Catalyst Quotes

“We Are Here on Earth to Do …”

“We are here on Earth to do good to others.  What others are here for, I don’t know.”     (W. H. Auden)

“It’s what each of us sows, and how, that gives us character and prestige. Seeds of kindness, goodwill, and human understanding, planted in fertile soil, spring up into deathless friendships, big deeds of worth, and a memory that will not soon fade out.  We are all sowers of seeds-and let us never forget it!”      (George Matthew Adams)

“Be careful what you water your dreams with.  Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream.  Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success.  Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.”    (Lao Tzu)

“If we are ever to enjoy life, now is the time-not tomorrow, nor next year, nor in some future life after we have died.  The best preparation for a better life next year is a full, complete, harmonious, joyous life this year.  Our beliefs in a rich future life are of little importance unless we coin them into a rich present life.  Today should always be our most wonderful day.”      (Thomas Dreier)

“The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another, and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it.”       (J.M. Barrie)

“Be the Poem; Share What You Have to Give”

“To change who you are, change who you think you are.”     (Jonathan Lockwood Huie)

“The golden opportunity you are seeking is in yourself.  It is not in your environment; it is not in luck or chance, or the help of others; it is in yourself alone.”      (Orison Swett Marden)

“If you cannot be a poet, be the poem.”        (David Carradine)

“The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world.  There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor.  But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give.  Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have a potential to turn a life around.  It’s overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt.”        (Leo Buscaglia)

“Everything Will Work Out”

“There is something infantile in the presumption that somebody else has the responsibility to give your life meaning and point . . .  The truly adult view, by contrast, is that our life is as meaningful, as full and as wonderful, as we choose to make it.”        (Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker)

“Any fact facing us, however difficult, even seemingly hopeless, is not so important as our attitude towards that fact.  How you think about a fact may defeat you before you ever do anything about it.  You may permit a fact to overwhelm you mentally before you deal with it actually.  On the other hand, a confident and optimistic thought pattern can overcome or modify the fact altogether.”         (Norman Vincent Peale)

“None of us can predict with certainty the twists and turns our lives will take.  Life is uncertain, the future unknown.  This is neither good nor bad.  It just is, like gravity.  Yet the task remains: how to master our own fate, even so.”        (Jim Collins and Morten Hansen, Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck — Why Some Thrive Despite Them All)

“Everything will work out in the end.  If it’s not working out, it’s not the end.”      (Author Unknown)

“The Sight of the Stars Makes Me Dream”

“Life is all about choices.  How many people are trapped in their everyday habits:  part numb, part frightened, part indifferent?  To have a better life we must keep choosing how we’re living.”     (Albert Einstein)

“I am who I am today because of the choices I made yesterday.”        (Author Unknown)

“(You have a choice as to whether) you are either part of the steam roller or part of the road.”    (Author Unknown)

“Sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think, ‘I’m not going to make it’ but you laugh inside – remember all the times you’ve felt that way.”        (Charles Bukowski)

“Worrying will never change the outcome.”         (Author Unknown)

“Lord, when we are wrong, make us willing to change.  And when we are right, make us easy to live with.”       (Peter Marshall)

“I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.”      (Vincent Van Gogh)

“It Hurts to Become”

“I said to the sun, ‘Tell me about the big bang.’     The sun said, ‘It hurts to become.’”      (Andrea Gibson)

“I have lived nearly fifty years, and I have seen life as it is.

Pain, misery, hunger … cruelty beyond belief.  I have heard the singing from taverns and the moans from bundles of filth on the streets.  I have been a soldier and seen my comrades fall in battle … or die more slowly under the lash in Africa.  I have held them in my arms at the final moment.  These were men who saw life as it is, yet they died despairing.  No glory, no gallant last words … only their eyes filled with confusion, whimpering the question, “Why?”  I do not think they asked why they were dying, but why they had lived.  

When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies?  Perhaps to be too practical is madness.  To surrender dreams — this may be madness. To seek treasure where there is only trash.  Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all:  to see life as it is, and not as it should be!”          (Don Quixote, Man of La Mancha, Miguel Cervantes)

“When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light.  Give thanks for your life and strength.  Give thanks for your food.  And give thanks for the joy of living.   

And if perchance you see no reason to give thanks, rest assured the fault is yours.”          (American Indian Saying)

“It’s not hard to decide what you want your life to be about.

What’s hard, she said, is figuring out what you’re willing to give up in order to do the things you really care about.”            (Bittersweet, Shauna Niequist)

“Think About These Things”

Think about these things …

     “The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places.”

      “When you feel terrific, notify your face.”

     “The one thing worse than a quitter is the person who is afraid to begin.”

     “The most important ability is availability.”

     “There is no great success without great commitment.”

     “It is better to hold out a hand than to point a finger.”

     “Doing your best is more important than being the best.”

     “Giant oak trees started out as little nuts that held their ground.”

     “To disagree, one doesn’t have to be disagreeable.”

     “An obstacle may be either a stepping stone or a stumbling block.”

     “The difficulties of life are intended to make us better, not bitter.”

     “The best thing you can spend on your children is time.”          (InnerTalk)

     “Be kind whenever possible.  It is always possible.”      (Dalai Lama)

“Break Through a Rut; Today is Your Day”

“The two best ways to break through a rut and to make an impact:

• Find things that others have accepted as the status quo and make them significantly, noticeably and remarkably better.
• Find things that you are attached to that are slowing you down, realize that they are broken beyond repair and eliminate them. Toss them away and refuse to use them any longer.

When a habit has too much inertia to be fixed, when it’s “unbetterable,” you’re better off without it.  Eliminating it will create a void, fertile territory for something much better to arrive.”      (Seth Godin)

“Do one thing every day that scares you.”      (Eleanor Roosevelt)

“In dwelling, live close to the ground.

In thinking, keep to the simple.

In conflict, be fair and generous.

In governing, don’t try to control.

In work, do what you enjoy.

In family, be completely present.”      (Tao Te Ching)

 “Today is your day!  Your mountain is waiting.     So …  get on your way.”      (Dr. Seuss)

“You’ve Failed Many Times; Recipe for Greatness”

“Keep these concepts in mind:  You’ve failed many times, although you don’t remember.  You fell down the first time you tried to walk.  You almost drowned the first time you tried to swim.  …. Don’t worry about failure.  My suggestion to each of you:  Worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try.”       (Sherman Finesilver, Chief Judge, US District Court)

“I’ve never met a person, I don’t care what his condition, in whom I could not see possibilities.  I don’t care how much a man may consider himself a failure, I believe in him, for he can change the thing that is wrong in his life any time he is ready and prepared to do it.  Whenever he develops the desire, he can take away from his life the thing that is defeating it.  The capacity for reformation and change lies within.”           (Preston Bradley)

“The Challenge –

Let others lead small lives, but not you.

Let others argue over small things, but not you.

Let others cry over small hurts, but not you.

Let others leave their future in someone else’s hands, but not you.”       (Jim Rohn)

“Recipe for Greatness –

To bear up under loss, to fight the bitterness of defeat and the weakness of grief, to be victor over anger, to smile when tears are close, to resist evil men and base instincts, to hate hate and to love love, to go on when it would seem good to die, to seek ever after the glory and the dream, to look up with unquenchable faith in something evermore about to be, that is what any man can do, and so be great.”       (Zane Grey)

“Life – Rocks, Pebbles, Sand & 2 Beers”

A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. 

When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, rocks about 2″ in diameter.  He then asked the students if the jar was full.  They agreed that it was.  So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.  He shook the jar lightly.  The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.  He then asked the students again if the jar was full.  They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.  Of course, the sand filled up everything else.  He then asked once more if the jar was full.  The students responded with a unanimous — yes.

The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and proceeded to pour their entire contents into the jar — effectively filling the empty space between the sand.  The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.  The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, and your children–things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.  The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car.  The sand is everything else.  The small stuff.”

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued “there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks.  The same goes for your life.  If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.”

“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.  Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups.  Take your partner out dancing.  There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.

“Take care of the rocks first — the things that really matter.  Set your priorities.  The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented.  The professor smiled.

“I’m glad you asked.  It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of beers.”        (Author Unknown)