Share Your Current Top Two Go-To Quotes That Inform Your Choices

Capt MJ

Capt MJ

Formerly Known As Attila The Hunnette
10-Year Member
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Adapted from Lao-Tzu, this is one of my favorite leadership quotes, which has informed my commitment to servant leadership over the years:

"Fail to honor people, and they will fail to honor you. Of a good leader, when his (her!) (their!) work is done, who talks little, her aims fulfilled, they will all say ‘We did this ourselves.'"

And something more contemporary, to find balance among competing demands:

"Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you're keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls - family, health, friends, integrity - are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life."

- James Patterson, “Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas”
 
Humans don't mind hardship, in fact they thrive on it; what they mind is not feeling necessary. Modern society has perfected the art of making people not feel necessary. It's time for that to end.

Sebastian Junger

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. ​

Samual Johnson
 
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The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place, and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!
 
“A lie doesn’t become truth, wrong doesn’t become right, and evil doesn’t become good, just because it’s accepted by a majority.” ― Booker T. Washington

"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard!" ----------Tim Tebow, Tim Notke, and ????
 
Sealion II said:
The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place, and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!
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Harry Potter? 🤣 A coach? I feel like I should know it.
 
Yes, I'm an Air Force Guy; that being said...

1. “In case Signals can neither be seen or perfectly understood, no Captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy.”
- Vice Admiral Horatio Viscount Nelson
(A beautiful way to say: if things aren't going as planned, don't panic, just get the job done!)

2. “There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit.”
- President Ronald Reagan
(He actually quoted that in a letter to a USAFA cadet who wrote and asked him how he defined and then chose leaders)

There are others, but these two have been "in my mind" for a long time.
 
flieger83 said:
Yes, I'm an Air Force Guy; that being said...

1. “In case Signals can neither be seen or perfectly understood, no Captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy.”
- Vice Admiral Horatio Viscount Nelson
(A beautiful way to say: if things aren't going as planned, don't panic, just get the job done!)

2. “There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit.”
- President Ronald Reagan
(He actually quoted that in a letter to a USAFA cadet who wrote and asked him how he defined and then chose leaders)

There are others, but these two have been "in my mind" for a long time.
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Reagan's statement has been traced back to the 1860s by an English Jesuit named Father Strickland. Good to see Reagan quoting Jesuits. :) Of course, it could have been a line from one of his movies as well.
 
The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of tiny pushes of each honest worker.
-Helen Keller-

Your life is the sum of your decisions. Make good ones.
-My mother-
 
unkown1961 said:
Reagan's statement has been traced back to the 1860s by an English Jesuit named Father Strickland. Good to see Reagan quoting Jesuits. :) Of course, it could have been a line from one of his movies as well.
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I know he had a plaque with that on it on his desk in the Oval Office.
 
This has been attributed to several people, but I believe John A. Shedd is the original author:

"A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are built for".

I remember when I was young reading that a youthful JFK also liked the quote. The late Grace Hopper also used it with a slight tweak:

"A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for".
“If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, keep me in your heart, I’ll stay there forever.”
—Winnie the Pooh
 
This is one I heard today from Lt Gen Jay Kelley, (Ret.) USAFA '64.
"If cadets don't care, nobody cares - You set the standard."

He was addressing the fact that cadets talk about what we value a lot, but then do not follow that up with holding others accountable to that standard. The big "T" word.
 
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