All of us have special sayings or quotes written down somewhere that really get us moving.  It may be something that you have memorized or written on a piece of paper tacked to your wall.  Or I know others have there own book of quotes that are special to them.  Each time we read these sayings or quotes it gives us that special boast of energy or motivates us to go that extra mile.  Or it may bring comfort to us in times of sorrow or despair.  What are some of your favorite motivational quotes, sayings, or words that bring special meaning to your life??  And why are they are favorite passages too??

For me I really like the following Zig Ziglar quote, “Make it a better than good day.” I like it because it helps me to go out each day and really give it my all, live each day to its fullest potential.  Not just live a “good day” but live a great day.  I have others and so I will post more of my favorites later on.  But, I would like to see what are some of your favorites.  Have fun with this one!!

Scooby

There are soooo many good quotes, but the one I’ve been focusing on lately is:

“ Once it is conceivable, it is achievable. Don’t give up!”

This goes back to my thinking I could do a trialthon.  Once I did it, I know now that I can do more.

Possiblity

I guess the one thing that has been going through my mind is - “How do you want to feel?”

It’s not really a “saying”, per se, but the other day I saw Mikhael Barishnikov (sp?) on the Today show, dancing at 60. They asked him for advice for other baby boomers not wanting to “act their age”. His reply:

“Stop listening to all the stupid people around you.”

totallyfit - 27 June 2007 09:59 AM

It’s not really a “saying”, per se, but the other day I saw Mikhael Barishnikov (sp?) on the Today show, dancing at 60. They asked him for advice for other baby boomers not wanting to “act their age”. His reply:

“Stop listening to all the stupid people around you.”

Totallyfit I really love that quote a lot, it is so fitting.  Tom thanks for your contributation too, I enjoyed reading that one too.  And Jen that quote has become one of my favorites as well.  I ask myself that one all the time.  All of these are very good Motivational sayings.  Looking forward to more great ones like these.

Scooby

Scoob,

I put the following quote under my Senior Year High School Yearbook Photo & am still proud of it.

“Surrender? I have not yet begun to fight!” -John Paul Jones

And I have the following on the back of a prayer card my dad gave me before I shipped off to Med School:

Don’t Quit!

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but do not quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit--
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Manila Raf,
That is so perfect for what I feel like I am facing right now in my life.  I am going to print that one out and put it in a spot where I will see it frequently.  Thanks for sharing that one is so perfect.

Scooby

Alrighty…

Blues Travelers has a good song called “Just Wait”.  Here’s a bit of it that inspires me (although the whole thing is inspirational!)

“There’s no such thing as a failure who keeps trying…
Sinking to the bottom, is the only disgrace.”

The whole song is great.  I can’t recommend it enough.  A bit slow, though.  Might be hard on a workout.  Maybe on a day when you don’t feel like going to the gym… well, anyway…

My FAVORITE saying.  This one comes from high school.  I took a Creative Writing class for 3 years of my high school year, and his favorite saying is now mine.  Wonder Mr. Austin gave this to me at Centennial High School in the 90s…

“My attitude, more than anything else, determines my success or my failure.”

Good stuff…

You’re welcome Scoob. I taped that card next to my desk when Med School started. And it got me through some really rough times.

I’m happy that it can help you, since it did so much for me.

Cheers.

Great quotes, guys.  Zig Ziglar has tons of wonderful ones.  Actually, I was listening to his podcast the other day and decided to transcribe out a bit of it.  And, since I transcribed it anyway, I thought I’d share.  Here we go!

“Now, the attitude itself is important.  But I’ve gotta confess, I get a little perturbed with some of these folks who say, ‘man, with positive thinking you can just do anything.’ Folks, that simply is not true.  I’m a positive thinker.  I really am.  Anybody will tell you that if they know me at all.  But with all of my positive, optimistic upbeat look on life, if you needed major surgery, I wouldn’t recommend me.  I’d do the best I could, I really would.  I’d be enthusiastic, positive, motivated; I’d give it my best shot, but you’d still die.  Positive thinking won’t let you do anything, but it will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.  Positive thinking will let you use the ability, the training, the experience, the knowledge you have, and that is awesome.

“How many of you recognize the name Shaquille O’Neal, the Shaq?  Makes two and a half billion dollars a year playing basketball and other things.  He does make an obscene amount of money.  He’s seven feet, two or three inches tall, weighs 312 or 313 or 314 pounds.  He’s motivated, he’s excited, he’s enthusiastic, he’s a great basketball player.  But I’m here to tell you that with all that positive thinking he’s got, he’d be a total and complete failure as a jockey.  As a matter of fact, he’d have to carry the horse across the line, wouldn’t he?  No, absolutely you cannot do anything with positive thinking, but you can do everything better than you can with negative thinking.”

He goes on, and I encourage people who are interested to go download his podcast—it’s free.  But this just struck me as so true.  No matter how much positive thinking I’ve got, I can’t go out tomorrow and sculpt a masterpiece.  But I can go out and teach a great class. 

Have a great day, everyone!

Cheers,
Julie

Here’s a few from Sir Winston Churchill…

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

“If you are going through hell, keep going.”

“Never give in! Never give in! Never, never, never, never - in nothing great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.”

Man...we need leaders like this again…

Malama Pono,
Fat Jeff

This is from John Bingham “the penguin” ...

“The miracle isn’t that I finished.  The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”

Ada

another one I have hanging on my cubie wall at work ...

When you change your thinking,
You change your beliefs

When you change your beliefs,
You change your expectations

When You change your expectations,
You change your attitude

When you change your attitude,
You change your behavior

When you change your behavior,
You change your performance

When you change your performance,

YOU CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

Dr. Walter Doyle Staples

Believe it or not, the Indigo Girls have many really cool and inspirational words in their songs.  Two of my favorite songs that they have in this vein are “HAMMER AND NAIL” and “WATERSHED”

First, I’ll give you a quote from each of the songs that I love… then I’ll post the lyrics to the entire songs below.  Check them out, they are available on iTunes.  Very folk song-sounding, you’ll love it.

FAV #1
“Up on the watershed, standing at the fork in the road
You can stand there and agonize
Till your agony’s your heaviest load.
You’ll never fly as the crow flies, get used to a country mile.
When you’re learning to face the path at your pace
Every choice is worth your while.”

FAV #2
my life is more than a vision
The sweetest part is acting after making a decision
I started seeing the whole as a sum of its parts.

Here are the song lyrics… enjoy!

“HAMMER AND NAIL” - Indigo Girls

Clearing webs from the hovel
a blistered hand on the handle of a shovel
I’ve been digging too deep, I always do.

I see my face on the surface
I look a lot like narcissus
A dark abyss of an emptiness
Standing on the edge of a drowning blue.

I look behind my ears for the green
Even my sweat smells clean
Glare off the white hurts my eyes

(Chorus) Gotta get out of bed get a hammer and a nail
Learn how to use my hands, not just my head
I think myself into jail
Now I know a refuge never grows
From a chin in a hand in a thoughtful pose
Gotta tend the earth if you want a rose.

I had a lot of good intentions
Sit around for fifty years and then collect a pension,
Started seeing the road to hell and just where it starts.

But my life is more than a vision
The sweetest part is acting after making a decision
I started seeing the whole as a sum of its parts.

(Chorus)

My life is part of the global life
I’d found myself becoming more immobile
When I’d think a little girl in the world can’t do anything.

A distant nation my community
A street person my responsibility
If I have a care in the world I have a gift to bring.
(and chorus repeats till the end)

Very cool, eh?  Try this one on for size

“WATERSHED” by Indigo Girls
Thought I knew my mind like the back of my hand,
The gold and the rainbow, but nothing panned out as I planned.
And they say only milk and honey’s gonna make your soul satisfied!
Well I better learn how to swim
Cause the crossing is chilly and wide.

Twisted guardrail on the highway, broken glass on the cement
A ghost of someone’s tragedy
How recklessly my time has been spent.
And they say that it’s never too late, but you don’t get any younger!
Well I better learn how to starve the emptiness
And feed the hunger

(Chorus) Up on the watershed, standing at the fork in the road
You can stand there and agonize
Till your agony’s your heaviest load.
You’ll never fly as the crow flies, get used to a country mile.
When you’re learning to face the path at your pace
Every choice is worth your while.

Well there’s always retrospect to light a clearer path
Every five years or so I look back on my life
And I have a good laugh.
You start at the top, go full circle round
Catch a breeze, take a spill
But ending up where i started again makes me wanna stand still.
(Chorus repeats)

(Bridge)Stepping on a crack, breaking up and looking back
Every tree limb overhead just seems to sit and wait.
Until every step you take becomes a twist of fate.
(Chorus repeats till the end)

I have hundreds of songs that I love… and I have been putting the inspirational, upbeat, and motivational ones in my workout rotation.  It’s made all of the difference. 

Have a great day!
~ Josette ~

Great quotes! I really like “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.”