Stepping Stone in a Journey

"Whenever something unexpected or unthought of falls onto our path, it's always a stepping stone in a journey to a place that we have been thinking about."

-- Mike Dooley


"The poor man is not he who is without a cent, but he who is without a dream."

-- Harry Kemp


"If you do not wish to be prone to anger, do not feed the habit; give it nothing which may tend to its increase."

-- Epictetus


"Dust is a protective coating for fine furniture."

-- Mario Burata

First Define The Dream

"My job, our job, is first and foremost to simply define the dream, specifically the end result in every imaginable detail."

-- Mike Dooley


"Do not let yourselves be discouraged or embittered by the smallness of the success you are likely to achieve in trying to make life better. You certainly would not be able, in a single generation, to create an earthly paradise. Who could expect that? But, if you make life ever so little better, you will have done splendidly, and your lives will have been worthwhile."

-- Arnold Toynbee


"You don't have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things - to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals."

~Sir Edmund Hillary
Mountaineer and Explorer

Thought of End Result Only

"I simply thought exclusively of the end result not giving one moments thought to how I would get there."

-- Mike Dooley


"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."

-- Mother Teresa


"Sing out loud in the car even, or especially, if it embarrasses your children."

-- Marilyn Penland


"It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself."

-- Eleanor Roosevelt

Our Thoughts We Think

"Nothing plays a greater role in how we construct our fortunes and misfortunes than the thoughts we choose to think."

-- Mike Dooley


"The biggest lie on the planet: When I get what I want, I will be happy."

-- Arthur Wang


"When we are dreaming alone it is only a dream. When we are dreaming with others, it is the beginning of reality."

-- Dom Helder Camara


"When you develop yourself to the point where your belief in yourself is so strong that you know that you can accomplish anything you put your mind to, your future will be unlimited."

-- Brian Tracy

Serve Us As Teachers

"Our so-called sins should simply serve us as teachers, not as tormentors."

-- Mike Dooley


"Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting."

-- Elizabeth Bibesco


"Everyone who has ever taken a shower has had an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it that makes a difference."

-- Nolan Bushnell 

Founder of Atari

Move That Body

"Regular exercise can take the form of moving around more during the day or taking part in some kind of structured exercise like running and swimming. If you do not already exercise, then now is the time to start. Regular active use of the body means that your body will be there when you need."

-- Conor Patterson


"That's just it--you can't drive it, you can't wear it, you can't live in it, you can't drink it, smoke it, snort it, you can't travel to it. Happiness is the experience of the journey. The experience of happiness is the result of how you look at things. When I look at something I say, can do, no problem; that's not going to make me unhappy. Happiness is a choice!"

-- Denis Waitley


"Don't let the past steal your present."

-- Cherralea Morgen

Know What You Think

"When you know the way that you think, you have more control over your thoughts. If you are to truly empower the mind, you need to know what thoughts are made up of."

-- Conor Patterson


"Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come."

-- Robert H. Schuller


"To overcome difficulties is to experience the full delight of existence."

-- Arthur Schopenhauer


"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."

-- Anne Bradstreet

Success Equal Ability To Fail

"Success depends on the ability to fail. They know how to fail and are not afraid to do it. If you try something once and it fails so you decide you will never do it again, then you ensured you will never succeed at it."

-- Conor Patterson


"A man is not old as long as he is seeking something."

-- Jean Rostand


"Integrity is the essence of everything successful."

-- Richard Buckminster Fuller


"The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet."

-- James Oppenheim

Fear is Useful Emotion

"Fear is a very useful emotion. It keeps us alive. None of us would be alive today without the emotion of fear. Imagine if you walked closed to a cliff edge or a busy road without the motion of fear to keep you alert and concerned. You would not last long."

-- Conor Patterson


"No pressure, no diamonds."

-- Mary Case


"This one step - choosing a goal and sticking to it - changes everything."

-- Scott Reed


"It's better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right."

-- Arthur Wang

Take Leap of Faith

"So, take a leap of faith and tell people what you want to do and why. Then Do It."

-- Conor Patterson


"Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory."

-- Mahatma Gandhi


"Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them."

~Orison SwettMarden
1850-1924, Founder of Success Magazine


"The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best."

-- Epictetus

Know Your Values

"When you know your values are, you can do a magical thing: prioritize! Knowing your values means that you spend your life doing things that you really care about, leaving unimportant tasks alone."

-- Conor Patterson


"Greatness is not where we stand, but in what direction we are moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it but sail we must, and not drift, nor lie at anchor."

-- Oliver Wendall Holmes


"Anger is never without Reason, but seldom with a good One."

-- Benjamin Franklin


"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending."

-- Maria Robinson

Faith To Take Bold Steps

"We can all grow our potential. The faith to take bold steps towards that potential can come from many places. Be a source of faith unto yourself while also taking faiths from the achievements of others"

-- Conor Patterson


"Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work."

-- Peter Drucker


"Though I might travel afar, I will meet only what I carry with me, for every man is a mirror. We see only ourselves reflected in those around us. Their attitudes and actions are only a reflection of our own. The whole world and its condition has its counter parts within us all. Turn the gaze inward. Correct yourself and your world will change."

-- Kirsten Zambucka

Responsible For Our Lives

"When we are responsible for our lives, we have the power to choose in all aspects where choice is possible. We can choose our lifestyle, our diet, our dress code, our career, our income, our place of residence and our reaction to circumstances."

-- Conor Patterson


"Being wrong doesn't mean being creative - but if you aren't afraid of being wrong, you can't be creative."

-- Ken Robinson


"Maturity is the ability to do a job whether or not you are supervised, to carry money without spending it, and to bear an injustice without wanting to get even."

-- Ann Landers



"The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is, that one often comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't."

-- Henry Ward Beecher

Acting From Your Heart

"When you act from your heart, you will find yourself moving towards things that really matter to you, things that you love. If you can have the things you love, then there is no problem. If you cannot, then knowing whether you can change the situation or not will make life unimaginably easier."

-- Conor Patterson


"If you want to succeed in the world you must make your own opportunities as you go on. The man who waits for some seventh wave to toss him on dry land will find that the seventh wave is a long time a-coming. You can commit no greater folly than to sit by the road side until someone comes along and invites you to ride with him to wealth or influence."

-- John B. Gough

(1817-1886, British-born American temperance orator)

Life Becomes Struggle in Two Ways

"Life becomes a struggle in two ways, either we fight to make something happen that is destined not to happen, or we fail to exercise our will power when there is something we absolutely can change."

-- Conor Patterson


"The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything."

-- Edward Phelps


"Persistent people begin their success where others end in failure."

-- Edward Eggleston


"We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once."

-- Calvin Coolidge

When Your Sacrifice Your Freewill

"If you do not exercise choice in your life, then your cards will be played randomly and they are less likely to fall in your favor. If you do not exercise the massive power of choice you hold at every moment of your life, then your sacrifice your freewill."

-- Conor Patterson


"If men could regard the events of their own lives with more open minds, they would frequently discover that they did not really desire the things they failed to obtain."

-- Andre Maurois


"For myself I am an optimist - it does not seem to be much use being anything else."

-- Winston Churchill


"Don't be just another member of society, be a living example of your dreams and goals.

"

-- Arthur Wang

Succession of Spontaneous Loving Acts

"When life is a succession of spontaneous loving acts, then your true nature is revealed. You get to enjoy the experience of being yourself all and every day."

-- Conor Patterson


"When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere."

-- Francois de La Rochefoucauld


"If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability."

-- Henry Ford


"Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart."

-- Henry Clay

Experience of Events Give Meaning

"During life, it is the experience of events that give them meaning not the events themselves."

-- Conor Patterson


"I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death."

-- Leonardo da Vinci


"Problems only exist in the human mind."

-- Anthony de Mello


"Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain."

-- Charlie Chaplin

What Money Buys and Not Buys

"It is good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good too, to check up once in a while and make sure you haven't lost the things money can't buy."

-- George Lorimer


"The world is a great book; he who never stirs from home, reads only a page."

--Saint Augustine


"Success will not lower its standard to us. We must raise our standard to success."

-- Rev. Randall R. McBride


"What a bargain grandchildren are! I give them my loose change, and they give me a million dollars' worth of pleasure."

-- Gene Perret

Walking on The Edge

"When we walk to the edge of all the light we have and take the step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for us to stand on or we will be taught to fly."

-- Patrick Overton


"You learn something every day if you pay attention."

-- Ray LeBlond


"The first one gets the oyster, the second gets the shell."

-- Andrew Carnegie


"The reason why all men honor love is because it looks up, and not down; aspires and not despairs."

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

We Need New Lenses

"It is hard to let old beliefs go. They are familiar. We are comfortable with them and have spent years building systems and developing habits that depend on them. Like a man who has worn eyeglasses so long that he forgets he has them on, we forget that the world looks to us the way it does because we have become used to seeing it that way through a particular set of lenses. Today, however, we need new lenses. And we need to throw the old ones away."

-- Kenichi Ohmae


"A chip on the shoulder is too heavy a piece of baggage to carry through life."

-- John Hancock


"Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can't imagine."

-- Kathleen Norris

Turn Your Face Towards The Sun

'Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.'

-- Maori proverb


"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has."

-- Epictetus


"My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. Every now and then she stops to breathe."

-- Jimmy Durante


"Garner up pleasant thoughts in your mind, for pleasant thoughts make pleasant lives."

-- Bishop John Wilkins

Be Dare To Battle

"It is impossible to win the race unless you venture to run, impossible to win the victory unless you dare to battle."

-- Richard M. DeVos


"I don't know who my grandfather was; I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be."

-- Abraham Lincoln


"Most of us spend our lives as if we have another one in the bank."

-- Ben Irwin


"The best way to escape from a problem is to solve it."

-- Alan Saporta

Have An Attitude of Gratitude

"Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation."

-- Brian Tracy


"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy."

-- Thich Nhat Hanh


"Man is what he believes."

-- Anton Chekhov


"Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity."

-- Colin Powell

Be Willing To Do and Dare

"All life is a chance. So take it! The person who goes furthest is the one who is willing to do and dare."

-- Dale Carnegie


"Life is like monkey bars. You have to let go to move forward."

-- Arthur Wang


"You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win."

-- Zig Ziglar



"There is an alchemy in sorrow. It can be transmuted into wisdom, which, if it does not bring joy, can yet bring happiness."

-- Pearl Buck

Fight Weakness

"You cannot run away from weakness; you must some time fight it out or perish; and if that be so, why not now, and where you stand?"

-- Robert Louis Stevenson


"The person interested in success has to learn to view failure as a healthy, inevitable part of the process of getting to the top."

-- Dr. Joyce Brothers


"When all you see are shadows, you never see the light."

-- Ron Shayka


"Growth is the only evidence of life."

-- John Henry Newman

Direct Reflection of Gratitude

"The depth and the willingness with which we serve is a direct reflection of our gratitude."

-- Gordon T. Watts


"There is no such thing as 'on the way out' as long as you are still doing something interesting and good; you're in the business because you're breathing."

-- Louis Armstrong


"Every day holds the possibility of a miracle."

-- Elizabeth David


"The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called 'truth.'"

-- Dan Rather

Hammer Nail of Success

"It takes the hammer of persistence to drive the nail of success."

-- John Mason


"I don't need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better."

-- Plutarch


"There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them."

-- Denis Waitley


"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives."

-- William James

Make Difficult Decisions

"We all have to start with ourselves. It is time to walk the talk. Take the journey of making very difficult decisions. Start removing things from your life that are not filling your cup and adding things that bring joy in to your life."

-- Lisa Hammon


"It's hard to detect good luck - it looks so much like something you've earned."

-- Frank Howard Clark


"What worries you masters you."

-- Haddon W. Robinson


"The big secret in life is that there is no secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you are willing to work. It is called massive action. Action is the gas in the tank. Without you, the car will not run."

-- Marcy Blochowiak


Life Is Daring Adventure

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature nor do the children of man as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing."

-- Helen Keller


"The more you find out about the world, the more opportunities there are to laugh at it."

-- Bill Nye


"Great minds have purpose, others have wishes. "

-- Washington Irving


"There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud."

-- Carl Sandburg