Marlene Dietrich once said, “I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.”
I am not wise, insightful, or able to create phrases that are worthy of being quoted; phrases that are – as Mehmet Murat Ildan says – are “… a spectacular waterfall! When you see it, you feel its power!”
So, for what it is worth, here are some quotes that I’ve been living with of late and that have given voice to what I’ve been sensing and encountering; what I’ve seen to be true throughout my life and career.
Quotes About Humanity
“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
“[Humans] can adapt [themselves] somehow to anything [their] imagination can cope with; but [they] cannot deal with chaos.”
— Susanne Langer
“Our chaotic, intertwined existence reveals a potent, astonishing fact; we control nothing, but influence everything.”
— Brian Klaas
“If you feel pain, you are alive. If you feel the pain of others, you’re human.”
— Leo Tolstoy
“When you demonize people, it leaves no room for grace, gray, or paradox.”
— Unknown
“Individualism is a mirage. Connection defines us.”
— Brian Klaas
“Certainty is the great enemy of unity. Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance.”
— from the movie Conclave
“Showing why everyone else is wrong to the point of hell, makes it not a far leap that the people believed to be destined for it, must be horrible.”
— Unknown
Quotes About Leadership
“The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.”
— Kenneth Blanchard
“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.”
— Max DePree
“You don’t lead by pointing and telling people someplace to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case.”
— Ken Kesey
“Management is about doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”
— Peter F. Drucker
“If I would have asked what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
— Henry Ford
“If the only way to promote an idea is to eliminate any challenge to it — or the one who challenges the idea — then the idea has no substance.”
— Unknown
Quotes About Change
“Different isn’t always better but better is always different.”
–- Unknown
“The art of progress is to preserve order amid change, and to preserve change amid order.”
-– Alfred North Whitehead
“Waiting for things to happen is not a strategy, but a recipe for disappointment.”
— Unknown
“I can’t tell you what the church will look like in the future, but I know who we must be as the church becomes.”
— [Well, this one is mine, so…Todd Slechta]
“Change, before you have to.”
— Jack Welch
“Growth and comfort do not coexist.”
— Ginny Rometty
“I have accepted fear as part of life – especifically fear of change…I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back.”
–Erica Jong
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”
— Alan Watts
“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past and present are certain to miss the future.”
— John F. Kennedy
Quotes About Success
“Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
— Winston Churchill
“Success seems to be connected to action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”
— Conrad Hilton
Quotes About Complicity
“There’s a certain power in bland and seemingly harmless gestures from people who know better. Permission structures strengthen over time. Complicity calcifies into obscurity.”
— Mark Liebovich
“The poorly educated would rather think of education as a scam they avoided than a goal they didn’t achieve.”
— Unknown
“Certainty, ferocity, solidarity. The hallmarks of heretical fundamentalism.”
— Unknown
I recognize and appreciate so many people your quote. I have been recording quotes for years. And it brings me joy when I read through them. I felt joy reading through this post. Here is my favorite quote about life; author unknown: “Being human is an acquired taste.” Peace my friend.