Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough. --Og Mandino
Motive or Ignorance
Never ascribe to motive what is likely better ascribed to ignorance. —Allen Estrin
Largest Burden
The purpose of life is finding the largest burden that you can bear and bearing it. ― Jordan B. Peterson
Great Man
“A man is great by deeds, not by birth.” --Chanakya
Significance and Fame
“The famous are rarely significant, and the significant are rarely famous.” —Dennis Prager
Cannot Do, Can Do
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” --John Wooden
I've Failed
“I’ve failed over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.” --Michael Jordan
Strong Soul
Permanence, perseverance, and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: it is this that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak. --Thomas Carlyle
Dare Mighty Things
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” --Theodore Roosevelt
Nothing Will Work
“Nothing will work unless you do.” --Maya Angelou
Build Me a Son
“Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.
“Build me a son whose wishes will not take the place of deeds; a son who will know Thee - and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.
“Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.
“Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.
“And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, and the weakness of true strength.
“Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, ‘I have not lived in vain.’” —General Douglas MacArthur, a prayer for his son
Radiance
I sought the LORD, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; He saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them. —Psalm 34:4-7
5 Behaviors Guaranteed to Increase Happiness: #3 of 5
“View yourself as actively capable of making changes in your life, rather than as a passive, helpless victim. Make use of your own agency. Take responsibility for being the architect of much of your own misery, and choose to build success instead.” —Dr. Stephen Marmer; December 9, 2022; The Dennis Prager Show
May You Live
May you live all the days of your life. -- Jonathan Swift
Breaking Strong
The world breaks everyone, and, afterward, some are strong at the broken places. --Ernest Hemingway
Success, Failure, Courage
Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. --Winston Churchill
Small Dreams
Dream no small dreams, for they have no power to move the hearts of men. --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Bad Attitude
“The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” --Scott Hamilton
The Most Difficult Thing
“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.” —Amelia Earhart
Up and Down
“The man who will get up will be helped up; and the man who will not get up will be allowed to stay down.” —Frederick Douglass