Quicky Quotes

3/6/2007

Sometimes we just do not have the time to read a whole news story or even a short column, start to finish. Interruptions abound in our busy lives. The kids, the phone calls, the dog, the things you forgot to do yesterday. Ask me how I know.

In that spirit, I offer the following quotes for inspiration any time you can steal 30 seconds to read one sentence. Maybe sometime later you ll find another 30 seconds to think about it and let it sink in.

Some of these are from recently released business books. Others I collected over the past few months.

Life begets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich. Sarah Bernhardt, French actress

Argue for your limitations and they are yours. Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull (Macmillan, 1970)

These two quotes can be found in The Trance of Scarcity: Stop Holding Your Breath and Start Living Your Life, by Victoria Castle (Berrett-Koehler, 2006), an intriguing guide for moving beyond the theme of not-enough-ness to finding abundance in your life.

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men 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, founder for the American Foundation for the Blind

This quote comes from Success Built to Last: Creating a Life that Matters, by Jerry Porras, Stewart Emery and Mark Thompson (Wharton School Publishing, 2007). Drafted by three organizational developmentalists, this book includes interviews with hundreds of successful people that focus on the connection between passion and success.

You think that because you understand one, you understand two because one and one make two. But you must understand and. Sufi proverb

Real change does not come from decree, pressure, permission or persuasion. It comes from people who are passionately and personally committed to a decision or direction they have helped to shape. author Larry Dressler

Dressler s quote and the proverb both come from Dressler s new book, Consensus Through Conversation (Berrett-Koehler, 2006). President of Blue Wing Consulting, Boulder, Colo., he has facilitated corporate meetings for Starbucks and other large corporations.

Familiarity breeds money. Spread your word regularly. Lunch regularly. Send cute e-mails for no reason regularly. Out of sight = out of mind = out of work. Karen Salmonsohn, life coach

That advice can be found in Salmonsohn s book, Ballsy: 99 Ways to Grow a Bigger Pair and Score Extreme Business Success (How Books, 2006). While I cringe at the title and I d skip the cute e-mails, I find most of her messages on target.

Another one from Salmansohn: Be an optimist with an umbrella. Focus on the positive result you seek, but also know that this universe is one of ebb and flow.

My favorite quote comes from Run with the Bulls Without Getting Trampled: The Qualities You Need to Stay Out of Harm s Way and Thrive at Work (Nelson Business, 2007) by Tim Irwin, an Atlanta-based organizational psychologist. He opens one chapter with some cowboy wisdom: Good judgment comes from experience and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.

Got quotes you live and work by? Send them along.

Leslie Whitaker Got a problem at work? Leslie Whitaker, co-author of "The Good Girl's Guide to Negotiating," would like to hear from you. Send Leslie an e-mail at leslie@ctwfeatures.com or write to P.O. Box 11156 Shorewood, WI 53211.

By Leslie Whitaker

CTW Features

Dear Readers,