A dear friend of mine retired a while ago and shared some of his favorite quotes in a retirement email to his friends and colleagues. He shared that he had heard or read them during his over 30 years of service in the U.S. Army . I found that email today while searching through some files and I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading the email and the quotes. He was a mentor and a friend, and I thought I would share them because the quotes still inspire me today.
I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work. ~Thomas Edison
You must be the change you want to see in the world. ~Mahatma Gandhi
It is never too late to be what you might have been. ~George Eliot
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~Henry Stanley Haskins
It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult. ~Seneca
The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. ~Mark Twain
Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. ~Dr. Seuss
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. ~Eleanor Roosevelt
Everyone thinks of changing the World, but no one thinks of changing himself. ~Leo Tolstoy
Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right. ~Henry Ford
The only thing worse than being blind, is having sight but no vision. ~Helen Keller
Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience. ~Mark Twain
Defeat is not bitter unless you swallow it. ~Joe Clark
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit. ~Aristotle
Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. ~Albert Einstein
Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. ~Martin Luther King, JR.
That which does not kill us makes us stronger. ~Friedrich Nietzsche
When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us. ~Helen Keller
If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well. ~Martin Luther King, JR.
And finally, one of my favorites.
People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily. ~Zig Ziglar