The key quotations

Of all the quotations in my collection—over a thousand—these seem to epitomise emotional intelligence at work more than most.

Ever tried.  Ever failed.  No matter.  Try again.  Fail again.  Fail better

Samuel Beckett . 1906-1989 . Irish novelist, playwright, poet . Worstward ho 

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing:  the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way

Viktor Frankl . 1905-1997 . Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor . Man’s search for meaning

Work is love made visible

Khalil Gibran . 1883-1931 . Lebanese-American artist and poet . The prophet

Give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things which should be changed,
and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

Reinhold Niebuhr . 1892-1971 . American theologian . The serenity prayer

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare,
it is because we do not dare that they are difficult

Seneca the younger . c4BCE-65CE . Roman philosopher, politician and dramatist . letter to Lucilius

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so

William Shakespeare . 1564-1616 . English poet and playwright . Hamlet

Be bloody, bold and resolute

William Shakespeare  . 1564-1616 . English poet and playwright . Macbeth

If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa . 1896-1957 . Italian novelist . The leopard .  trans Archibald Colquhoun

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.  We ask ourselves ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’  Actually, who are you not to be?…  Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.  There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.  We are all meant to shine, as children do…  It’s not just in some of us;  it’s in everyone.  And, as we let our own light shine, we give other people permission to do the same

Marianne Williamson . 1952-  . American author . A return to love

Just because somebody hears something you say, or reads something that you write, doesn’t mean you’ve reached them

Frank Zappa . 1940-1993 . American musician, composer and satirist . quoted, interview, Oui

When the pupil is ready, a teacher appears

Zen proverb

Serve to lead

Royal military academy, Sandhurst . motto

selection copyright © 2015 Jeremy Marchant . updated 3 august 2015 . image: Free images