True work

"Be perfectly resigned, perfectly unconcerned; then alone can you do any true work. No eyes can see the real forces; we can only see the results. Put out self, forget it; just let God work, it is HIS business." - Swami Vivekananda -

I was right

"I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference." - Abraham Lincoln -

Fight one more round

"FIght one more round. When your feet are so tired that you have to shuffle back to the center of the ring, fight one more round. When your arms are so tired that you can hardly lift your hands to come on guard, fight one more round. When your nose is bleeding and your eyes are black and you are so tired you wish your opponent would crack you one in the jaw and put you to sleep, fight one more round - remembering that the man who always fights one more round is never whipped." - James J. Corbett -

Choice

"Every man builds his world in his own image. He has the power to choose, but no power to escape the necessity of choice." - Ayn Rand -

Discovery

"The most poignant discovery in science comes when one suddenly sees the truth that was open to view all the time." - Raymond A. Dart -

Work

"I you love what you do, you will never work another day in your life." - Confucius -

Belief

"People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success." - Norman Vincent Peale -

Homage

"The reason why rivers and seas receive the homage of a hundred mountain streams is that they keep below them. Thus they are able to reign over all the mountain streams. So the sage, wishing to be above men, putteth himself below them; wishing to be before them, he putteth himself behind them. Thus, though his place be above men, they do not feel his weight; though his place be before them, they do not count it an injury." - Lao Tsze, a Chinese sage -

Soft

"He who treads softly goes far." - Chinese proverb -

Nothing

"One thing only I know and that is that I know nothing." - Socrates -

Argument

"It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man by argument." - William G. McAdoo -

Credit

"You can accomplish anything in life, provided that you do not mind who gets the credit." - Harry S. Truman -

My influence

"My life shall touch a dozen lives
Before this day is done
Leave countless marks of good or ill,
E'er sets the evening sun.

This the wish I always wish,
The prayer I always pray;
Lord may my life help others lives
It touches by the way."

- Author unknown -

The Student's Prayer

"Don't impose on me what you know,
I want to explore the unknown
And be the source of my own discoveries.
Let the known be my liberation, not my slavery.
The world of your truth can be my limitation;
Your wisdom my negation.
Don't instruct me; let's walk together.
Let my riches begin where yours ends.
Show me so that I can stand
On your shoulders.
Reveal yourself so that I can be
Something different.
You believe that every human being
Can love and create.
I understand, then, your fear
When I ask you to live according to your wisdom.
You will not know who I am
By listening to yourself.
Don't instruct me; let me be.
Your failure is that I be identical to you."

- Umberto Maturana's son - [Former Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam wrote about it in The Hindu newspaper today, Nov 12, 2009: came across this poem in a book Spiritual Intelligence, The Ultimate Intelligence by Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall]

Customer

"A Customer is the most important visitor on our premises,
He is not dependent on us; we are dependent on him,
He is not an interruption on our work; He is the purpose of it,
He is not an outsider on our business; He is a part of it,
We are not doing him a favor by Serving him; He is giving us an opportunity to do so."

- Mahatma Gandhi -

Love

"And in the end, the love you take,
Is equal to the love you made."

- Gil Tran and the Beatles -

Leaders

"Leaders are leaders only as long as they have the respect and loyalty of their followers." - Hans Selye -

Wanted:

"A miracle worker who can do more with less, pacify rival groups, endure chronic second guessing, tolerate low levels of support, process large volumes of paper, and work double shifts. He or she will have carte blanche to innovate, but cannot spend much money, replace any personnel, or upset any constituency." - Michael Fullan -

Leadership

"Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it." - Marian Anderson -

Happiness

"The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise man grows it under his feet." - James Openhelm -

Within

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson -

Mystery of life

"The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be experienced." - Aart van der Leew -

Sayings

"Sayings remain meaningless until they are embodied in habits." - Kahil Gibran -

Peace of mind

"For material progress and physical well being, peace of mind is of utmost importance." - Dalai Lama -

Be

"If you want to be happy, be." - Leo Tolstoy -

Give

"We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers." - Seneca -

Aim of education

"The great aim of education is not knowledge but action." - Herbert Spencer -

Education

"Education is the ability to meet life's situations." - Dr. John G. Hibben -

Power

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." - Abraham Lincoln -

God's trust

"God won't trust you with a lot unless you demonstrate he can trust you with a little." - Charles Stanley -

Strength

"The remedy for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength." - Swami Vivekananda -

For the next generation

There was an elderly person planting some acorns. A man passing by asked, "Old man, look at your age. Do you think you will live long enough to see the oak trees?" And the man replied, "All the trees that have given me shade and fruits - did I plant all of them? There are people coming behind me too." - Author unknown -