Catalyst Quotes

“Possibility is Where You Decide it Is”

“Not one day in anyone’s life is an uneventful day, no day without profound meaning, no matter how dull and boring it might seem, no matter whether you are a seamstress or a queen, a shoeshine boy, or a movie star, a renowned philosopher or a Down’s-syndrome child.

Because in every day of your life, there are opportunities to perform little kindnesses for others, both by conscious acts of will and unconscious example.

All human lives are so profoundly and intricately entwined—those dead, those living, those generations yet to come—that the fate of all is the fate of each, and the hope of humanity rests in every heart and in every pair of hands. Therefore, after every failure, we are obliged to strive again for success, and when faced with the end of one thing, we must build something new and better in the ashes, just as from pain and grief, we must weave hope, for each of us is a thread critical to the strength—to the very survival of the human tapestry. Every hour in every life contains such often-unrecognized potential to affect the world that the great days and thrilling possibilities are combined always in this momentous day.”   (Dean Koontz, From the Corner of His Eye)

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“Listen to the mustn’ts, child.  Listen to the don’ts.  Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossible, the won’ts.  Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me … anything can happen child.  Anything can  be.”   (Shel Silverstein)

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“Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all.  Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach.  The world you desire can be won.  It exists..  it is real..  it is possible..  it’s yours.”   (Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged)

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“If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I’ll bet they’d live a lot differently.”   (Bill Watterson)

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“Two hundred years ago, we had great-great-greats who lived in the dark, without much in the way of healthcare, commerce or opportunity.

Today, we complain that the MRI was chilly, or that the wifi on the transatlantic plane wasn’t fast enough or that there’s nothing new going on at the mall.

It’s human nature to recalibrate.  But maybe it’s worth fighting that off, for an hour or even a day.

The world around us is uneven, unfair and yes, absolutely, over-the-top amazing. 

Boring is an attitude, not the truth.

Possibility is where you decide it is.”   (Seth Godin, Seth’s Blog, 12.19.15)

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“When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this – you haven’t.”   (Thomas Edison)

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“You’re Only Given One Little Spark of Madness”

“Life is not what it’s supposed to be.  It’s what it is.  The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.”   (Virginia Satir)

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“You’re only given one little spark of madness.  You mustn’t lose it.”   (Robin Williams)

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“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late to be whoever you want to be.  I hope you live a life you’re proud of, and if you find you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start over again.”   (F. Scott Fitzgerald)

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“Our ordinary mind always tries to persuade us that we are nothing but acorns and that our greatest happiness will be to become bigger, fatter, shinier acorns; but that is of interest only to pigs.  Our faith gives us knowledge of something much better:  that we can become oak trees.”   (E. F. Schumacher)

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“Dream big and dare to fail.”   (Norman Vaughan)

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“Trust yourself.  You know more than you think you do.”   (Benjamin Spock)

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“Your Soul is Oftentimes a Battlefield”

“This is the beginning of a new day.

God has given me this day to use as I will.

I can waste it or use it for good, but what I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it.

When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place something that I have traded for it.

I want it to be gain and not loss; good and not evil; success and not failure; in order that I shall not regret the price I have paid for it.”   (Unknown Author)

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“Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against your passion and your appetite.”   (Kahlil Gibran)

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“Essentially there are two actions in life:  Performance and Excuses.

Make a decision as to which you will accept from yourself.”   (Stephen Brown)

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“What is in one is in the whole, and therefore, ultimately, each soul is responsible for the whole world.”   (‘Thoughts from the Seat of Soul’, Gary Zukav)

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“We are what we believe we are.”   (C.S. Lewis)

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“Accept Who You Are”

“On feeling like a failure …

Feeling like a failure has little correlation with actually failing.

There are people who have failed more times than you and I can count, who are happily continuing in their work.

There are others who have achieved more than most of us can imagine, who go to work each day feeling inadequate, behind, and yes, like failures and frauds.

These are not cases of extraordinary outliers.  In fact, external data is almost useless in figuring out whether or not someone is going to adopt the narrative of being a failure.

Failure (as seen from the outside) is an event. It’s a moment when the spec isn’t met, when a project isn’t completed as planned.

Feelings, on the other hand, are often persistent, and they are based on stories.  Stories we tell ourselves as much as stories the world tells us. 

As a result, if you want to have a feeling, you’ll have it.  If you want to seek a thread to ravel, you will, you’ll pull at it and focus on it until, in fact, you’re proven right, you are a failure.

Here’s the essential first step: Stop engaging with the false theory that the best way to stop feeling like a failure is to succeed.

Thinking of one’s self as a failure is not the same as failing.  And thus, succeeding (on this particular task) is not the antidote.  In fact, if you act on this misconception, you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of new evidence that you are, in fact, correct in your feelings, because you will ignore the wins and remind yourself daily of the losses.

Instead, begin with the idea that the best way to deal with a feeling is to realize that it’s yours.”   (Seth’s Blog, Seth Godin, 10.2.15)

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“You cannot live your life looking at yourself from someone else’s point of view.”   (Penelope Cruz)

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“Ironically, had it not been for every disappointment, setback, and detour in the road of your life, you wouldn’t have come so far.

Nice strategy.

Of course, had you not been everywhere you’ve been, you couldn’t now go everywhere you will go.

Love, love –     (signed)  The Universe.”   (Notes from the Universe, Mike Dooley, 6.22.15)

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“Accept who you are and revel in it.”   (Mitch Albom, Tuesdays With Morrie)

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“I Will Spark the Brain That Will Change the World”

“Anything worth shouting about is worth shouting into the wind.

Because if enough people care, often enough, the word spreads, the standards change, the wind dies down. If enough people care, the culture changes.

It’s easy to persuade ourselves that the right time to make change happen is when it’s time. But that’s never true. The right time to make it happen is before it’s time. Because this is what ‘making’ means.

The most devastating thing we can learn about our power is how much of it we have. How much change we could make if we would only speak up first, not last. How much influence we can have if we’re willing to to look someone in the eye and say, “yes.” Or, “this is our problem, too.” Or, “this must stop.”

Yes, there’s wind, there’s always been wind. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stop shouting.”   (Seth Godin, Seth’s Blog, September 14, 2014)

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“By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it.  The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired.”   (Franz Kafka, The Trial)

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“When the wind of change blows, some build walls while others build windmills.”   (Chinese Proverb)

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“We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.”   (Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life:  What on Earth Am I Here For?

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“I’m not saying I’m gonna change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world.”   (Tupac Shakur)

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“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”  (Mahatma Gandhi)

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“Live the Truths / Be in the Play”

“This is me today, but take heed; it is not the same me as yesterday, and it will not be the same me tomorrow.”   (Richelle E. Goodrich)

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“What good does it do knowing approximately where the treasure lies, yet never digging?  Having a bank account with millions in it, but never writing a check?  Or discovering the fountain of youth, but never drinking a drop?

You must live the truths you discover, break your old rules, defy logic, be the change.  Dig, write the check, and drink eternally, one little step after another.

There’s no other way.

Of course, you can ask for help.    (signed)   The Universe.”   (Notes from the Universe, Mike Dooley, June 23, 2015)

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“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be.  Now put the foundations under them.”   (Henry David Thoreau)

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“Find meaning.  Distinguish melancholy from sadness.  Go out for a walk.  It doesn’t have to be a romantic walk in the park, spring at its most spectacular moment, flowers and smells and outstanding poetical imagery smoothly transferring you into another world.  It doesn’t have to be a walk during which you’ll have multiple life epiphanies and discover meanings no other brain ever managed to encounter.  Do not be afraid of spending quality time by yourself. Find meaning or don’t find meaning but ‘steal’ some time and give it freely and exclusively to your own self.  Opt for privacy and solitude. That doesn’t make you antisocial or cause you to reject the rest of the world.  But you need to breathe. And you need to be.”   (Albert Camus)

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“Be like the sun for grace and mercy.

Be like the night to cover others’ faults.

Be like running water for generosity.

Be like death for rage and anger.

Be like the earth for modesty.

Appear as you are. 

Be as you appear.”   (Rumi)

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“The optimist doesn’t know whether life is a comedy or a tragedy – he’s just tickled silly to be in the play.”   (Robert Brault)

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“Be Not the Slave of Your Own Past”

“Sometimes, I sit alone under the stars

and think of the galaxies inside my

heart, and truly wonder if anyone will

ever want to make sense of all that

I am.”   (Testy McTesterson)

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“You do not wake up one morning a bad person.  It happens by a thousand tiny surrenders of self-respect to self-interest.”   (Robert Brault, Round Up the Usual Subjects)

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“Is life so wretched?  Isn’t it rather your hands which are too small, your vision which is muddled?  You are the one who must grow up.”   (Dag Hammarskjold)

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“Be not the slave of your own past – plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with new self-respect, with new power, and with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.”   (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

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“We are constantly invited to be who we are.”   (Henry David Thoreau)

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“Respect yourself and others will respect you.”   (Confucius, Sayings of Confucius)

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“Life isn’t about finding yourself.  Life is about creating yourself.”   (George Bernard Shaw)

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