Words together!

Throughout human history, great leaders have used the power of words to inspire, energize and to move us into action. I love quotes. For the first time, I went through a book with thousands of quotes across 386 pages. Here are my top 50 favorites.  One thing you will notice about my collection is that they are short which reminds me that we don’t have to speak a lot to be heard. Go, pick your best that might inspire you to next steps in life.

1.    “A simple definition of life: The chance you’ve been waiting for.”

2.    “Don’t ever save anything for a special occasion. Being alive is the special occasion.”

3.    “Problems are the price you pay for progress.”

4.    “Sometimes you have to breakdown before you can breakthrough. "

5.    “Never was anything great achieved without danger.”

6.    “Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you don’t have any problems, you don’t get any seeds.”

7.    “Anger is the only thing to put off till tomorrow.”

8.    “You were born an original—Don’t die a copy.”

9.    “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. “

10. “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.”

11. “To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting”

12. “One of the joys of reading is the ability to plug into the shared wisdom of mankind.”

13. “Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve.”

14. “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”

15. “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”

16. “Education should be exercise; it has become massage.”

17. “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

18. “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.”

19. “Fear is a darkroom where negatives develop.”

20. “Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death.”

21. “Joy is not in things; it is in us.”

22. “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

23. “If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.”

24. “You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving.”

25. “Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow.”

26. “The greatest step towards a life of simplicity is to learn to let go.”

27. “The goal of life: simple but not empty.”

28. “STRESS: Someone Trying to Repair Every Situation Solo.”

29. “For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.”

30. “Slow down and everything you are chasing will come around and catch you.”

31. “Challenge your assumptions so that you can find your truths.”

32. “Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.”

33. “A true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength but by the strength of his heart.”

34. “You can like people without leading them but you cannot lead people well without liking them.”

35. “A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit.”

36. “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.”

37. “Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.”

38. “Don’t find fault. Find a remedy.”

39. “All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward.”

40. “When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.”

41. “Our only security is our ability to change.”

42. “Your smile is your logo, your personality is your business card, how you leave others feeling after an experience with you is your trademark.”

43. “Hire for character, train for skills.”

44. “People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.”

45. “If you are going to doubt something, doubt your limits.”

46. “Success comes in cans, not cant’s.”

47. “Courage is knowing what not to fear.”

48. “Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.”

49. “Learn to say “no” to the good, so you can say “yes” to the best.”

50. Excellence represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”

Quotes are taken from “Power Quotes for Life, Business and Leadership” by Danai Krokou. Danai has an interesting background where She started her first business at age 25 in Shanghai, China and is one of the youngest female entrepreneurs in Asia. She has also authored the book “Entering the Chinese e-Merging Market”.