These quotations are extracted from my personal diary, which I have kept since 1987
Quotations
1987
Experience – We must experience in order to grow – be in the world but not of the world.
Inspiration – We should not seek inspiration outside ourselves, but turn to look within.
Flow – We must step out of the way and allow the universe to flow through us.
Letting Go – We all have an inner longing to cleanse, purify and rejuvenate; release it.
Freedom – I am free: free to think what I like; to do what I want; and to be myself.
Happiness – Life is our primary instructor – and her first lesson is to be happy.
1988
Persuasion – Never try to convince anyone of anything – only plant a seed or pluck a fruit according to the season.
Responsibility – You must choose and walk your own path; for only you can choose it and only you can walk it.
Living – Cherish the moments when, suddenly, your eyes blink open and you recapture the excitement of living.
Adventure – Life is an adventure and we, adventurers; every challenge we face and overcome is progress.
Life – Life is meant to instructive and entertaining at the same time; never forsake one for the other.
Experience – It is better to draw from the refreshing well of your own experience than from books or social norms.
1989
Teachers – The best guide, teacher, mentor or guru is someone who helps you to find and walk your own path.
Faith – We must have faith that life will – sooner or later – give us opportunities to make our wishes come true.
Awareness – Life seems less haphazard when we pay attention to what it is teaching us about ourselves.
Change – Change excites, challenges and spurs us on to greater heights; without change, we die inside.
Entertainment – We all have within us a secret performer or entertainer – and if we’re really lucky, it’s a clown.
Meaning – Seek out those experiences which give meaning to life; then you will not leave this life unfulfilled.
Syncronicity – It often seems that life leads us where we need to go and presents us only with what we’re ready for.
Hope – Take away a person’s hope and they die.
Responsibility – On life’s journey, no one else can tread your path – only you can.
Resilience – You have all the resources you need to seek out and to find your own way through life.
Companionship – Others may walk with you in life, but they cannot live your adventures.
Friendship – If you want to help someone, remind them that they have the means to the end they seek.
Learning – We guide ourselves; we teach ourselves; and we relearn what we have forgotten.
Confidence – Life is in the living – and who better to live your life than you?
Meaning – We are all driven by the same need – to seek, in our own way, and to find meaning in this crazy life.
Philosophy – Truthfully, we are all struggling along, doing our best, trying to make sense of this puzzle called life.
Materialism – Only when material possessions loose their power over us will we have gained our true freedom.
Fear – So many of our actions are motivated by fear, which keeps us from acting out of love.
Ambition – So long as we have a higher goal and are moving towards it – no matter how slowly – all is well.
Perspective – Rising above daily activities to see the greater whole helps puts our life into better perspective.
Wisdom – The path to wisdom lies in personally road-testing alternative solutions to life’s many challenges.
Imagination – To a line, a square is a miracle; to a square, a cube is an impossible dream. Imagination transcends limits.
1990
Ecoystems – Environmental management is oxymoronic, for if left alone, ecosystems will manage themselves.
Self-esteem – We need to love ourselves as we are with all our shortcomings and doubts and fears.
Love – As soon as we put conditions on loving ourselves or others, we will be disappointed every time.
Identity – Each of us is unique, special, and with a wonderful contribution to make in this world.
Love – To the extent that we are capable of loving ourselves, that much are we able to love others.
Challenge – Life can be seen as a series of positive challenges, so stir up the embers; cultivate some zest.
Action – When you know that something needs doing, take up the challenge and get it done.
Change – When you know that things could be changed for the better, make the changing your challenge.
Gentleness – Amidst life’s challenges, be loving and gentle with yourself; be understanding and forgiving.
Failure – Don’t nail yourself to a cross each time you fall short of the mark; just move on and try again.
Effort – By trying we begin to learn, by learning we begin to love and by loving we begin to live.
Challenge – To live a life full of challenge is the real challenge of life.
Creativity – The seed of creativity will lie dormant until it is planted in the fertile soil of imagination.
Business – Business exists to serve rather than to exploit society, to be an instrument for human expression.
Profit – Profit is a means to a greater end, to enhance the quality of life for ourselves and others.
Daring – Dare to be – be different, be loving, be successful, be true to yourself.
Success – Success can usually be traced back to one or two enthusiastic and committed people.
Reality – The reality we experience in many ways reflects our inner state of being.
Responsibility – One of the greatest lessons we can learn in life is to take responsibility.
1991
Dreams – Dare to dream, then passionately chase your dreams – take chances and trust the process of life.
Courage – Nurture the courage to really live your dreams – to be different and to make a difference.
Nature – Creation is perfect unto itself – nature needs no improvement, only appreciation and respect.
Choices – Being inspired to be the best you can be means making the important things important.
Change – Change is almost always a long term process, rather than a onetime event.
Mindfulness – If, each day, we try to mindful of the lessons which life has offered us progress will be sure.
Learning – Formal education relies on instruction, but learning must stimulate independent thinking.
Independence – By developing a mind of your own, you take responsibility for your self-development.
Identity – I have no home other than all creation and no ties other than to every living thing.
Limitations – Always question the wisdom of being bound and conditioned by social convention.
Meaning – We are all free – or perhaps even obliged – to create our own meaning in this life.
Responsibility – We can be free spirits – but no rights come without responsibilities in this world.
Consequences – There is not a single action in the universe which does not impact on all of its parts.
Family – Our families – whether we like them or not – give us all we need for our spirit to grow.
Love – Love is understanding – especially understanding people and events in context.
Truth – Love is understanding that we are all, in our own way, searching for meaning and truth.
Potential – Love is understanding that we are all reservoirs of vast and varied potential.
Prejudice – Hatred and prejudice are just other words for lovelessness.
Responsibility – Responsibility should not be a burden forced upon us, but something we choose gladly.
Choice – We can choose what to love and what to value – and by doing so, bring them into being.
1992
Questions – Life asks us many questions – our task is to respond with the most interesting answers.
Destiny – We are all on a highly personal journey of near infinite possibilities.
Adventure – New and exciting adventures lie before us – journeys into strange and unexplored places.
Nonconformity – Embrace your inner non-conformist – go crazy and break free now and again.
Joy – Sometimes we must laugh as a simple expression of the joy of being alive.
Business – Business organisations are social institutions and their prime function is to serve society.
Customers – A prime motive for being in business is to enhance the quality of life of customers.
Work – Business is a playground for creativity when it provides stimulating and challenging work.
Companies – Companies are part of the chain of living organisms – endowed with life, personality and evolution.
Stories – We all have a story to tell – a tale of our own unique journey and the world through our eyes.
Uncertainty – Knowing where you want to be, but not knowing how to get there (yet) is called LIFE.
Life – Where there is life there is always hope – and usually lots of hard work to do.
Leadership – The hope for our future lies with emerging leaders with a strong sense of ethics and values.
Beauty – We must always fight for the right of beauty and imagination to prosper in the same world.
Humanity – We must never lose our belief in the fundamental goodness and promise of humanity.
Freedom – Sanction your own freedom to love, enjoy, adventure and play – to tread and skip and fly lightly.
1993
Economy – We need is an economy that incentivizes our nobler qualities rather than our inherent selfishness.
Synergy – Understanding the holistic nature of nature helps us to understand synergy in organisations.
Business – It is perfectly possible for business to be a light in the darkness of society’s consciousness.
Values – There comes a time when we are ready to turn from our shadow self and embrace our higher self.
Service – Business’s true quest is a noble one: to serve the needs and aspirations of humanity.
Holism – If we only see the world as a collection of unconnected parts, something dies in the dissection.
Synchronicity – Synchronistic events hint at a meaningful pattern behind life’s chaos. Cherish them.
Success – Always imagine great things for your life – and never doubt that success can one day be yours.
Ideals – Figuring out what ideal you want to serve is the first step in in making your dream a reality.
1994
Beginnings – Always be on the lookout for an opportunity to celebrate the new; to affirm fresh beginnings.
Questioning – Sometimes, we need to question the rules of the game, or even invent a new game entirely.
Achievement – We must differentiate between genuine human accomplishments and monuments to ego.
Courage – Few among us are courageous or conscious enough to challenge the prevailing wisdom of the day.
Purpose – Feel the force of purpose drawing you that place where you boldly follow your heart’s knowing.
Risk – Try stepping off the train of convention and security, bound by the tracks of social acceptance.
Economics – Imagine an economic system centred on people as integrated physical, mental and spiritual beings.
Motivation – The gap between where you are and where you wish to be is what sparks a fire in your heart.
Effort – Be like a duck, calm and poised to the outside world, but paddling steadily beneath the surface.
Heroes – As we travel through the vast mythscape of life, we each tread our own hero’s journey.
Polestar – Be guided by important questions: What enlivens you? What sets you free? What is your heart’s path?
1995
Harmony – Harmonics – the concept and practice of harmony – is a key to the secrets of the universe.
Generosity – So often it is that those with so little who give so much and with such personal dignity.
Sustainability – We are witnessing a global mind shift on sustainability – the fringe is becoming mainstream.
Challenge – Our greatest challenge – that of making sustainable living a reality – still lies ahead.
Sacrifice – The sacrifices of so many for the selfish indulgences of so few should never be forgotten.
Transformation – The great dance of societal transformation is just beginning to build momentum.
Ideas – There are times, usually late at night, when an idea grabs me and takes me soaring.
Identity – Each of us – whether famous or not – are forever teetering on the edge of insignificance.
Legacy – Never stop trying to do something significant; something which will leave a legacy in this world.
1996
Dynamism – While society has a set of expectations, remember that life is more dynamic than any rigid rules.
Love – Life tarries not. People grow to love, but sometimes people also grow apart.
Values – Life’s challenges require us to actively respond without losing our rootedness in values.
Letting Go – It does us good, now and again, to cast our burdens upon the waves and let them wash away.
Pilgrims – We are all on a pilgrimage, losing the way & re-finding our path across the seasons & cycles of life.
Contribution – Try to contribute in some small way to the solutions rather than just complain about the problems.
Perspective – Always remember that the lens of personal perspective colours the world each of us sees.
Potential – Recalling the person we used to be reminds us that there is another person we can still become.
1997
Evolution – Our greatest power is embracing our creative, dynamic freedom to evolve.
Interconnectedness – Our separate lives are an illusion which masks the continuity and interconnectedness of all life
Achievement – Believing that you (or others) can achieve great things is the first step in a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Innovation – We need to be both islands of creative innovation and bridges from the old mainland.
Change – For change to succeed, it needs both mountain-top vision and valley-floor grassroots activism.
Optimism – Sometimes, we focus too much on the litter in the pond, rather than the beauty of the pond itself.
Miracles – Never stop looking out for the miracles in the mundane; they are all around us.
Renewal – For every crucification we endure, there is the hope of a resurrection to follow.
Surprise – Life is full – and the best kind of full is when life is full of surprises.
1998
Change – How thin is the veil between our familiar routine existence and an exotically different experience.
Nature – When we feel ourselves shrinking against the landscape, our spirit is swelling inside.
To be continued …
