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My Favorite Quotes of All Time

I have always been a “quote collector.” Even as a child my allowance funds were spent on inspirational wallet-cards at the local bookstore. Just after college, I started a “Quote Collection” in a beautiful blank book I had received for Christmas. With my best penmanship (which isn’t so great) I would write phrases, sentences or paragraphs that resonated with me. Whenever I needed a pick-me-up I would turn to these inspiring and encouraging words. Over the years I started adding my own affirmations, favorite memories, and kind emails or letters.

During times of stress, emotional letdown, or discontentment, I would turn to this wellspring of rejuvenation. Each time I flipped through the pages, I found inspiration and encouragement. Years later I began adding a daily dose of this “Soul Food” to my life. This practice helped reduce my stress, emotional letdown, and discontentment.

I experimented with many ways to digest these nuggets of wisdom. Ultimately I decided the book wasn’t a practical means of delivery. This daily dose of Soul Food needed to be portable, not a bulky book

I transformed my quote book into inspirational cards and for over a decade have reaped the benefits. These cards are fun, easy and rewarding to make. I created a set of affirmation cards early on in my work and then shared the practice at both of my Orlando Disney Retreats where we made cards as a group. The feedback from women who have used these cards testifies to their benefit.

You can view the cards I have created www.maketodaymatter.net

There are so many great quotes I wanted to start recording my all-time favorite–and what better place to do it than here where I can share them with you… here are my favorites

The Challenge

At first I thought I would share my top 10 quotes of all time. That didn’t work so well. When I started thinking about all the quotes I have leaned on for inspiration, encouragement and guidance.. well… you can guess! So instead I started this post to share the quotes that I always have within arms reach–those that have spoken to me not just once but many times over. I am sure this list will grow! I hope you enjoy!

Watch your thoughts, for they become words; watch your words, for they become actions; watch your actions, for they become habits; watch your habits, for they become character; watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

Excellence is…caring more than others think wise; risking more than others think safe; dreaming more than others think practical, expecting more than others think possible.

Be the change you want to see in the world. Gandhi

Some days there won’t be a song in your heart. Sing anyway. - Emory Austin

Let him that would move the world first move himself. Socrates

Nothing is worth more than this day. Goethe

Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it is called the present.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? Marianne Williamson

It’s not that I’m so smart; it’s just that I stay with problems longer. Albert Einstein

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. Newt Gingrich

Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone. Pablo Picasso

The sculptor produces the beautiful statue by chipping away such parts of the marble block as are not needed - -it is a process of elimination. Elbert Hubbard

One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. ‘Which road do I take?’ she asked. ‘Where do you want to go?’ was his response. ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. ‘Then,’ said the cat, ‘it doesn’t matter.”-Alice in Wonderland

Faith can move mountains but you better keep moving while you’re praying. ~ Unknown

You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you. John Wooden

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. -Anne Frank

And what are you prepared to do? Sean Connery, The Untouchables

Do, or do not. There is no “try” -Yoda

There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. Freya Stark

Realize that if you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it. Anthony J. D’Angelo

I am always doing things I can’t do, that’s how I get to do them. Pablo Picasso

Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not. Pablo Picasso

A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be. Albert Einstein

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. Albert Einstein

Two men look out the same prison bars; one sees mud and the other stars. … Frederick Langbridge

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly. Richard Bach

I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse. Walt Disney

It’s fun to do the impossible. Walt Disney

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. Thomas A. Edison

In order to discover new lands, one must be willing to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. ~ Andre Gide

Throughout centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision. -Ayn Rand

Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it. George Bernard Shaw

Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life, and when it comes, hold your head high. Look it squarely in the eye, and say, ‘I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.’”—Ann Landers

I have learned that if you love life it will love you back. Arthur Rubenstein

Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.
H. Jackson Brown

You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it.
Charles Buxton

Every morning you are handed 24 golden hours. They are one of the few things in this world that you get free of charge. If you had all the money in the world, you couldn’t buy an extra hour. What will you do with this priceless treasure?
Author Unknown

Tags: inspirational quotes, motivational quotes, quotes

Are you bigger than your troubles?

“Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life, and when it comes, hold your head high. Look it squarely in the eye, and say, ‘I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.’”-Ann Landers

Good morning! When Ann Landers was asked to give advice about successful living, she shared the above quote, which I hadn’t heard until recently, when I read it in a book I received for Christmas.

When I read Ann’s words, I was filled with a feeling of: Yes!! That is what it takes to live our best life. We don’t shy from trouble, we stare it down.

As a business owner and an entrepreneur, I have lived this quote over and over again. There is nothing more rewarding than the day you realize that you have everything you need within yourself and are perfectly capable of overcoming whatever life throws your way. When we get to the place where we can welcome all of life-the good, the bad, and the ugly-with confidence, we know a peace beyond measure.

Your Turn:
Realize that we cannot run from trouble; it is an inevitable part of life. However, we can learn to rise above it. Welcome all of life’s experiences-the good, the bad, and the ugly. Challenge yourself to look these experiences in the eye and use them as catalysts to become the “very best” you can be.

Today’s Affirmation:
I am bigger than any troubles.

Tags: inspirational quotes

A Gift of Perserverance

When I was seventeen I was a sophomore in college at UW-Milwaukee. I worked full time five days per week at a Big Boy restaurant on Kilbourn street in Milwaukee. Tuesday’s and Thursday’s I had off from work and on those days I walked to campus where I fit in a full course load between 9AM and 9PM. The employee break room at the restaurant was like many diner break rooms-kind of dark and cluttered. Amidst the clutter was an old brown piece of wood with a fake-gold plaque mounted on it. The plaque read:

Nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. Calvin Coolidge

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Tags: inspirational quotes, life lessons

A Sample Quote Card

Tags: art, inspirational quotes, Soul Food

Experience Everything

When I was 16 I stumbled across a small book titled “Letters to a Young Poet” written by Rainer Maria Rilke. In 1903 a nineteen-year-old Franz Kappus wrote to Rilke looking for guidance and a critique of some of his poems. Franz was about to enter the military. The resulting five year correspondence is the most eloquent how-to guide for living a life of meaning, purpose and passion. Amazingly, Rilke was only 27 when he wrote the first letter to Franz.

While I highlighted more of the book than I left white, one particular quote always stuck with me. At 16 I don’t know if I really understood it–but I knew it was important and I knew it was how I wanted to live my life.

Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language.  Do not now look for the answers.   They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them.  It is a question of experiencing everything.  At present you need to live the question.  Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day.

Tags: favorite books, inspirational quotes