Catalyst Quotes

Compiled by Alex Pena ~ ‘Catalyst’: “to spark, to ignite, energize, mobilize; something that accelerates a reaction (DDI)." Thought-provoking & motivational quotes and stories for you to read, reflect on and move forward in making creative and positive changes in your life.

Archive for the month “November, 2012”

“You Need to Change Yourself”

 

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve:   the fear of failure.”     (Paulo Coehlo)

 

“Life is one big road with lots of signs.   So when you are riding through the ruts, don’t complicate your mind.   Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy.   Don’t bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality.   Wake Up and Live!”    (Bob Marley)

  

“To wallow is to bitterly complain “they are doing it to us again.”   To follow is to passively wait for “somebody to do something.”   To lead is to move forward with the conviction that “I am going to do something about this.”  If it is to be, it’s up to me.   Leading means taking initiative.   Leading is going and showing the way.  Leading uses persuasion rather than position of power.   Like the best navigators in the days of sailing ships, leading means figuring out how to capitalize on – or overcome – the conditions nature or life throws at us.”       (Jim Clemmer)

  

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves …  Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given to you because you will not be able to live them.   And the point is, to live everything.   Live the questions now.   Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”        (Mainer Maria Rilke) 

   

“You don’t need to change the world; you need to change yourself.”      (Miguel Ruiz)

“You Are Already a Masterpiece”

“Open your eyes, look within.   Are you satisfied with the life you’re living?”      (Bob Marley)

 

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.   We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”     (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin)

 

“People are like stained-glass windows.   They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.”         (Elisabeth Kübler-Ross)

 

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”      (Paulo Coehlo)

 

“Drop the idea of becoming someone, because you are already a masterpiece.   You cannot be improved.   You have only to come to it, to know it, to realize it.”      (Osho)

“Make a Difference in Your Life”

 

“When life knocks you down, try to land on your back.   Because if you can look up, you can get up.   Let your reason get you back up.”        (Les Brown )

 

“Nearly 100% of innovation … is inspired not by ‘market analysis’ but by people who are supremely pissed off at the way things are.   I happened to believe that only pissed-off people change the world, either in small ways or large ways.”       (Tom Peters)

  

“You are not here merely to make a living.   You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement.   You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.”       (Woodrow T. Wilson)    

  

“Four Keys to Success

      1.      Show Up on Time

      2.      Do What You Say You Are Going To Do

      3.      Finish What You Start

      4.       Say Please and Thank You”      (Unknown Author)

 

“At some time in your life, you probably had someone believe in you when you didn’t believe in yourself.   They scripted you.   Did that make a difference in your life?   What if you were a positive scripter, an affirmer, of other people?”     (Stephen R. Covey, Daily Reflections for Highly Effective People)

 

“When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced.   Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.”      (Cherokee Expression)

 

“Life’s Little Instructions” by H. Jackson Brown Jr.

 

The following are some of H. Jackson Brown, Jr.’s Life’s Little Instructions that I’ve pulled from his collection: 

  • “Sing in the shower.
  • Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
  • Strive for excellence, not perfection.
  • Compliment 3 people every day.
  • Leave everything a little better than you found it.
  • Say, “Thank you” and “Please” a lot.
  • Avoid negative people.
  • Commit yourself to constant improvement.
  • Be the first to say hello.
  • Stop blaming others
  • Take responsibility for every area of your life.
  • Wave at kids on school buses.
  • Be there when people need you.
  • Don’t expect life to be fair.
  • Live your life as an exclamation, not an explanation.
  • Don’t be afraid to say, “I made a mistake.”
  • Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.”
  • Keep your promises no matter what.
  • Count your blessings.” 

They are not that hard.  Try to  do as many if not all of them as you go through Life.     ~  GM Universe

 

“I Am a Possibilist”

 

“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are.   I don’t believe in circumstances.   The people who get on in the world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.”      (George Bernard Shaw)

 

“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.”   (Arthur C. Clarke)

 

“There are many who are living far below their possibilities because they are continually handing over their individualities to others.   Do you want to be a power in the world?   Then be yourself.”        (Ralph Waldo Trine)

 

“I am neither an optimist nor pessimist, but a possibilist.”       (Max Lerner)

 

“God has entrusted me with myself.”      (Epictetus)

 

“Is the Problem Out There?”

  

“Anytime we think the problem is ‘out there,’ that thought is the problem.  We empower what’s out there to control us.  The change paradigm is ‘outside-in’ – what’s out there has to change before we can change.  The proactive approach is to change from the inside-out: to be different, and by being different, to effect positive change in what’s out there – I can be more resourceful, I can be more diligent, I can be more creative, I can be more cooperative.”     (Stephen R. Covey)

  

Life is about lessons, and it’s about learning.  … it’s not about feeling bitter and resentful.   It’s about moving forward,” Fisher said.   Fisher said that all too often people fall into a victim mentality, often blaming others for their plight.   While that might be natural to a degree …, it’s not the best way to move on, he said.

In times such as these, it might be easier to feel like a victim.  But Fisher said Americans must remain optimistic for the betterment of their future and for the sake of the nation.   He advises clients at the end of every day to ask themselves:   Did I live my life with truth, honor and integrity today?’

Failure is only an emotion, but it becomes a reality when we quit, he said.”      (CNN Article, Erik Fisher, a psychologist and co-author of “The Art of Managing Everyday Conflict.”)

 

“You can’t always sit in your corner of the forest and wait for people to come to you  you have to go to them sometimes.”     (Winnie the Pooh)

 

“We Are Not Formal Leaders, But We Can Lead”

 

“Our only chance for contributing is to quit waiting and wondering and do something.   We serve ourselves and others best when we do not wait.  Initiate, with the organization and all involved people in mind.  No, we are not in charge but we can act.   No, we are not formally designated leaders.  But we can lead.”      (Geoffrey M. Bellman, Getting Things Done When You Are Not in Charge)

  

“Commitment is that turning point in your life when you seize the moment to alter your destiny.”      (Denis Waitley)

  

“In every difficult situation is potential value.   Believe this; then begin looking for it.”    (Norman Vincent Peale)

  

“Give yourself an even greater challenge than the one you are trying to master and you will develop the powers necessary to overcome the original difficulty.”      (William Bennett)

  

“Life is a challenge; meet it.”      (Mother Theresa)

 

“Fierce Urgency of Now”

 

“We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today.   We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.   In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late.   Procrastination is still the thief of time.   Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity.   We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on.   Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, “Too late.”      (Martin Luther King Jr.)

  

“Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.”     (Deepak Chopra)

  

“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.   Thoughts are things!  And powerful things at that, when mixed with definiteness of purpose, and burning desire, can be translated into riches.”      (Napoleon Hill)

  

“How do you lead people to change?    Start with the person in the mirror.”     (Jim Clemmer)

 

“Do Something Beyond What You Have Mastered”

 

“If someone says “can’t,” that shows you what to do.”    (John Cage)

 

“I am in earnest; I will not equivocate; I will not excuse; I will not retreat a single inch; and I will be heard.”    (William Lloyd Garrison)

  

“The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.”     (Harry Emerson Fosdick)

  

“Since I was twenty-four there never was any vagueness in my plans or ideas as to what God’s work was for me.”    (Florence Nightingale)

 

“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.”    (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

 

“A Change Catalyst, A Transformer”

 

“Never settle for anything less than your best.”      (Brian Tracy)

 

“It’s quite possible that you haven’t really considered yourself a leader of any kind.  Whether or not you have, you may be surprised to learn in just how many ways you are a leader, especially to those close to you.   Whoever it may be, there are people around you looking up to you, believing in you as a role model, as a leader.   So please, never underestimate the influence you have on the lives of others.   Think about how your vision of the future may be pointing the way for others.   Think about those for whom you might be a role model and in what ways you are setting examples for them.”      (Robert Stuberg, Everything you Need to Know to Get Everything You Want)

 

“I am personally convinced that one person can be a change catalyst, a “transformer” in any situation, any organization.   Such an individual is yeast that can leaven an entire loaf.”        (Stephen R. Covey)

 

“When John Coltrane plays the melody early in the track Harmonique, you can hear some of the notes crack.  

Of course, Coltrane was completely capable of playing these notes correctly.  And yet he didn’t.   It’s this effort and humanity that touches us about his solo, not just the melody.   Sometimes, “never let them see you sweat,” is truly bad advice.   The work of an individual who cares often exposes the grit and determination and effort that it takes to be present.  

Perfecting your talk, refining your essay and polishing your service until all elements of you disappear might be obvious tactics, but they remove the thing we were looking for:  YOU.”     (Seth Godin)

 

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