Tuesday, July 24, 2012

10 Favorite Quotes


The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. —William Ward


I love books. I love words and word images. I love and collect quotes. Here are 10 top favorites that I've collected in recent months with a short commentary:

1. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.  —Jack London
This last year my motto has been to seize opportunity when it knocks. As an introvert I don't get out often enough and I find that if I push myself a bit I am rewarded by the experience.
2. I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.      —Stephen Covey 
Whose in charge of my life? I don't have to embrace ill circumstances of what may have happened to me in the past, and the important decisions I've made and accepted regarding them are what shape me.
3. Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.  —Thomas Jefferson
Oooeee.  I'm a peacemaker at heart and I like calm! Guess I'm in the timid category. I'm all for liberty, but I surrender to my hubby most of the time and let him fly with the tempestuous sea part.
4. If you can't get a miracle, become one.  —Nick Vujicic, man born without limbs

I love this quote and greatly admire Nick Vujicic. When I think of Nick I instantly perk up. Listening to him speak gives me goosebumps and makes me further in awe of our Creator who made Nick the way he is, and who gives God glory for all. 
5. Sometimes I think it's better to suffer bitter unhappiness and to fight and to scream out, and even to suffer that terrible pain, than to just be... safe. At least she knows she's living.  —Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was my favorite fiction book I read in the last year (based on the author's true life experiences). Oh wow! I want to write like Betty Smith. I want to live and feel like the characters in her book. Read it!
6. So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.  —Dr. Seuss

I actually took out and replaced two quotes from this original list because of their length, style, and creed. I didn't want to make it a chore for possible readers to read.
7. If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing. —Benjamin Franklin
I have lived a long fulfilling life thus far, but perhaps no one would realize it but me. I should write a memoir!
8. What makes people smart, curious, alert, observant, competent, confident, resourceful, persistent—in the broadest and best sense, intelligent—is not having access to more and more learning places, resources, and specialists, but being able in their lives to do a wide variety of interesting things that matter, things that challenge their ingenuity, skill, and judgment, and that make an obvious difference in their lives and the lives of people around them.  —John Holt, Teach Your Own
I'm going to miss homeschooling my four sons big time! I'm thankful to have been introduced to Mr. John Holt early on in our homeschool. He was a very wise man.
9. . . . We cannot change our past  . . . we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude . . . I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. —Chuck Swindoll
Old, but so true. Attitude is everything, or as Chuck puts it—it comes pretty close! This goes along with #2 above. It must be that these sayings resonate with my life in an important way.
10. We were lucky enough to grow up in a home environment where there was always much encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests; to investigate whatever aroused their curiosity.  —Orville Wright
Heroes are important to have. The Wright Brothers have inspired us through their writings along with a host of others over the years. Biographies and autobiographies are a pleasure to read and we walk away a better person as a result.

What are your favorites?


It's fun to be linking up to Top Ten Tuesday!Top Ten Tuesday at Many Little Blessings

2 comments:

  1. All the world is a laboratory to the inquiring mind--Martin H. Fischer

    It really is the motto of our homeschool. If we have a love of learning and share that love with our daughter, the whole world is open to us for exploration and learning.

    Great list!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like that one and will add it to my long list. Thank you!

      Delete

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