WHY YOU BELIEVE, OR DON'T

"It is so hard to believe because it is so hard to obey."

Soren Kierkegaard

19th century Danish philosopher and writer

Remember this the next time you find it hard to accept a point of view other than your own.

WILL YOU BE SINGING OR WEEPING?

"When two friends have a common bank account, one sings and the other weeps."

Proverb

So, thinking of going into business with a friend?

Those who advise against it do so for good reason.

Just remember you are partners first, friends second.

ONE AND DONE?

"Finite to fail, but infinite to venture."

Emily Dickinson

19th century American poet

And yet for many of us, a couple of failures is all it takes to stop completely.

Don't! 

Keep Going!

FUN WITH DICK, JANE, AND CHANGE

"Nothing is so perfectly amusing as a total change of ideas."

Laurence Sterne

18th century British writer

Look forward to, don't fear, coming change.

"I CAN'T UNTIL . . ." NEVER HAPPENS

"Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome."

Samuel Johnson

18th century British author

And none are more egregious than objections you give yourself.

WINNING BY LOSING

"The little reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over."

Aesop

5th century BC Greek fabulist

Part of being strong is knowing when not to be.

PREPARING TO WIN

"Diligence is the mother of good luck."

Benjamin Franklin

18th century American statesman, scientist and philosopher

You can win by being at the right place at the right time, but you won't often get there by chance.

YOU OR US?

"The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have."

Norman Vincent Peale

20th century Protestant preacher and author

If you could choose, would more of your accomplishments come from what you do alone or from the collective effort of you and others?

And which do you think would produce more results?

WHO WILL YOUR FRIENDS BE TOMORROW?

"Great perils have this beauty, that they bring to light the fraternity of strangers."

Victor Hugo

19th century French poet, dramatist and novelist

Strangers who often later become friends, having survived the peril that brought them together.

Consider the possibility that those you don't know today might be your ally tomorrow.

SO, WE MEET AGAIN!

"We only part to meet again."

John Gay

17th century English poet and dramatist

Even when you neither want nor expect to.

Be careful what you say when leaving one company for another.

Your parting words could come back to haunt you.

The world is a small place.

I NEED THAT

"Necessity never made a good bargain."

Benjamin Franklin

18th century American statesman/scientist/philosopher

And much need arises from not having planned for arising needs. 

You can't foresee them all but you can and should anticipate many.

IN YOU I SEE ME

"I thought how unpleasant it is to be locked out; and I thought how it is worse, perhaps, to be locked in."

Virginia Woolf

Late 19th/early 20th century British novelist, essayist

You reflect and ultimately become the attitudes and values of those with whom you associate.

Choose who that is carefully.

DO YOU CARE?

"I don't care how much you know until I know how much you care."

Unknown

A bit motherhoodish but still a valid point, particularly when you consider all that one could be expected to care about.

In the best of circumstances not a short list.

THE BEST YOU CAN BE . . . ON TIME!

"Tomorrow do thy worst, I have lived today."

John Dryden

17th century British poet, dramatist and critic

Substitute "done all I could" for "lived" and this is the essence of time management.

I'M GOING INSANE, BUT WILL BE BACK SHORTLY

"No man is sane who does not know how to be insane on proper occasions."

Henry Ward Beecher

19th century American politician

Which makes the point that there are variations of insanity, some quite useful.

Just be sure you know which you are, when.

WHAT YOU (SHOULD) DO

"The powerful play goes on -- and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?"

Unknown

The "play" is life, your "verse" what you do to make things better for others.

YOU ARE THEM

"The person who lives with cripples will soon learn to limp."

Italian proverb

Just as you are what you eat, you become the friends you keep.

ONE-QUARTER INNOVATION

"We forfeit three-quarters of ourselves in order to be like other people."

Arthur Schopenhauer

18th century German philosopher

The implication of that depends on how good or bad is the three-quarters.

Regardless, the point is still valid.

Most good comes from innovation and if we limit our ability to innovate to just one-quarter, we'll not likely accomplish much.

HERE COMES THE JUDGE

"If you judge, investigate."

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

4th century Roman philosopher and playwright

And who amongst us does not judge?

It's ok to be wrong but first do your best to be right.

ENOUGH SAID

"I prefer tongue-tied knowledge to ignorant loquacity."

Marcus Tulius Cicero

1st century BC writer, politician, Roman orator

Me too.

I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT!

"Make not your thoughts your prisons."

William Shakespeare

16th century British poet and playwright

Which is what you do when you make up your mind to the point it can't be changed.

LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING!

"The very aim and end of our institutions is just this: that we may think what we like and say what we think."

Oliver Wendell Holmes

19th century American author and poet

But not without regard for how we say it.

Congratulations on your newly minted MBA and all you've learned in your education. 

Don't waste it by communicating in a way insulting to others.