HALF TIME THOUGHTS, EPISODE 14: RANDOMNESS, QUOTES, AND INSPIRATION

When I sat down to write this week’s article, I felt uninspired.?I had a couple of ideas, but I couldn’t get going on either of them.

I opened the email folder where I save material that I think will come in handy – usually blogs or newsletters on topics I find interesting.?Nothing jumped out as I scrolled down the first page.

Then I came across an email with a quote at the top.?It was by the author Margaret Carty who said: “The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side.”

I like that.?

I contemplated writing a piece about teamwork, but that was hardly inspiring either.?Not that there’s anything wrong with teamwork (and I’m sure I could have expounded on its virtues and my experiences, good and bad, with teams in the workplace).

Then I realized that there was more to like about Mrs. Carty’s quote than just the catchy phrase itself.?I enjoyed the randomness of finding it and I appreciated that it gave me something positive to mull on before returning to my writing.

That realization set me on a new path.?How could I replicate this random act of inspiration??What other pearls of wisdom could I uncover, and from whom?

Randomness and Quotes

There are probably hundreds of apps and webpages that will surface random quotes uttered or written by famous people.?

A quick search took me to Famous Quotes and Authors, whose website includes a page titled Random Quotes and Quotations.?

Refreshing the page repopulates it with another twenty or so quotes.?Perfect!

If you’re ever in need of an inspirational quote or two, this is the place for you.

Over the ensuing hour, I clicked the refresh icon several dozen times, adding quotes that caught my attention to a Favorite List (another nice feature of the FQ&A site).

Once I had built a decent inventory, I read back through them and picked the dozen that struck me as most poignant, entertaining, or clever (and sometimes all three).?

Those twelve are reproduced below, together with my thoughts on how each quote lit up my neurons while others did not.

Hopefully some of them resonate for you, too.

Inspiration

In no particular order, apart from the last one…

#1 – Abel Stevens (American clergyman, editor, and author)

"Politeness is the art of choosing among one's real thoughts.”

I’m getting better at knowing when to speak my mind and when to hold my tongue, to the point that I feel better-placed to criticize others for their verbal indiscretions.?Stevens nails it here; sometimes it pays to stop and think rather than verbalizing the first thing that comes to mind.?Later the same day, I saw an Instagram meme with the caption “I wish I could install a speed bump between my brain and my mouth.”?Yup.

#2 – Ashleigh Brilliant (British author and cartoonist)

“I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.”

I’m a planner and I’m good at compartmentalizing, which helps me put one issue on hold while I tackle another.?Yet, despite my best efforts, I regularly feel as though life ran me over and dragged me along for a few days.?The next time that happens, I’m going to remember this quote and get back to taking the next day on its virtues.

#3 – Junius (pseudonym of anonymous British critic of King George III)

“The integrity of men is to be measured by their conduct, not by their professions.”

I hadn’t heard of Junius before, but it sounds like he wrote some scathing letters about the government of (the mentally ill) George III.?Apparently, his true identity was never revealed (though two people were convicted and sentenced) but is widely believed to be the British politician, Sir Philip Francis.?To Junius’ point, there seem to be many in office today – on both sides of the pond – who are afforded a reputation of integrity when their conduct indicates otherwise.

#4 – Ralph Waldo Emerson (American essayist, lecturer, and philosopher)

“Make yourself necessary to somebody.”

This resonates with me while I’m still adapting to a life of self-employment (albeit in partnership with my wife) after a career working for others.?As I strive to find the purposes and foci that will define the next chapter in my life, considering which of those efforts make me necessary – and to whom – is thought-provoking.

#5 – Dr. Frank Crane (American minister, speaker, and columnist)

“Our best friends and our worst enemies are our thoughts. A thought can do us more good than a doctor or a banker or a faithful friend. It can also do us more harm than a brick.”

Another one that makes me stop to look inward and discern which of my ideas and beliefs are fueling or limiting my progress.?Like many of the other quotes, I’ll need to ponder this one at length, but the prompt seems helpful.

#6 - Robert Maclver (Scottish-American sociologist and educator)

“The healthy being craves an occasional wildness, a jolt from normality, a sharpening of the edge of appetite, his own little festival of the Saturnalia, a brief excursion from his way of life.”

There’s been a LOT written lately about our need to take a break and dedicate time to self-care and recharging.?The past couple of years have taken a toll on us all, even those of us for whom relatively little had to change to live within the lockdowns and mandates.?It’s important to let loose and have some fun.?My recent trips to Napa and the UK reminded me just how important getting away can be, even if it’s not all for pleasure, and how much I value having the next trip or two on the calendar as something to which I can look forward.

#7 - Edmund Burke (Irish statesman, economist, and philosopher)

“Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little.”

This one gets my back up.?The reluctance of some people to make a small contribution because it won’t make them a hero or deliver some immediate, tangible benefit to them is mind-boggling.?It also reminded me that, as I traveled between the US and the UK earlier this month, the magnitude of difference between the generally community-minded British and the generally individualistic Americans was quite shocking. Not Burke’s point, I realize, but another example of failing to do what’s in the common interest because it seems to make little sense at an individual level.

#8 - Aldous Huxley (English author)

“If you have behaved badly, repent, make what amends you can and address yourself to the task of behaving better next time. On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.”

I love the last sentence: rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.?Isn’t that brilliant??Amazing how we love to wallow in our mistakes instead of admitting them, accepting them, and working to do better.

#9 - Henry Miller (American writer and artist)

“The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts. An immense difference.”

Another mic-drop!?We’re so busy doing, getting on with things, and following the plan, that we forget to lead.?Refusing to just go with the flow is tough.?It’s so much easier to just do what we’ve always done, ignoring the obvious shortcomings and consequences, than to break from the pack and try something new and potentially better (and incur the risk of failure).

#10 - Publilius Syrus (Latin writer and former slave)

“It's a bad plan that can't be changed.”

I wholeheartedly agree.?Yet, we spend a lot of time encouraging each other to stick to the plan and persevere.?Grit is the hallmark of a successful entrepreneur, right??I coach my clients to build optionality into their strategies and plans.?Having a pre-constructed off-ramp (a.ka. a plan B) makes it a lot easier to change course than having to stand up and say the original plan has failed.

#11 - Don Sutton (American baseball player and broadcaster)

“Find the grain of truth in criticism - chew it and swallow it.”

Got to love a gritty quote from the (constantly chewing) baseball fraternity.?And this is a great one.?I’m the first one to bristle at criticism and get on the defensive, so I appreciate the sage advice to look for the truth in whatever ‘feedback’ I’ve received and to spend time evaluating and internalizing the learning.

#12 - Anonymous

“In the game of life nothing is less important than the score at half time.”

This one was just too appropriate to pass up, given the theme of these articles!?I don’t completely agree with the quote, but the sentiment is fair.?To me, the score at half time in life is a measure of how much you’re likely to achieve in the second half.?As I wrote in my first article, “Turning 50”, the first quarter of life was about learning and the second quarter was about working (and learning).?The fruits of those labors have set me up to make the third quarter more intentional – still learning but living and working more on my terms and less on those set by others.?But, yes, however you count that half-time score, the end result will be measured in the years to come, not those past.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash