Or so the graffiti on the wall at my local Borders advised when I visited yesterday.
Actually, it couldn’t have been more fitting (the quote, not the graffiti) as interesting quotes had been on my mind. To explain - when I was in a waiting room last week, I had happily settled down with an old edition of GQ when I stumbled across an article about the ‘100 best things ever said’. I was so engrossed in the article I asked if I might be able to borrow the magazine for a bit. Luckily, I was kindly advised that I could keep it.
After pouring over all of the marvellous quotes, it occurred to me that all of these quotes had similar themes, as they were, in some form or another, all about the joy of life, dreams and the road to success.
As someone who has recently started my own business, reading these quotes was more than interesting – and in many ways, I believe if I had read these quotes two years ago, they would have had a totally different meaning to what they have now.
Surprisingly, I had no comprehension of how starting my own business would change every aspect of my life. Naïve yes, but the ensuing life change has been a happy windfall on my part.
I have found myself looking at the whole world with new eyes. An interesting concept, considering I had never thought that there was anything wrong with the way I viewed the world to begin with. But suddenly it has become larger, more interesting and less intimidating. Maybe all I have done is to simply grow up, but whatever it is, I’m rather enjoying it.
But now – back to the quotes. Whittling down my favourite quotes from this list of 100 was quite a challenge. I tried to reduce it to the three, but I felt the following six quotes were the most poignant. Well, for me, anyway.
“Only those who are to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
Robert F. Kennedy
“The true fruits of successful living are not material. They are contentment, the joy of usefulness and growth through the development of our own particular talent.”
Conrad Hilton.
‘My brain is the key to setting my mind free.’
Harry Houdini
“You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over hurdles and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you. If you don’t have that kind of feeling for what it is you’re doing, you’ll stop at the first giant hurdle.”
George Lucas
“Everything you can imagine is real.”
Picasso
“Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.”
Sir Winston Churchill
