November | 2012 | Catalyst Quotes

Archive for the month “November, 2012”

09 Nov 2012

“A #2 Pencil and a Dream”

“All things are possible to him who believes; they are less difficult to him who hopes; they are easy to him who loves; and they are simple to anyone who does all three.” (Brother Lawrence)

“You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however.” (Richard Bach)

“Keep on going and the chances are you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I have never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down.” (Charles F. Kettering)

“A #2 pencil and a dream can take you anywhere.” (J. Meyers)

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09 Nov 2012

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“Gratitude”

“Here’s a thought based on Oprah’s book club: Sit down at the end of each day and write out 5 things for which you are grateful.

We go through life each day so unaware, and take for granted so many things. There are those persons, unseen and unknown, to whom we need to be grateful. We take for granted turning on a light switch. We assume electricity will light the lamp, but how about the people that keep the system running? Same for the water, and the supermarket. We walk in and everyday it’s filled with food. How did it get on the shelves? How did it get to the stores? How did it get out of the fields? How did it first get planted?

Every day we need to overflow with gratitude. Looking at life from such a perspective will begin to change our daily attitude towards all life, and, possibly, even towards our self and others.” (Fr. Brian Cavanaugh, TOR)

“I’m utterly convinced that the key to lifelong success is the regular exercise of a single emotional muscle: ‘gratitude.’ “ (Geoffrey James)

“No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.” (Source Unknown)

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08 Nov 2012

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“Daddy – Dad – Father – Grandfather”

“A grandfather was walking through his yard when he heard his granddaughter repeating the alphabet in a tone of voice that sounded like a prayer. He asked her what she was doing. The little girl explained: ‘I’m praying, but I can’t think of exactly the right words, so I’m just saying all the letters, and God will put them together for me, because He knows what I’m thinking.’” (Charles B. Vaughan)

“When I was seven years old, I ran away from home. I’d had enough of my father’s rules and decided I could make it on my own, thank you very much. With my clothes in a paper bag, I stormed out the back gate and marched down the alley. Like the prodigal son, I decided I needed no father. Unlike the prodigal son, I didn’t go far. I got to the end of the alley and remembered I was hungry, so I went back home.” (Excerpt From: “Life to the Max” by Max Lucado)

There are 3 stages in a man’s life: ‘My Daddy can whip your Daddy.’ ‘Aw, Dad, you don’t know anything.’ ‘My father used to say . . .’. (Dwight McSmith)

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08 Nov 2012

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“The Greatest Rule of All”

“There is one rule recognized in some form or other within every major human culture I have been able to investigate … the Golden Rule: ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Treat others the way you would want to be treated in their place.’

This is probably the most famous moral rule ever promulgated. And it’s found in culture after culture, every time and place. It’s expressed in many forms, but the main thrust is remarkably the same. Here are a few examples:

Confucianism: ‘Do not do unto others what you would not want them to do unto you.’

Buddhism: ‘Seek for others the happiness you desire for yourself. Hurt not others with that which pains you.’

Hinduism: ‘All your duties are included in this: Do nothing to others that would pain you if it were done to you.’

Judaism: ‘That which is hurtful to you, do not do to your fellow man.’

Islam: ‘Let none of you treat his brother in a way he himself would not like to be treated. No one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.’

Taoism: ‘View your neighbor’s gain as your own gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.’

Christianity: ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ (If Aristotle Ran General Motors, Tom Morris)

One simple rule albeit said differently in others parts of the world. Whether it is in San Antonio, Texas, Australia, Canada, India, Europe, Mexico, China or the Middle East, people have a difficult time following these simple words.

Let’s try to follow this rule for the next thirty days and see what happens. I believe many of us will be amazed. Whether you are at home, at work or anywhere else where there are people, let’s try to follow this simple rule. Things would be so much better. ~ Alex Pena

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08 Nov 2012

“Go Beyond Into the Impossible”

“What would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail?” (Robert Schuller)

“As is our confidence, so is our capacity.” (William Hazlitt)

“There comes a time in a man’s life when to get where he has to go … if there are no doors or windows … he walks through a wall.” (Bernard Malamud)

“When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet, at the hundred and first blow, it will split in two; and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.” (Jacob Riis)

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

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08 Nov 2012

“What to Do This Morning”

“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” (E. B. White)

I had a monumental idea this morning, but I didn’t like it. (Samuel Goldwyn)

“I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I must have been changed several times since then.” (Alice, Alice in Wonderland)

“Do not say, ‘It is morning,’ and dismiss it with a name of yesterday. See it for the first time as a newborn child that has no name.” (Rabindranath Tagore)

“Change your thoughts and you change the world.” (Norman Vincent Peale)

“At the beginning of the day, it’s all about possibilities. At the end, it’s all about results.” (Bob Prosen)

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07 Nov 2012

“Your Mind Transcends Limitations”

“Big opportunities bring change, and change is painful. As long as opportunity means ‘change,’ and as long as change means ‘pain,’ we will continue to miss our chances.” (Seth Godin)

“Always look at what you have left. Never look at what you have lost.” (Robert H. Schuller)

“Can’t died in the Battle of Try.” (Author Unknown)

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds; your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you will find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be. (Patanjali, c. 1 – 3 Century B.C.)

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07 Nov 2012

“A Story”

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. What food might this contain?” the mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed a warning: “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The pig sympathized, but said, I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”

The mouse turned to the cow and said “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house — like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient.

But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. Nonetheless, the farmer’s wife did not get well and she died.

Many people came for her funeral. So the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember — when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another whether it is at home or at work.

Remember … Each of us is a vital thread in another person’s tapestry; our lives are woven together for a reason. (Source Unknown)

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07 Nov 2012

“Our Deepest Fear”

“To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.” (Confucius)

“I have this theory that I call ‘returning to zero.’ You return to zero when you think you’ve achieved something, when you’ve reached a plateau. When that happens, you have to go all the way back to square one and treat the experience of success as if it never happened. You start over from a new angle. You commit yourself to some new sacrifice and some new risk.” (Robert Redford)

“I believe life is constantly testing us for our level of commitment, and life’s greatest rewards are reserved for those who demonstrate a never-ending commitment to act until they achieve. This level of resolve can move mountains, but it must be constant and consistent. As simplistic as this may sound, it is still the common denominator separating those who live their dreams from those who live in regret.” (Anthony Robbins)

“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, and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?” (Nelson Mandela)

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06 Nov 2012

“Your Potential”

“Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!” (Anne Frank)