Quote Parade: Mini Habits

Besides dust, I enjoy collecting words of wisdom. Whenever a catchy arrangement of words motivates, stimulates, or wraps me in a giant smile I digitally engrave it into my personal archives. These motivational quotes appear in Stephen Guise’s self-improvement book: Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results. 

“Fear can’t exist if you’ve experienced something and it wasn’t scary.”

– Stephen Guise 

“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”

– Sun Tzu, “The Art of War”

“As I age, I realize that now is yesterday’s later, and that later is a bad plan.”

– Stephen Guise 

“If you don’t execute your ideas, they die.”

– Roger von Oech, public speaker

“Emotions will either serve or master, depending on who is in charge.”

– Jim Rohn, entrepreneur

“I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendix.”

– Arthur Conan Doyle from “Sherlock Holmes”

“When you never lose, you tend to win. ” 

– Stephen Guise 

“Be happy, but never satisfied.”

– Bruce Lee

Quote Parade: Best of 2014

Besides dust, I enjoy collecting words of wisdom. Whenever a catchy arrangement of words motivates, stimulates, or wraps me in a giant smile I digitally engrave it. These are my favorite “other people’s words” gathered in 2014.

“Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.”

– Dalai Lama XIV

“Don’t take yourself out of the game, there’s already plenty of people that are willing to do that for ya.”

– ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage 

“Eventually things get tragic enough and they circle back to comedy.”

– Mandy Patinkin from “Wish I Was Here”

“I’m not gay. I’m not a cop. Just a guy who sees a guy who might need a sandwich.”

– Bill Murray from “Broken Flowers”

“Writing fiction is lying in a good way.”

– Kristi Valiant, Children’s author and illustrator

“I think that it should become some sort of rite of passage that if you sleep with someone, whoever the more experienced person is should cook an omelette for the other. Wouldn’t that make the world a better place?”

– Anthony Bourdain

“I write picture books because I have funny ideas in my head that I think would entertain children.”

– Josh Funk, Children’s author

“If you don’t know it’s impossible, it’s easier to do.”

– Neil Gaiman

Quote Parade #5

“Every book is a children’s book if the kid can read.” – Mitch Hedberg

“Rediscovering your inner creativity is like playing both roles in Hide-N-Seek.” – Crave Cravak

“The only normal people are the ones you don’t know too well.” – Joe Ancis

“Walt Disney was a beginner of things, not a finisher.” – General William Everett Potter

“To Walt (Disney), progress meant sharpening – not erasing – what came before. It was like restoring color to a black-and-white photo – enhancing an image while retaining its essence.” – David Koenig

“Those who believe they have nothing, are disappointed by everything. Those who believe they have everything, are disappointed by nothing.” – Crave Cravak

“You have been given the gift of life. It is a fragile gift and not one that you can keep forever. But, is the most precious gift in all the world. Use it well little one.” – Thundercats (2011)

“In the end what matters isn’t how long we’ve lived. But how fully we’ve lived. The good we’ve done. The friends we’ve made. The love we shared along the way.” – Thundercats (2011)

“It’s time to turn the to-do list into a memory.” – ??? TV commercial

“Never half-a$$ two things; whole-a$$ one thing.” – Ron Swanson

Quote Parade #4

“Just because something isn’t true, there’s no reason you can’t believe in it.” – ‘Hub’ (Robert Duvall) in “Secondhand Lions”

“She needed the opportunity to prove to herself that she was something more than what she believed.” – ‘Eric’ in “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium

“It’s not about how well you play; it’s how you feel about what you’re playing.” – ‘Piano Lady’ from “Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“The thing about life is you always have to keep something on the the to do list.” – ‘Alan Shore’ from “Boston Legal”

“Maybe if you’re honest about the darkness in a room, maybe then you can begin to show someone the light.” – Jamie Tworkowski

“I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.” – Og Mandino

“Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everybody I’ve ever known.” – Chuck Palahniuk

“We’ve been waiting all our lives for things we’ve always had but had no eyes to see.” – Republic Tigers – ‘Buildings & Mountains’

“A book begins as a private excitement of the mind.” – E.L. Doctorow

“Writing itself is pretentious. Think about the arrogance required for someone to think, “I am going to take all of these clever stories and ideas that I have in my head and put them all on paper. People will spend their hard-earned money to read my brilliant ideas.” What an arrogant bastard!” – Nick Adams from “Making Friends With Black People”

Quote Parade – Dr. Seuss

In celebration of Dr. Seuss’s birthday, this installment of Quote Parade is from the legend himself.

“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”

“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.”

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.”

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”

“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”

“I meant what I said and I said what I meant.”

“Everything was red, like the sky was on fire.”

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own.
And you know what you know. You are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”

“Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them.”

“If you never did you should. These things are fun and fun is good”

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

“And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed!”

“Fun is good.”

Quote Parade #3

“It is not a bad idea to get in the habit of writing down one’s thoughts. It saves one from having to bother anyone else with them.” – Isabel Colegate

“Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality.” – Jules de Gaultier

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” – Albert Einstein

“The best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write a book about it.” – Benjamin Disraeli

“Writers should be read, but neither seen nor heard.” – Daphne du Maurier

“Humor is a rubber sword – it allows you to make a point without drawing blood.” Mary Hirsch

“The wit makes fun of other persons, the satirist makes fun of the world, the humorist makes fun of himself.” – James Thurber

“The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.” – Albert Einstein

“To live a creative life, we most lose our fear of being wrong.” – Joseph Chilton Pearce

“My office is outside man made walls.” – Crave Cravak

Quote Parade #2

“Let me let you let me down again.” – Hefner – ‘When the Angels Play Their Drum Machines’

“I could have been someone.” / “Well so could anyone.” – Pogues & Kirsty McColl – ‘Fairytale of New York’

“Just like every other fool out there, we all think we’re so unique, such special freaks.” – Caesars – ‘Paper Tigers’

“Grew up too fast, now there’s nothing left to believe.” – Goo Good Dolls – ‘Name’

“All I really know is that I don’t know.” – Black Lab – ‘Ecstacy’

“I write what you’re afraid to think.” – Crave Cravak

“It’s better to want something you don’t have than to have something you don’t want.” – ‘Denny Crane’ (William Shatner) from Boston Legal

“It’s a funny thing about coming home; looks the same, smells the same, feels the same; you realize what’s changed is you.” – ‘Benjamin Button’ (Brad Pitt) from the Curious Case of Benjamin Button

“Everyone has plans, plans to be the spaceman. I don’t give a damn, cause I am the spaceman.” – Primitive Radio Gods – ‘Motor of Joy’

“You can’t be afraid of words that speak the truth.” – George Carlin

Quote Parade #1

Human fascination with quotes exemplifies our love of language. In fact, a quote is really just a delicious sentence. Well, I’m hungry.

In this first installment, here’s a random list of quotables from famous peeps and commoners alike dealing with writing, motivation, children, or albino zebras confused with horses. Please note, I claim no accuracy and attribute full credit to the original authors.

“Children aren’t dumb, they’re just shorter.”– Mo Willems

“I don’t know why grown-ups don’t believe what they did when they were kids; aren’t they supposed to be smarter.” – `Eric’ in Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium

“After I blow a hole in somebody and slip around on their guts, afterwards I always like to make balloon animals.” – ‘Cowboy Dan’ (Steven Martin) in Parenthood (1989)

“Every performer needs to know what it’s like to be booed, or worse, ignored.”  – Nick Adams from “Making Friends With Black People.”

“Fear is the hardest act to follow.” – Lifehouse – ‘In Your Skin’

“I keep on dreamin’ because I can, even though my eyes don’t close.” – Katy Rose – ‘Because I Can’

“Confidence is the most important thing you can give a child.” – Jill Biden

“Goals are for people who know what they want.” – Rebecca Behrendt

“Success is only a sentence away.” – Crave Cravak

“Wondering if wondering is my fate.” – Evan and Jaron – ‘From My Head to My Heart’