Catalyst Quotes

“You Needn’t Worry”

“When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.   (A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner)

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“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.”   (Christopher Poindexter)

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“You needn’t worry.  There is time.  You have all the time in the world.  You preceded time and you will exist beyond it.  Age is irrelevant; more meaningless than a number.  Forever, you have FOREVER.  There is no dream you now have that you will not manifest.  There is no challenge you now face that you will not crush and dispose of.  There is no point in spending one more second of your awesome, amazing life, thinking anything to the contrary.  It’s good to be, huh?

(signed)   The Universe   (Notes from the Universe, Mike Dooley, 5.4.16)

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“When you come to the edge of all that you know, you must believe one of two things: either there will be ground to stand on, or you will be given wings to fly.”   (O. R. Melling, The Summer King)

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“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.”   (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

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“Choose Big and Be Happy”

“It’s so tempting to look at your present life situation, at whom you’re with, at where you work, at what you have and have not, and think to yourself, ‘This was obviously meant to be… I’m here for a reason.’  And to a degree, you’d be right.  But you are where you are because of the thoughts you used to (and may still) think, and so you are where you are to learn that this is how life works — NOT because it was meant to be.

Don’t give away your power to vague or mysterious logic.  Tomorrow is a blank slate in terms of people, work, and play, because it, too, will be of your making.  You will again have that sense that it was meant to be, no matter who or what you’ve drawn into your life.  Nothing is meant to be except for your freedom to choose and your power to create. 

Choose big and be happy.   Signed    The Universe”    (Notes from the Universe, Mike Dooley, 4.19.16)

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“If you’re not where you want to be in life, keep going.  Treat yourself like you’re the closest friend you’ve got.  Celebrate the magnificent creature that you are.  Don’t let anyone mess with you and your dreams, least of all yourself.

Your life is happening right now.  Do not snooze and lose.  Love yourself, while you still have a chance.”   (You are a Badass, How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life, Jen Sincero)

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“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.   Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.

Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”   (William H. Murray, explorer)

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Awake That Giant Within You

“There is no meaning to life except the meaning man gives his life by the unfolding of his powers.”   (Erich Fromm)

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“The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.”   (Jordan Belfort)

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“Compared to what we ought to be, we are only half awake.  We are making use of only a small part of our physical and mental resources.  Stating the thing broadly, the human individual thus lives far within his limits.  He possesses power of various sorts which he habitually fails to use.”   (William James)

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“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”   (Henry David Thoreau)

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“Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do.  Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors.  Try to be better than yourself.”   (William Faulkner)

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“There is a giant asleep within every man.  When that giant awakes, miracles happen.”   (Frederick Faust)

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“Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda”

“All the world’s a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.”   (Sean O’Casey)

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“We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong.  The amount of work is the same.”   (Carlos Castaneda)

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“Live life fully while you’re here.  Experience everything.  Take care of yourself and your friends.  Have fun, be crazy, be weird.  Go out and screw up!  You’re going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process.  Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes: find the cause of your problem and eliminate it.  Don’t try to be perfect, just be an excellent example of being human.”   (Anthony Robbins)

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“All The Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas

Layin’ In The Sun,

Talkin’ ‘Bout The Things

They Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda Done…

But All Those Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas

All Ran Away And Hid

From One Little Did.”   (Shel Silverstein)

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“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”   (Wayne W. Dyer)

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“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not chance, determines your destiny.”   (Aristotle)

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“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”  (Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich)

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“The Threshold of Your Own Mind”

“A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.”   (William James)

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“Well, I must endure the presence of a few caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies.”   (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince)

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“You do not write your life with words … You write it with actions.  What you think is not important.  It is only important what you do.”   (Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls)

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“No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.

The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.

If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.”    (Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet)

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“The more you struggle to live, the less you live.  Give up the notion that you must be sure of what you are doing.  Instead, surrender to what is real within you, for that alone is sure …. you are above everything distressing.”   (Baruch Spinoza)

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“There’s only one day at a time here, then it’s tonight and then tomorrow will be today again.”   (Bob Dylan, Chronicles, Vol. 1)

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“Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.

(And now) Here’s Tom with the Weather.”   (Bill Hicks)

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“You’re the Author of Your Own Life”

“Those men and women who are always singing the blessings of life are not luckier than we are.  We may think they are if we are feeling sorry for ourselves, particularly if they got a raise at work and we got laid off.  But the only real difference between them and us is vision, and that doesn’t mean eyesight.

We create our world.  Every situation we confront is what we’ve ‘asked’ for.  Those we befriend, and even those we dread, are people we unconsciously need to know.  What we experience moment by moment, reflects the inner world of dreams or fears that consume our minds.  Our lives are personally engraved.  Since that’s how it works, why aren’t we always singing our blessings too?  Why have we chosen these painful situations?

We may find no satisfactory answer for how our lives have unfolded up to now.  They are what they are, and we are responsible, but today is a new day.  Tomorrow is too.  There is time to create a new vision.”   (Daily Meditations for Practicing The Course, Karen Casey)

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“Commit to releasing your attachment to low-frequency thoughts and experiences, trust that the Universe loves the crap out of you.  Kick fear in the face, and head bravely into the unknown.

You’re the author of your own life – not your parents, not society, not your partner, not your friends, not the bullies who called you Fatzilla in junior high – and the sooner you decide to write yourself a better script, the sooner you get to live a more awesome life.”   (You Are a Bad Ass, How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life, Jen Sincero)

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“To change one’s life:  

• Start immediately,
• Do it flamboyantly,
• No exceptions.”   (William James)

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“Truth Be Told”

“Truth be told, no matter how logical or intuitive you are, neither of these virtues, no matter how greatly you were endowed, will ever enable you to peer into the future and reasonably predict the twists and turns your life may take, nor the circumstances, fortunes, and friends that might someday be your own.  It is, in fact, impossible.

That’s what imagination is for. 

Thoughts become things.   (signed)    The Universe”   (Notes from The Universe, Mike Dooley, 12.23.15)

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“Expectations.

Lower the expectations that you’ll find an easy way out.

Raise your expectations for what you can contribute.

Lower your expectations for how effective that next shortcut is going to be. 

Raise your expectations about what technology can do for you if you patiently push it.

Lower your expectations about how an angry fight can help you win something you care about.

Raise your expectations for how much consistent daily action can transform your status quo.

Lower your expectations of finding a fairy godmother.

But raise them about the power of concrete goals that keep you from hiding.

Level up.  Everything I write about hinges on the idea that we are capable beings. Capable of making decisions, of taking responsibility, of raising and lowering our expectations.

As we move into a new year, today’s a perfect day (in many countries, a legal holiday) dedicated to thinking about leveling up, about what it means to make new choices about what we will do next.”   (Seth Godin, Seth’s Blog, 01.01.16)

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“Keep fightin’ for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don’t you forget to have fun doin’ it.  Lord let your laughter ring forth.  Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cat, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce.  And when you get through kickin’ ass and celebratin’ the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.”   (Molly Ivins)

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“Herzog’s Rules

1. Be on time.
2. Bust your butt.
3. Play smart.
4. Have some laughs while you’re at it.”   (Whitey Herzog, Baseball Manager)

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“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.”   (Katherine Hepburn)

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“And Therein Lies Their Test / A Test of Perceptions”

“Here we are in a month named after the Roman god Janus, an appropriate personification of the start of a new year.  This particular Roman god had two faces so that he could look ahead toward the future and back at the past at the same time.  As we get rid of an old year and look forward to a new one, we all try to be a little like Janus.  We know through experience what we did wrong and what we did right, and hope to do better this year.

Some people make ambitious new year’s resolutions:  others just take a deep breath and hope for the best.”   (What’s in a Name, Complete Speaker’s Almanac)

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“I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.”

“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.”   (Joseph Campbell)

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“Courageous is the soul who adventures into time and space to learn of their divinity.  For while they cannot lose, they can think they have, and the loss will seem intolerable.  And while they cannot fail, they can think they have, and the pain will seem unbearable.  And while they cannot ever be less than they truly are – powerful, eternal, and loved – they can think they are, and all hope will seem lost.

And therein lies their test.  A test of perceptions: of what to focus on, of what to believe in, in spite of appearances.

YOU are divine.    (signed)    The Universe.”     (Notes from the Universe, Mike Dooley,  12.28.15)

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“I think there’s an invisible principle of living too.  If we believe we’re guided through every step of our lives, we are.  It’s a lovely sight, watching it work.”   (Richard Bach)

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