Motivations

"The periodic assessment of ones life is one of the best motivators."

--Edmond Danken Sailor

Find Out How to Get What You Want

“Most of us have a pretty clear idea of the world we want. What we lack is an understanding of how to go about getting it.”

–Hugh Gibson

Don't Defeat Yourself

“Don’t let yourself say or even think ‘I am busy,’ ‘I don’t have the time,’ ‘I am tired.’ That makes you feel busier or more rushed or more tired than you actually are.”

–Wm. B. Given, Jr.

Don' Count a Man a Failure Until He’s Dead

“Because a fellow has failed once or twice, or a dozen times, you don’t want to set him down as a failure till he’s dead or losses his courage—and that’s the same thing.”

–George Horace Lorimer

No Such Thing as Perfection

“Perfection does not exist; to understand it is the triumph of human intelligence; to expect to possess it is the most dangerous kind of madness.”

–Alfred De Musset

Aim High!

“Aim at the sun, and you may not reach it; but your arrow will fly far higher than if you aimed at an object on a level with yourself.”

–J. Hawes

Dodging Duty Never Works

“A duty dodged is like a debt unpaid; it is only deferred, and we must come back and settle the account at last.”

–Joseph Fort Newton

Fresh Starts

“Every day is a fresh start. You awake every morning as a tabula rasa (clean slate).

Edmond Danken Sailor

The Value of a Flawed Diamond

“Better to be a strong man with a weak point, than to be a weak man with a strong point. A diamond with a flaw is more valuable than a brick without a flaw.”

–Wm. J. H. Boetcker

Don't Show Your Temper!

“Don’t permit yourself to show ‘your’ temper, and always remember that when you are in the right you can afford to keep your temper, and when you are in the wrong you cannot afford to lose it.”

–J. J. Reynolds

The Important Role of a Teacher or Mentor

“The role of a teacher or mentor is not to make your journey easier, just to help make it possible. It would be a disservice to you if you were denied all of the learning experiences from important bumps and pitfalls along the way.”

–Edmond Danken Sailor

Happiness Requires Action

“Action may not always bring happiness; but there can be no happiness without action.”

–Disraeli

Practice Courtesy for a Better World

“Courtesy is really nothing more than a form of friendliness. It is amazing what a warming influence it can have on an otherwise dreary world. It has been said that a rise of one degree Fahrenheit in the mean annual temperature of the globe would free both polar regions from their ice. It is thrilling to contemplate what frigidity might be dispelled in the world of human relations if people made just a little better effort to be friendly.”

–M. Barton

Build Courage

“If we survive danger it steels our courage more than anything else.”

–Niebuhr

A Really Great Man!

“A really great man is known by three signs—generosity in design, humanity in execution, moderation in success.”

–Bismark

Practice Good Habits

“When we have practiced good actions awhile, they become easy; when they are easy, we take pleasure in them; when they please us, we do them frequently; and then, by frequency of act, they grow into habit.”

–Tillotson

Do More Than You Say!

“If we could only make our hands move as actively as our tongues, what wonders we could accomplish! Almost everyone loves to hear his own voice. It is so easy too! Yet if we could say less and do more for each other’s good, not alone would every home be happier, but communities would be enriched thereby. Instead of criticism by speech, to show someone a better way to do a thing would be of much greater value.”

–John Wanamaker

Character is Credit

“Character writes’ a letter of credit upon some men’s faces that is honored wherever presented. You cannot help trusting such men. Their very presence gives confidence. There is “promise to pay” in their faces which gives confidence and you prefer it to another man’s endorsement. Character is credit.”

–Thackeray

Technology is Neutral

“Technology is only as good or bad as the person using it.”

--Edmond Danken Sailor

Be Thrifty

“Thrift is that habit of character that prompts one to work for what he gets, to earn what is paid him; to invest a part of his earnings; to second wisely and well; to save, but not hoard.”

–Arthur Chamberlain

Make a Better Future

“We work day after day, not to finish things; but to make the future better… because we will spend the rest of our lives there.”

–Charles F. Kettering

One's Promise

“Promise without performance is useless.”

--Edmond Danken Sailor

Great Ideas

“Ideas are the mightiest influence on earth. One great thought breathed into a ‘person’ may regenerate ‘them.”

–Channing

Use Directed Imagination

“Five minutes, just before going to sleep, given to a bit of directed imagination regarding achievement possibilities of the morrow, will steadily and increasingly bear fruit, particularly if all ideas of difficulty, worry or fear are resolutely ruled out and replaced by those of accomplishment and smiling courage.”

–Frederick Pierce

Be True to Yourself

“There is only one real failure in life that is possible, and that is, not to be true to the best one knows.”

–Farrar

Compelling is Not Leading

“The demand for power to compel is a confession of incompetence to lead.”

–Eugene E. Wilson

Do Not Evade Responsibility

“You can’t escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”

–Abraham Lincoln

True Wealth

“Every good act is charity. A ‘person’s’ true wealth hereafter, is the good ‘they’ do in this world to ‘their’ fellow-man."

–Mahomet

Luxury Can Bind You

“Luxury makes a man so soft that it is hard to please him, and easy to trouble him; so that his pleasures at last become his burden. Luxury is a nice master, hard to be pleased.”

–Mackenzie

Find True Greatness!

“No ‘person’ has come to true greatness who has not felt in some degree that ‘their’ life belongs to ‘their’ race.”

–Phillips Brooks

Learn What is Valuable

“Just because something is expensive or not does not mean it is something of value.”

--Edmond Danken Sailor

Free Yourself From Bondage

“What a curious phenomenon it is that you can get men to die for the liberty of the world who will not make the little sacrifice that is needed to free themselves from their own individual bondage.”

–Bruce Barton

Always Praise Other's Merit

“If you wish your merit to be known, acknowledge that of other people.”

–Oriental Proverb

Goodness is Always an Asset

“Goodness is always an asset. A man who is straight, friendly and useful may never be famous, but he is respected and liked by all who know him. He has laid a sound foundation for success and he will have a worthwhile life.”

–Herbert N. Casson

Self-Control will Lead you Well

“Fortunate is the person who has developed the self-control to steer a straight course toward his objective in life, without being swayed from his purpose by either commendation or condemnation.”

--Napoleon Hill

Education Should Receive More Money

“Education is a social process, perhaps the most important process in determining the future of our country; it should command a far larger portion of our national income than it does today.”

--Dr. James B. Conant

Fantasize, Refine, Do, Achieve!

“Three processes; Fantasizing, Refining, Doing, are at the heart of great accomplishments. Fantasizing turns thoughts into dreams. Refining turns dreams into visions. Doing turns visions into accomplishments.”

--Edmond Danken Sailor

Do it, Just Don't Say it!

“An acre of performance is worth a whole world of promise.”

--W. D. Howells

Ideas, Thoughts and Principles are Mighty

“Ideas go booming through the world louder than cannon. Thoughts are mightier than armies. Principles have achieved more victories than horsemen or chariots.”

--W. M. Paxton

Moderation of Work and Play

“Leisure for men of business, and business for men of leisure, would cure many complaints.”

--Thrale

Don't follow the Crowd

“The ‘person’ who follows the crowd will never be followed by the crowd.”

—Donnell

On Vacation

This blog is on Vacation for about a week. See ya soon.

Opposition Can Be Motivation

“Opposition inflames the enthusiast, never converts him.

--Schiller

Accept Life, Not Regret

“The ‘person’ who insists upon seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides. Accept life, and you cannot accept regret.”


--Amiel

Small Things Give Charm to the Character

“Small kindnesses, small courtesies, small considerations, habitually practiced in our social intercourse, give a greater charm to the character than the display of great talent and accomplishments.”

--Kelty

Don't Just Dream

“Ideas must work through the brains and the arms of good and brave ‘people’, or they are no better than dreams."

--Emerson

Choose Your Destination!

"A destination not chosen, is a destination not reached, and becomes a destination not wanted."

--Edmond Danken Sailor

Don't Procrastinate Your Problems

“All problems become smaller if you don’t dodge them, but confront them. Touch a thistle timidly, and it pricks you; grasp it boldly, and its spines crumple."

--Williams S. Halsey

Make Good Habits

“We’re worn into grooves by Time—by our habits. In the end, these grooves are going to show whether we’ve been second rate or champions, each in his way is dispatching the affairs of every day. By choosing our habits, we determine the grooves into which Time will wear us; and these are the grooves that enrich our lives and make for ease of mind, peace, happiness—achievement.”

–Frank B. Gilberth

Make Use of Your Opportunities

“Four things come not back—the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity.”

–Arabian Proverb

The Knack of Common Sense

“Common Sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done.”

--Stowe

Be a Doer!

“The world is divided into people who do things and people who get the credit. Try, if you can, to belong to the first class. There’s far less competition."

–Dwight Morrow

Do Not Criticize the Good Work of Someone Else

“He whose first emotion, on the view of an excellent work, is to undervalue or depreciate it, will never have one of his own to show.”

--Aikin

Mistakes can Make you Wise

“When you make a mistake, don’t look back at it long. Take the reason of the thing into your mind, and then look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.”

–Hugh White

Heroes and Celebrities

"We should all have heroes to look up to, to inspire us, to motivate us, to suggest an ideal to work toward. In choosing a hero, the most important thing to know is the difference between a hero and a celebrity. A hero can be both. But, someone can also be a celebrity without being worthy of being called a hero. Remembering this is vital in your search!"

--Edmond Danken Sailor

Don't Aim Low!

“Not failure, but low aim, is a crime.”

--Ernest Holmes

There is More Glory in Overcoming

“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.”

--Moliére

The Aim of Education

“The aim of education should be to convert the mind into a living fountain, and not a reservoir.”

--John M. Mason

Life is Worth Living

“Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.”

--William James

Regret is a Waste of Time

“Regret is an appalling waste of energy. You can’t build on it; it’s only good for wallowing in.

–Katherine Mansfield

Books Open Almost All Doors

“Books come at my call and return when I desire them; they are never out of humor and they answer all my questions with readiness. Some present in review before me the events of past ages; others reveal to me the secrets of nature. These teach me how to live, and those how to die; these dispel my melancholy by their mirth, and amuse me by their sallies of wit. Some there are who prepare my soul to suffer everything, to desire nothing, and to become thoroughly acquainted with itself. In a word, they open the door to all the arts and sciences.

--Petrarch

Desire Determines Possibilities

"Whether an idea becomes a reality or not, does not depend so much on whether it is possible -- but on how great the desire for it is."

--Edmond Danken Sailor

Someone With a Settled Purpose Will Accomplish it

“I have brought myself by long meditation to the conviction that a human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it, and nothing can resist a will which will stake even existence upon its fulfillment.”

--Disraeli

Education is Life

“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”

–John Dewey

What You Know, What You Don't

"Science is what you know, philosophy is what you don't know."

--Bertrand Russell

Do Not Stand Back--Jump In!

“To do anything in this world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in, and scramble through as well as we can.

–Sydney Smith

Solitude and Society in Balance

“Solitude is as needful to the imagination as society is wholesome for the character."

–James Russell Lowell

Put Beauty into Your Life

“The beauty of life comes, not from what we get out of life, but from what we put into it.”

--Edmond Danken Sailor

Don't Let Circumstances Rule You

“Circumstances are the rulers of the weak; they are but the instruments of the wise."

–Samuel Lover

Cultivate a Diamond Character

"Character is a diamond that scratches every other stone."

--Bartol

Routines are Your Momentum

“Most of life is routine—dull and grubby, but routine is the momentum that keeps a man going. If you wait for inspiration you’ll be standing on the corner after the parade is a mile down the street.”

--Ben Nicholas

Keep the Weeds out of Your Life

“Everyone knows that weeds eat out the life of a garden and of the productive fields. The gardener and the farmer alike each has to keep the weeding process alive. It’s like that in the building and developing of character. No one knows our own faults and tendencies better than we do ourselves, so that it is up to each on of us to keep the weeds out, and to keep all growth vigorous and fruitful.

–George Mathew Adams

Be a Good Example!

“The first great gift we can bestow on others is a good example.”

--Morell

A Beautiful Dream!

“I saw a vision of life so wonderful, through dreams realized, journeys accomplished, and potentials fulfilled.”

--Edmond Danken Sailor

Always Speak Obligingly

“We cannot always oblige, but we can always speak obligingly.”

--Voltaire

Being Angry is a Bad Habit

"Whenever you are angry, be assured that it is not only a present evil, but that you have increased a habit."

--Epictetus

Two Kinds of Failures

“There are two kinds of failures: The man who will do nothing he is told, and the man who will do nothing else.”

--Dr. Perle Thompson

What Will Be Your Direction?

“It is our thoughts that determine our direction. Positive thoughts take us toward what we want, and negative thoughts take us toward what we no not want.”

--Edmond Danken Sailor

Do Not Be a Cynic--Take Courage!

“The cynic makes fun of all earnestness; he makes fun of everything and everyone who feels that someone can be done….But in his heart of hearts he knows that he is a defeated man and that his cynicism is merely an expression of the fact that he has lost courage and is beaten.”

--George E. Vincent

Something to Live For

"We must give the peoples of the world something to live for as well as something to live on."

--John Haynes Holmes

Simple Virtues Better Than Smartness

“The simple virtues of willingness, readiness, alertness, and courtesy will carry a man farther than mere smartness.”

--Davidson

Don't Sling Mud!

“Before you sling some mud at someone else, be aware they may just sling some back.”

--Edmond Danken Sailor

What Kind of Society Will We Build?

(Sic)Action is not a secondary concern for a democracy. It is a primary concern, for the kind of recreation a people make for themselves determines the kind of people they become and the kind of society they build.

--Harry A. Overstreet

It is our Thoughts that Determine Who We are

"Our best friends and our worst enemies are our thoughts. A thought can do us more good than a doctor or a banker or a faithful friend. It can also do us more harm than a brick."

--Dr. Frank Crane

Redistribute Opportunity

“It is less important to redistribute wealth than it is to redistribute opportunity.”

--Arthur H. Vandenberg

Keep Moving!

"Things and people not actively in use age twice as fast."

--Arnold Bennett

Debt Puts You in Servitude

“You become a slave to someone or some company, when you live beyond your means. Debt puts you into servitude.”

--Edmond Danken Sailor

Don't Say Anything Bad About Somebody Else

"There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it behooves all of us not to talk about the rest of us."

--Robert Louis Stevenson

You Can Do It!

"Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon, must inevitably come to pass!"

--Paul J. Meyer

Don't Let Anything Between You and Your God

"Organized religion has been a good way to get a middle man between man and his God."

--Edmond Dankin Sailor

Believe you Can do It!

"If you can conceive it, and believe it, you can achieve it."

--Napoleon Hill

Live for Something

"Lack of something you feel important about is almost the greatest tragedy a man may have."

--Dr. Arthur E. Morgan

Is the Sky Really Falling?

“Be cautious of people who tell you the sky is falling; they’re usually trying to sell you something to prevent it.”

--Edmond Danken Sailor

Debt Makes You A Slave

"He will always be a slave who does not know how to live upon a little."

--Horace

Work Together and Get There Faster

"People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily, because they are traveling on the thrust of one another."

--Author Unknown

Believe in Your Dreams!

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

--Eleanor Roosevelt

Do Not Be Limited!

“We should all be judged by our merit, not limited by our resources, be they physical or financial.”

--Edmond Danken Sailor

Be Good to Yourself

“A man has to live with himself, and he should see to it that he always has good company."

--Charles Evans Hughes

Working Together We Can Do Anything

"We can create powerful teams that build on the strengths of each individual and make weaknesses irrelevant."

--Stephen R. Covey

Face Problems When They Happen

“It is a good rule to face difficulties at the time they arise and not allow them to increase unacknowledged."

--Edward W. Ziegler

It's How Much You Want it

"Capacity is only limited by desire."

--Edmond Danken Sailor

Live Hopefully, Do Something Great!

“Men cannot for long live hopefully unless they are embarked upon some great unifying enterprise--one for which they may pledge their lives, their fortunes and their honor."

--C. A. Dykstra

Make it Happen!

"The best way to predict your future is to create it."

--Stephen R. Covey

Have the Right Attitude

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude."

--W. W. Ziege

Do the Impossible!

"Someone once told me I was impossible. I said, 'It takes an impossible person to do impossible things."

--Edmond Danken Sailor

Your Only as Old as You Feel

“Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years; people grow old only by deserting their ideals."

--Samuel Ullman

Be Ahead of Your Time

"Progress in industry depends very largely on the enterprise of deep-thinking men, who are ahead of the times in their ideas."

--Sir William Ellis

Have Self-Control, Control Your Life

“He who reigns within himself, and rules passions, desires, and fears, is more than a king."

--Milton

Do it, don't say it

"Well done is better than well said."

-Benjamin Franklin

Do Not Accept Limitations!

"Don't accept the limitations of other people who claim things are "unchangeable". If it's written in stone, bring your hammer and chisel."

--Peter McWilliams

Moderation

“Moderation in all things, including moderation.”

--Edmond Danken Sailor

Making the Most of Wisdom

“Thinking well is wise; planning well, wiser; doing well wisest and best of all."

--Persian Proverb

Grand Gestures

"Throughout past history, the only things that are not torn down or forgotten, are the grand gestures made by people of vision. We can be those people of vision. Our grand gestures will be remembered, all we have to do is make that commitment and begin."

--Edmond Danken Sailor

Absence Can Test Your Metal

“Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, as wind extinguishes candles and fans a fire."

--La Rochefoucauld

It is Worth More when You Work for it

"The marvelous richness of human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were no limitations to overcome. The hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse."

--Helen Keller

Keep an Open Mind

"It is well for people who think, to change their minds occasionally in order to keep them clean. For those who do not think, it is best at least to rearrange their prejudices once in a while."

--Luther Burbank

Be Tenacious

“Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.”

--Unknown

Courtesy Pleases All

"Nothing is ever lost by courtesy. It is the cheapest of the pleasures; costs nothing and conveys much. It pleases him who gives and him that receives, and thus, like mercy, is twice blessed."

--Erastus Wiman

It's How You Look at it

"When you look at the world in a narrow way, how narrow it seems! When you look at it in a mean way, how mean it is! When you look at it selfishly, how selfish it is! But when you look at it in a broad, generous, friendly spirit, what wonderful people you find in it.

--Horace Rutledge