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Quotes & Thoughts

My High School Valedictory Speech (1998)


Winners vs. Losers

When a winner makes a mistake, he says, "I was wrong";
When a loser makes a mistake, he says, "It wasn't my fault".

A winner works harder than a loser and has more time;
A loser is always "too busy" to do what is necessary.

A winner goes through a problem;
A loser goes around it, and never gets past it.

A winner makes commitments;
A loser makes promises.

A winner says, "I'm good, but not as good as I ought to be";
A loser says, "I'm not as bad as a lot of other people".

A winner listens;
A loser just waits until it's his turn to talk.

A winner respects those who are superior to him and tries to learn something from them;
A loser resents those who are superior to him and tries to find kinks in their armor.

A winner feels responsible for more than his job;
A loser says, "I only work here".

A winner says, "There ought to be a better way to do it";
A loser says, "That's the way it's always been done here".

Attitude

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company ... a church ... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past ... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude ... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you ... we are in charge of our Attitudes."
--Charles Swindoll

Quotes & Inspiration

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds
--Albert Einstein

It's not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled, or how the doer of deeds might have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; who's face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause and who, if he fails, at least fails while bearing greatly so his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
--Theodore Roosevelt

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
--Thoreau

A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?
--Robert Browning

For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
--Nelson Mandela

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
--Goethe

Young people do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation after generation.
--Pearl Buck

It's not enough to be good if you have the ability to be better.
--Alberta Lee Cox

Courage: We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face...we must do that which we think we cannot.
--Eleanor Roosevelt

Team Work: When a blind man carries a lame man, both go forward.
--Swedish Proverb

Determination: We must remember that one determined person can make a significant difference, and that a small group of determined people can change the course of history.
--Sonia Johnson

Effort: Satisfaction lies in effort, not in the attainment; full effort is full victory.
--Mohandas K. Gandhi

Enthusiasm: One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.
--Helen Keller

Vision: Our life is frittered away by detail...simplify, simplify.
--Henry David Thoreau

Focus: Follow your bliss and doors will open where there were no doors before.
--Joseph Campbell

Persistence: Enough shovels of earth -- a mountain. Enough pails of water -- a river.
--Chinese Proverb

Seize the Day: You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.
--Henry Ford

Challenge: The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
--Walter Bagehot

Ambition: To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to do.
--Kahlil Gibran

Quality: All the great pleasures in life are silent.
--George Clemenceau

Attitude: Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.
--Lou Holtz

Anonymous Quotes
(Or at least I don't know who's they are - if you know, please let me know!)

The journey is the reward.

Who are the best? Those who can't, but do, not those who can but don't.

Failure is not the worst thing in the world. The very worst is not to try.

Every adversity, every failure, and every heartache carries with it the seed of an equivalent or a greater benefit.

Falling doesn't make you a failure, staying down does.

Challenge: The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Ambition: The one who says it can't be done is generally passed up by someone doing it.

Change is the essence of life. Be willing to surrender what you are, for what you could become.

Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles, it empties today of its strength.

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