Tag: quote

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 …