“Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”

 

“If you are not fired with enthusiasm, then you will be FIRED with enthusiasm.

 

“Tell me, and I will forget; show me, and I may remember; involve me, and I will understand”

 

“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.”

 

“Do something to improve each day. Give yourself a chance to win.”

 

“Respect everything. Fear nothing.”

 

“Do not worry about the future. For worrying is about as effective as trying to solve and Algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles are in your life are things that never troubled your worried mind. The kind that blindside you at 4:00pm on some idle Tuesday.”

 

“Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it.”

 

“Get to know your parent/guardian. You never know when they will be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.”

 

“Friends come and go, but a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gap in geography and lifestyle. For as the older you get, you are going to need the people you knew when you were young.”

 

“Do not congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either. Your choices are half-chance. So are everybody else’s”

 

“The race is long, and in the end, it is only with yourself”

 

“Happiness begins where selfishness ends”

 

“Earn the right to be proud and confident”

 

“The best way to improve the team is to improve thyself”

 

“Big things are accomplished only through the perfection to minor detail”

 

“Discipline yourself and others won’t need to”

 

“Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there”

 

“I will get ready and then, perhaps, my chance will come”

 

“If I am through learning, I am through”

 

“If you do not have the time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”

 

“The smallest good deed is better than the best intention”

 

“The person who is afraid to risk failure seldom has to face success”

 

“Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today”

 

“Time spent getting even would be better spent trying to get ahead”

 

“It is what you learn after you know it all that counts”

 

“Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights”

 

“There is nothing stronger then gentleness”

 

“You discipline those under your supervision to correct, to help, and to improve – not to punish”

 

“Goals achieved with little effort are seldom worthwhile or lasting”

 

“Make sure your team members know they are working with you, not for you”

 

“Be most interested in finding the best way, and not having your own way”

 

“What is right is more important then who is right”

 

“You handle things. You work with people.”

 

“As long as you try your best, you are never a failure. That is, unless you blame others”

 

“Tell the truth. That way, you don’t have to remember a story”

 

“Don’t let making a living prevent you from making a life”

 

“Although there is no progress without change, not all change is progress”

 

“If we magnified accomplishments as much as we magnified disappointments, we would all be much happier”

 

“The worst thing you can do for those you love is the things they could and should do for themselves.” (Abraham Lincoln)

 

“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely help another without helping himself” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

 

“Do not permit what you cannot do to interfere with what you can do”

 

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Character is what you really are; reputation is merely what you are perceived to be”

 

“Love is the greatest of all words in our language”

 

“Much can be accomplished by teamwork when no one is concerned about who gets the credit”

 

“Never make excuses. Your friends don’t need them and your foes won’t believe them”

 

“Never be disagreeable just because you disagree”

 

“Be slow to criticize and quick to commend”

 

“Be more concerned with what you can do for others than what others can do for you. You will be surprised at the results”

 

“The more concerned we become over the things we can’t control, the less we will do with the things we can control”

 

“Don’t permit fear of failure to prevent effort. We are all imperfect and will fail on occasions, but fear of failure is the greatest failure of all”

 

“Being average means you are as close to the bottom as you are to the top”

 

“The time to make friends is before you need them”

 

“Nothing can give you a greater joy then doing something for another”

 

“Material gifts are not gifts but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of thyself” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)  --- Time you spend with your family IS the most precious gift you can give!

 

“You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for another without thought of something in return”

 

“Do not mistake activity for achievement”

 

“You can do more good by being good than any other way”

 

“Forget favors given; remember those received”

 

“Make each day your masterpiece”

 

“Make friendship a fine art”

 

“Treat all people with dignity and respect”

 

“Acquire peace of mind by making the effort to become the best of which you are capable”

Gaining Knowledge and Experience





“Nothing is more powerful and liberating than knowledge.” --William H. Gray, Congressman
 
“Never be afraid to sit a while and think.” --Lorraine Hansberry, Playwright and painter
 
“Learn to see... listen... and think for yourself.” --Malcolm X, Civil Rights Activist
 
“This is my life. It is my one time to be me. I want to experience every good thing.” -- Maya Angelou, Writer and Entertainer
 
“Knowledge is power and power is the key to changing things.” --Jill Nelson, Journalist and Writer
 
“When you know that you don’t know, you’ve got to read.” -- Solomon Carter Fuller, Physician and psychiatrist
 
“Hard work gives life meaning. Everyone needs to work hard at something to feel good about themselves. 
Every job can be done well and every day has its satisfactions.” --Osceola McCarty, Laundress and philanthropist
 
“Stretch your mind and fly.” -- Whitney M Young, Jr., Civil Rights Activist
 
Believing in Yourself
“I think it’s always best to be who you are.” -- Halle Berry, Actress
 
“You’ve got to love yourself enough, not only so that others will be able to love you, but that you’ll be able to love others.” 
--Cornel West, Philosopher and Educator
 
“One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.” 
-- Arthur Ashe, Tennis Champion
 
“Love yourself, appreciate yourself, and see the good in you and respect yourself.” --Betty Shabazz, Educator
 
“You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.” --Michael Jordan, Basketball Star
 
“No one can figure out your worth but you.” Pearl Bailey, Entertainer
 
 
Winning with Attitude
“Decide to be your best. In the long run the world is going to want and have the best, and that might as well be you.” 
--Booker T. Washington, Educator
 
“If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, 
it is a prevailing attitude.” --Colin Powell, Statesman and General
 
“I knew that whatever I set my mind to do, I could do.” -- Wilma Rudolph, Track Star and Olympic gold medalist
 
“I remember a very important lesson that my father gave me when I was twelve or thirteen. He said, “ You know, today I 
welded a perfect seam and I signed my name to it.” And I said, “But, Daddy, no one is going to see it!” And he said, 
“Yeah, but I know it’s there.” -- Toni Morrison, Writer and Nobel Prize Winner
 
“Find the good. It’s all around you. Find it, showcase it, and you’ll start believing in it.” 
--Jesse Owens, Track Star and Olympic Gold medalist 
 
“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, 
ever have enough.” --Oprah Winfrey, Entertainer and Entrepreneur
 
“It is a dangerous thing to ask why someone else has been given more. It is humbling-- and indeed healthy-- 
to ask why you have been given so much.” --Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State
 
“It’s better to look ahead and prepare than to look back in regret.” -- Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Track Star and Olympic Gold Medalist
 
Achieving Your Dreams
 
“If you can somehow think and dream of success in small steps, every time you make a step, every time you accomplish a 
small goal, it gives you confidence to go on from there.” --John H. Johnson
 
“Set your goals high and don’t stop until you get there.” -- Bo Jackson, Baseball and Football Star
 
“...it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.” 
--Barack Obama, President of the United States
 

“Every try will not succeed. If you live, your business is trying.” -- John O. Killens, Writer
 
“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.” -- Bill Cosby, Entertainer and Writer
 
“When you want something in life, you have to focus.” --Roslyn McMillan, Writer
 
“Take advantage of every opportunity where there is none, make it for yourself.”
--Marcus Garvey, Nationalist Leader
 
“The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy is having no goal to reach.” -- Benjamin Mays, Educator
 
“If you want to the best, baby you’ve got to work harder than anybody else.” 
-- Sammy Davis, Jr., Entertainer
 
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” -- Muhammad Ali, Boxing Champion
 
“When rungs were missing, I learned to jump.” -- William Warfield, Opera Singer
 
“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you will land among the stars.” --Les Brown, Writer and Motivational Speaker
 
“The way to succeed is never quit. That’s it. But really be humble about it.”
-- Alex Haley, Writer
 
Sharing and Caring
 
“Just remember the world is not a playground but a schoolroom. Life is not a holiday but an education. 
One eternal lesson for us all; to teach us how better we should love.” --Barbara Jordan, Congressman and Lawyer
 
“...the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.” --Martin Luther King, Jr., Minister and Civil Rights Leader
 
“Love thy neighbor” is a precept which could transform the world if it were universally practiced.” --Mary McLeod Bethune, Educator
 
“One of the things, I keep learning is that the secret to being happy is doing things for other people.” 
--Dick Gregory, Comedian and Civil Rights Activist
 
“A live is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” --Jackie Robinson, Baseball Champion
 
“If you have achieved any level of success, then pour it into someone else.” 
--T. D. Jakes, Minister and Writer
 
“My dad has always taught me these words: care and share.” --Tiger Woods, Golf Champion
 
“Love stretches your heart and makes you big inside.” --Margaret Walker, Writer
 
Remembering the Past
 
“More than anything else, it is important to study history...” --B. B. King, Musician
 
“If you know whence you came, there is no limit to where you can go.” --James Baldwin, Writer
 
“The Story of America is incomplete without history from the bottom up.” 
--Donald D. DeVore, Historian and Educator
 
“If the house is to be set in order, one cannot begin with the present; he must begin with the past.” 
--John Hope Franklin, Historian and Educator
 
“We have a wonderful history behind us... and it is going to inspire us to greater achievements.” 
--Carter G. Woodson, Historian
 
“History is a clock that people use to tell their time of day. It is a compass they use to find themselves on the map 
of human geography. It tells them where they are and what they are.” --John Henrik Clarke, Historian and Educator
 
Shaping the Future
 
“If you don’t like the way the world is, you change it. You have an obligation to change it. You just do it one step at a time.” 
Marian Wright Edelman, Lawyer, Writer, and Social Activist
 
“I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all 
people to enjoy freedom.” --Rosa Parks,
Civil Rights Activist

 
“Don’t let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity or your curiosity. It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. 
Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live.” -- Mae C. Jemison, Astronaut
 
“Everyone has a gift; you let it take you as far as it can.” --Lynette Woodard, Basketball Star
 
“None of us are responsible for our birth. Our responsibility is the use we make of life.” 
--Joshua Henry Jones, Writer and Journalist
 
“We have come too far to be discouraged or to lose hope or to stop believing in the dream.” 
--Coretta Scott King, Civil Rights Activist
 
“Our future lies chiefly in our own hands.” --Paul Robeson, Performer, Athlete, and Lawyer
 
“It isn’t where you came from, it’s where you’re going that counts.” --Ella Fitzgerald, Jazz Singer






 
We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best that we find in our travels is an HONEST friend. - Robert Louis Stevenson
 
True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends, but in the worth and choice. Ben Jonson
 
Love is blind. Friendship closes its eyes - Anonymous
 
I am wealthy in my friends - William Shakespeare
 
Do not protect yourself by a fence, but rather by your friends - Czech Proverb
 
A true friend is one soul in two bodies - Aristotle
 
A true friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out - Anonymous
 
So as long as we love, we serve. So long as we are loved by others I would almost say we are indespensable; and 
no man is useless while he has a friend - Robert Louis Stevenson
 
To me, fair friend, you never can be old, For as you were when first your eye I eyed, such seems your beauty still - William Shakespeare
 
A true friend is somebody who can make us do what we can - Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
All we can do is make the best of our friends, love and cherish what is good in them, and keep out of the way what is bad. - Thomas Jefferson
 
Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joy and dividing our grief. - Joseph Addison
 
A mile walked with a friend only has 100 steps - Russian Proverb
 
Friendship is one mind in two bodies - Menclus
 
Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a NEW WORLD IS BORN. - Anais Nin
 
It brings comfort to have companions in whatever happens. - Saint John Chrysostom
 
Life is partly what we make it, and partly what is made by the friends whom we choose - Tehyi Hsieh
 
We each take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other - Anonymous
 
The firmest friendships have been formed in mutual adversity, as iron is most strongly united by the fiercest flame. - Charles Caleb Colton
 
A friend should be the master at guessing and keeping still. Friedrich Nietzsche
 
Hold a true friend with both your hands - Nigerian Proverb
 
Have friends. 'Tis a second exsistance - Baltasar Gracian
 
Every man passes his life in the search after friendship - Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
I keep my friends as misers keep their treasure, because, of all the things granted us by wisdom, none is greater or better than friendship - Pietro Aretino
 
My best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake - Aristotle
 
Friends are born, not made - Henry Adams
 
A friend remembers us when we have forgotten ourselves or neglected ourselvesl; he takes loving heed of our health, our work, our aims, our plans. 
Anna R. Brown Lindsay
 
Sometimes people come into your life and you know right way they are meant to be there; they serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, 
or help you figure our who you are. - Lindsay Russo