And you, Kestrel: Quit toying with him.”
“I’m merely offering friendly advice.”
Benix snorted.
Kestrel watched Irex watch her, his anger mounting as he couldn’t decide whether Kestrel’s words were a lie, the well-meant truth, or a truth she hoped he would judge a lie. He flipped the tile: a fox.
“Too bad,” said Kestrel, and turned over one of hers, adding a third bee to her other two matching tiles. She swept the four gold coins of the ante to her side of the table. “See, Irex? I had only your best interests at heart.”
Benix blew out a gusty sigh. He settled back in his protesting chair, shrugged, and seemed the perfect picture of amused resignation. He kept his head bowed while he mixed the Bite and Sting tiles, but Kestrel saw him shoot Irex a wary glance. Benix, too, had seen the rage that turned Irex’s face into stone.
Irex shoved back from the table. He stalked over the flagstone terrace to the grass, which bloomed with the highest members of Valorian society.
“That wasn’t necessary,” Benix told Kestrel.
“It was,” she said. “He’s tiresome. I don’t mind taking his money, but I cannot take his company.”
“You couldn’t spare a thought for me before chasing him away? Maybe I would like a chance to win his gold.”
“Lord Irex can spare it,” Ronan added.
“Well, I don’t like poor losers,” said Kestrel. “That’s why I play with you two.”
Benix groaned.
“She’s a fiend,” Ronan agreed cheerfully.
“Then why do you play with her?”
“I enjoy losing to Kestrel. I will give anything she will take.”
“While I live in hope to one day win,” Benix said, and gave Kestrel’s hand a friendly pat.
“Yes, yes,” Kestrel said. “You are both fine flatterers. Now ante up.
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Marie Rutkoski (The Winner's Curse (The Winner's Trilogy, #1))
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1. Choose to love each other even in those moments when you struggle to like each other. Love is a commitment, not a feeling. 2. Always answer the phone when your husband/wife is calling and, when possible, try to keep your phone off when you’re together with your spouse. 3. Make time together a priority. Budget for a consistent date night. Time is the currency of relationships, so consistently invest time in your marriage. 4. Surround yourself with friends who will strengthen your marriage, and remove yourself from people who may tempt you to compromise your character. 5. Make laughter the soundtrack of your marriage. Share moments of joy, and even in the hard times find reasons to laugh. 6. In every argument, remember that there won’t be a winner and a loser. You are partners in everything, so you’ll either win together or lose together. Work together to find a solution. 7. Remember that a strong marriage rarely has two strong people at the same time. It’s usually a husband and wife taking turns being strong for each other in the moments when the other feels weak. 8. Prioritize what happens in the bedroom. It takes more than sex to build a strong marriage, but it’s nearly impossible to build a strong marriage without it. 9. Remember that marriage isn’t 50–50; divorce is 50–50. Marriage has to be 100–100. It’s not splitting everything in half but both partners giving everything they’ve got. 10. Give your best to each other, not your leftovers after you’ve given your best to everyone else. 11. Learn from other people, but don’t feel the need to compare your life or your marriage to anyone else’s. God’s plan for your life is masterfully unique. 12. Don’t put your marriage on hold while you’re raising your kids, or else you’ll end up with an empty nest and an empty marriage. 13. Never keep secrets from each other. Secrecy is the enemy of intimacy. 14. Never lie to each other. Lies break trust, and trust is the foundation of a strong marriage. 15. When you’ve made a mistake, admit it and humbly seek forgiveness. You should be quick to say, “I was wrong. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” 16. When your husband/wife breaks your trust, give them your forgiveness instantly, which will promote healing and create the opportunity for trust to be rebuilt. You should be quick to say, “I love you. I forgive you. Let’s move forward.” 17. Be patient with each other. Your spouse is always more important than your schedule. 18. Model the kind of marriage that will make your sons want to grow up to be good husbands and your daughters want to grow up to be good wives. 19. Be your spouse’s biggest encourager, not his/her biggest critic. Be the one who wipes away your spouse’s tears, not the one who causes them. 20. Never talk badly about your spouse to other people or vent about them online. Protect your spouse at all times and in all places. 21. Always wear your wedding ring. It will remind you that you’re always connected to your spouse, and it will remind the rest of the world that you’re off limits. 22. Connect with a community of faith. A good church can make a world of difference in your marriage and family. 23. Pray together. Every marriage is stronger with God in the middle of it. 24. When you have to choose between saying nothing or saying something mean to your spouse, say nothing every time. 25. Never consider divorce as an option. Remember that a perfect marriage is just two imperfect people who refuse to give up on each other. FINAL
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Dave Willis (The Seven Laws of Love: Essential Principles for Building Stronger Relationships)