Potent Quotables (updated periodically)

  • "If you like sausages and laws, you should never watch either one of them being made." -- Otto von Bismarck
  • "God who gave us life, gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever." -- Thomas Jefferson
  • "The best way to prove a stick is crooked is to lay a straight one beside it" -- FW Boreham
  • "There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who walk into a room and say, 'There you are' and those who say, 'Here I am'" -- Abigail Van Buren
  • "It was not political rhetoric, mass rallies or poses of moral indignation that gave the people a better life. It was capitalism." -- Thomas Sowell

Monday, January 05, 2009

This one is more for me than anyone else

I was reading the usually-excellent Art of Manliness blog and came across this quote from their list of 25 great self-made men. It got me to thinking.
"People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents."
--Andrew Carnegie, steel baron and philanthropist (1835-1919)

The greatness of the American Idea is that men and women can rise above their circumstances and their handicaps to become more than who they were. There are no "stations in life" in America. We, every one of us, have the freedom and God-given abilities to be more, to have more, to do more.
Freedom to succeed does not equate to success. The secret ingredient is motivation - according to Carnegie, it's internal motivation. I can be the smartest, most talented person in my field but if I am not motivated to work hard at what I do, I will not be the best. I won't even be great - just average.
Mediocrity is a sad town to live in. I've made my home there for far too long now.

This year, I'm going to start moving to a new address.
posted by

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comment here or write us at GrimpHQ@gmail.com

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)