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

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


Comments

My Favorite Quotes of All Time — 7 Comments

  1. I enjoy quotes like you do. The first thing I look for in
    my e-mail are your quotes.many I have saved and gone back
    through them I have many favorites, This one is the best for
    me Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone. Pablo Picasso It speaks to me about what is important in life,We have choice’s and that is the great
    freedom of all
    Best to you

    Anne

  2. “I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find someone who can play the second fiddle with enthusiasm—that’s a problem. And if we have no second fiddle, we have no harmony.” Leonard Bernstein

    We have no harmony. Maybe people should consider listening a little more closely to those “second” voices…the non-soloists that give the music its rich layers of sound and meaning. “T”

  3. I too am a collector of Quotes. One of my favorites is:
    “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”

  4. The quote “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? is by Marianne Williamson in her book Return to Love…not by Nelson Mandela. Mr. Mandela used the quote in a speech.

    Your website and articles are wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

  5. One quote I have been attaching to my work email is: I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason,and intellect has intended for us to forgo their use. Galileo Galilei

    It seems others have a real gift of distilling complex thoughts into a minimum of words.

  6. I am a quote-collector also, here are a few of my favorites. 🙂

    Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another. (Walter Elliott)

    Make the most of yourself…for that is all there is of you.(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

    INACTIVITY IS THE DARKROOM WHERE ALL NEGATIVES DEVELOP

    The thing you are ripening toward is the fruit of your life. It will make you bright inside, no matter what you are outside. It is a shining thing. (Stewart Edward White)

    There will always be times when you feel discouraged.
    I too, have felt despair many times in my life,
    but I do not keep a chair for it;
    I will not entertain it.
    It is not allowed to eat from my plate.
    (Clarissa Pinkola Estes)

    A brook would lose its song if God removed the rocks.

    An apology is the superglue of life. It can repair just about anything. (Lynn Johnston)

    WHEN PRAYERS GO UP, BLESSINGS COME DOWN

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