Quotations Weblog

Life can be tricky. Just when I think I have something down pat, a different part of my life screams for my attention. Sometimes it feels like the whole world is against me. Sometimes it feels like the wind is always in my face, pushing me back and preventing my progress.

The most calming thing I can do in these situations is accept it. I imagine myself nodding at the problem. The wind is in my face. I can’t change that. All I can do is tack. Tacking is the method of sailing against the wind. If you notice the picture, it shows how a boat would sail into the wind. The course that the boat sails doesn’t lead directly to the mark, but every step it takes gets it closer to the goal.

There are times when you can’t move directly toward your goal. There might even be times when the only course of action might be so far to the left or right that it might feel like you’re not making any progress. Accept the situation, and keeping working toward your dreams. You’ll get there eventually.

I think about this quotation a lot. I work a full time job in addition to all the writing that I do and sometimes I fantasize about what my life would be like if I could just quit my full time job and write full time. This quote always comes to mind when I do.

I imagine a life completely devoted to writing to be as fun as when I’m writing at home after a long day at work. I also write in the early morning before I go to work. I spend most of my free time writing and it is a relaxing escape for me. Would it be like that if I were to quit my full time job?

Not according to William Shakespeare. If all I had to do was write, writing would be as tedious as work. He must have experienced this phenomenon. He must have had a time in his life when he was expected to live a life of leisure. I wonder how he learned that a life of leisure can be as taxing as a life of labor.

This week launches the new feature on our site called Motivational Quotes of the Day. It is updated daily, like the regular Quotes of the Day page, but chooses its quotes from my very own collection of over 1000 quotes. This collection started in a recipe box at my place of employment in 1996. I was in a job that I despised and every day was a struggle not to quit or murder someone. I began collecting motivational quotes to retain my sanity. It took more than one of these a week to keep me going, so by the time I quit I had a substantial collection. When I came home with my possessions in a cardboard box, the recipe box of quotations was beside the plants and under the pictures. Although he despises motivational quotes, Mike eyed the box with envy. After much discussion and even more additions to the collection we have finally made it available to you.

The following are some of “the greatest” from the collection.

“Please write again soon. Though my own life is filled with activity, letters encourage momentary escape into others’ lives and I come back to my own with greater contentment.”

Elizabeth Hailey, “A Woman of Independent Means”

“One of the greatest victories you can gain over someone is to beat him at politeness.”

Josh Billings

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.”

Benjamin Disraeli

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”

Mark Twain

“I always remember an epitaph which is in the cemetery at Tombstone, Arizona. It says: ‘Here lies Jack Williams. He done his damnedest.’ I think that is the greatest epitaph a man can have – When he gives everything that is in him to do the job he has before him. That is all you can ask of him and that is what I have tried to do.”

Harry S. Truman

“Be not afraid of greatness: some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.”

William Shakespeare, “Twelfth Night”

“Live well. It is the greatest revenge.”

The Talmud

• Life 101 Hardcover by Peter McWilliams – Reading one of his books is tantamount to reading them all, but this is the one I recommend. A wonderfully positive book with lots of quotations, many of which found their way into the Motivational Quotes of the Day collection.
• Good AdviceHardcover by William Safire, Leonard Safir (Compiler) – Many quotes from the Motivational Quote of the Day page are from this book. There is no better place to find good advice about life, business dealings and fear than from people who have gone through it before. This small little book is organized by subject. I really like this book and have read the entire thing a few times, but there are two things that go against it: the attributes are simple, and there are many Unknowns or Proverbs. I don’t really like to use quotes by Unknown because I suspect that someone said them, but they aren’t getting credit for it. Aside from those minor problems, this book is a lot of fun with cute pictures and great organization.
• Do It! Let’s Get Off Our Butts Hardcover by Peter McWilliams – Although it shares much of its information with Life 101, there is nothing more motivational than this book. It combines wisdom with methods of motivating yourself. All of that with wonderful quotations to boot.
• 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself Hardcover by Steve Chandler – More quick tips for getting the life you have always desired. Get rid of those negative thoughts and that pessimistic attitude. Recipient of the King Features Syndicate 1997 AudioBook of the Year Award.

• Motivating Moments – A quotation collection also containing motivational, inspirational and positive quotes. Organized into three groups: Customer Service and Sales, Motivational & Positive Quotes, and Inspirational Quotes.