Ten Things Quotable

Today I'll share ten of my favourite quotes. These quotes all have something in common: they lift me up. Some of them make me laugh. Others help me to appreciate what I have. Most of them inspire me to rise above life's challenges and to live a fuller life.

Have a list of ten things quotable that you'd like to share? Link it up!

Fall down seven times, get up eight. ~ Japanese Proverb

A very simple idea, with great power. It's true that each time we fall we rise again. Whenever I face a challenge in life, I remind myself that inevitably I will land on my feet. With this awareness there is no need to be afraid, no need for doubt.

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx

Why do I love this quote? Maybe it's because I love to read. Maybe it's because Groucho Marx was such a wit. This quote always makes me laugh, and to me laughter is life's elixir.

We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand. ~ Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

Randy Pausch knew he was dying of pancreatic cancer, incidentally the same cancer that took my dad's life, when he delivered his now famous last lecture at Carnegie Mellon University. Even when facing death, Randy was optimistic as he spoke to his students of the lessons he had learned and how anyone can achieve their dreams. This statement helps me to remember that though there are many things over which I have no control, I can control my reaction to these things. I am never a victim. I have the power to create the life that I choose.

Note: I think this idea was originally coined by Josh Billings as, "Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well."

"I love deadlines. I love the wooshing sound they make as they fly by." ~ Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams is another funny, funny man. The reason this quote is always in my back pocket is to remind me that highly successful people have trouble meeting deadlines too. It's not just me. And in the end, being on time is not really the sexiest thing to be remembered for. Woosh!

"If you're not having problems, you are missing an opportunity for growth." ~ Unknown 

It's another simple but profound idea. We need to be able to laugh at ourselves and our predicaments (we mommy bloggers have this one figured out)! Once again, it's about recognizing when we have no control over the situation, but much control over the outcome. Without challenges, life would be dull. It would be predictable, true, but very, very dull. Embrace the challenges. Rise above them and have a story to tell!

"That which does not kill us makes us stronger" ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Nitezsche was a bit of a tortured nut job, but he sometimes made good sense. As a child, I used this phrase very frequently, and it has certainly held true. The more we challenge ourselves, or face head-on the challenges that come our way, and succeed, the more our confidence grows. When we believe in ourselves, there's nothing we can't handle.

"I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved." ~ Will Rogers

In keeping with the previous quote is this one. When I read it I think of an old woman with many stories to tell, some of them easily legible in the lines on her face. Better a long and bumpy road than the same old familiar stretch of smoothly paved highway. At the end of my life I want to be able to say that I saw things, that I was adventurous. Perhaps you will be able to tell by the lines on my face.

One day an old Native American grandfather was talking to his grandson. He said, "There are two wolves fighting inside all of us - the wolf of fear and hate, and the wolf of love and peace." The grandson listened, then looked up at his grandfather and asked, "Which one will win?" The grandfather replied, "The one we feed."

A great story that reminds me how my every thought and action affects my inner state, as well as the universe in general. Whatever I put out there, will come back to me. A simple change in attitude can immediately change the course of events.

"Consistency is the last resort of the unimaginative." ~ Oscar Wilde

This quote makes me feel better about an aspect of myself that might otherwise be seen as a negative. I'm not good with routine. I'm not interested in doing things the same way time and again. I am interested in innovation, problem solving, thinking outside the box. I'm definitely a dreamer, and you can bet I'll be encouraging my son to exercise his imagination.

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” ~ Maria Robinson

Again I am reminded that no matter what has come to pass, be it yesterday, years before or just moments ago, anything else can still happen. It only takes a small action to invoke a change. A simple change in attitude might even do it. No matter what IS, there is no telling what might BE. Nothing in the past determines the future.

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And here's a bonus eleventh quote from a book I will be reviewing on Cookie's Book Club this month:

In Bull Canyon by Lin Pardey, Lin wonders how a person builds something as big as a boat and calls it “a really daunting task”. Her partner Larry, the boat builder, offers this insight:  

“You don’t build a boat, Lin....You build a keel timber. When that’s finished, you build a stem. Think of each piece as a separate goal in itself and watch the pieces fit together until you have a complete boat. That way you can enjoy each step and celebrate each triumph without getting overwhelmed.”

I love this! I may just have it printed on a wall plaque. This is a great analogy for all of us in the building of our own “boat”, even if we don't yet have one to build or recognize what our "boat" is. It remind us to celebrate our small successes, as they are part of the bigger whole.

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A special thank-you to my friend RDS, a constant source of inspiration.

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