QUOTATIONS

Romain Gary was a successful author and man of mystery and intrigue.  He even tricked the nation of France into awarding him two of the same award, normally only given to a person once in a lifetime.  His autobiography is seen to be somewhat inflated and enhanced, but his observations on the value of humor to our lives is profound.  

In the final episode of this 5-part series on David Whyte's book Consolations. This week, we discuss disappointment, an integral part of any journey of self improvement. We need not reject it or avoid it, but instead embrace it as a catalyst to our transformation. It reveals the potential future us, perhaps beyond what we could have imagined.

In this, the 4th of 5 episodes on David Whyte's book Consolations, we examine confession.  Not the religious form, but the broadly applicable form.  It is a type of self-aware rejection of the old ways and an adoption of the new, even at the expense of image or prestige.  

In this, the 3rd of 5 episodes on David Whyte's Consolations, we explore love and closeness.  They are not without risk, but the potential beauty in the act of laying down our arms and dropping our defenses can be incredible.  

In the 2nd episode of this 5 part series, we examine anger through author David Whyte's words, both its origins and its impacts to identify that which we hold most dear.  It's an important lesson as life is full of opportunities to be angry and therefore opportunities to grow and to learn.  

David Whyte is an author and poet and his book Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words is one of my very favorite books.  In this series we will explore his words and seek deeper meaning.  We begin the new year with, appropriately, a quote on Courage.  

Bill Whitaker is a host of the critically acclaimed 60 Minutes broadcast and has covered many challenging stories for years.  He has seen the best and worst of humanity through the lens of a camera and at the end of a microphone.  His message from a 2021 episode of the show is as accurate and encouraging today as it was then.  

Charlotte Perkins Gilman lived around the turn of the 20th century and was a strong advocate for social change.  She edited and published a magazine entitle The Forerunner and in it she explored a wide range of topics.  She challenged the status quo for parents and children and the world took note.  Her quote on a young person's duty to society is the topic of today's episode.  

Former first lady Barbara Bush had both influence and wealth, yet one of her most quoted lines is about giving.  As we are amid the holiday season, it is useful for us to remember that giving does more than make us feel good...it takes us out of ourselves and makes us aware of others.  This is a lesson worth remembering year-round.  

Austin von Letkemann is the creator of Mandatory Fun Day, a comedy/satire social media page that pokes fun at the military and all its quirks.  He also drops some very profound and challenging thoughts on leadership.  Today's quote is one such thought.  Austin challenges us to challenge our subordinates but not waste their time, to be stable for them and not inject more friction than already exists in their lives.  

Ed Helms portrayed the memorable character Andy Bernard on the hit show, The Office.  Andy was quirky and unique and not unlike a coworker many of us would recognize.  In the series finale, he delivered a truly memorable quote and punch to the gut to remind us to cherish where we are before it's over.  

There isn't a lot of well-known poetry by Rose Milligan, but Dust if You Must is one you should know. It's a fantastic reminder that life can be cruel and short and that spending our time on superficial things that matter little might just be the thing we regret the most in the end. Today's episode is dedicated to my good friend Kenny Brown, who lost a shipmate and close friend early this year. He read this poem at her funeral and it is a fitting one indeed.

Today's quote is delivered by the late actor Alan Rickman in the movie Eye in the Sky.  It is a challenging quote and is fitting for the week after Veterans Day/Armistice Day.  Veterans bear a burden for their service but do appreciate the acknowledgement and appreciation we receive.  

Steve Jobs was the cofounder of Apple and an icon in the modern technological age.  He made more money than most of us could ever hope to make and his influence is felt around the world to this day.  Yet, he often took time to write brief notes to his future self highlighting his basic humanity.  Today's quote is one such note, sent in 2010, reminding himself of his place in the world.  

I released a previous episode about Carl Sagan and his affinity for books.  In today's episode of Quotations, I explore his famous quote from his book The Pale Blue Dot.  The famous photo of Earth taken by Voyager 1 from 3.7 billion miles away shows us clearly just how small we really are in the grand scheme of things.  It's a smallness worth remembering when the world seems to large.  

Lupita Nyong'o has starred on the stage and on the silver screen.  She won an Oscar for her role in 12 Years a Slave and during her very brief acceptance speech took a few moments to remind herself and the world that dreams are valid, regardless of from where you come.  

Winston Churchill led his nation through one of the most trying times in human history by the strength of his will and his incredible speaking abilities.  Naturally, I had to include a quote of his in my introduction music for this podcast.  Today's quote comes from one of three incredible speeches he gave in the first two months of his time as Prime Minister of England in 1940.  His words stir the soul and stiffen the spine.  

In this, the first of four episodes in which we will explore the quotes snippets that are a part of the show's introductory music, we revisit Rudyard Kipling's famous poem "If."  It is, arguably, one of the most recognizable and memorable poems of all time.  I originally examined the poem in 2022 with my good friend Sean Powell in Episode 111.  I enjoy this poem very much and it teaches me something every time I read it.  

Aimee Lehto Schewe is a designer and marketer.  Her words, the subject of today's episode, are often incorrectly attributed to the great boxer, Muhammad Ali.  This means she is definitely good at her job!  There were, in fact, part of an early 2000s ad campaign Aimee helped to create for the brand Adidas.  Behind the words are great power and motivation.

Eddie Vedder...accomplished lead singer of Pearl Jam and solo artist and songwriter has a voice we all recognize.  What makes today's quote so compelling is not only his voice but the words and meaning behind them.  Society certainly is a crazy breed...and today we consider, pause, and ruminate on sufficiency, contentedness, and peace from his song, Society.  

William Butler Yeats was a famous Irish poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  He wrote a lot about loss and death in war, but today's poem is a bit different.  It's about loss in a different form, a loss of love.  Sad, but accepting.  Sorrowful, but kind.  It is the type of poem with which we can all relate.  Join me as we explore When You are Old.

Meekness is not a word we use regularly in society.  For many it connotes weakness or passivity.  This is not necessarily what it truly means in practice.  Humility and meekness go hand in hand and employing humility in equal measure to our certainties is a surefire way to make the world a better place.  Today's quote is about exactly that.  

Pearl Cleage is an author, poet, and playwright with a resume full of challenging works on difficult topics.  Her accomplishments and publications are many and she is no stranger to late nights and long hours of hard work.  That said, she also understands the importance of downtime and caring for ourselves amidst the hustle and bustle.  Today's quote highlights that need and shows us the difference between solitude and loneliness.

Alfred North Whitehead was an accomplished mathematician and philosophy of the early 20th century.  He taught the great Bertrand Russell and published long-lived titles in both academic disciplines.  His writings, while challenging, are deep and insightful.  His description of progress and how both change AND order collaborate within it is the subject of today's memorable quote.  

Epicurus was a Greek philosopher who believed that philosophy should enhance the lives of its constituents, reducing their pain and suffering and fear to near zero.  He provides us with a solid litmus test for those claiming to be philosophers or espousing philosophical certainty.  His words we should apply broadly and relentlessly in our lives.  

Helen Keller was a remarkable woman.  Struck deaf and blind by childhood illness, she spent her entire life striving and achieving.  She did more in her life than many people without the same disabilities could ever hope to achieve.  She was the first deaf-blind woman to graduate with a bachelor's degree from Harvard, cofounded the ACLU, and met with and influenced Presidents for decades.  Her message was simple...be educated, be tolerant.  

It's easy to think that everyone else has it better than we do.  It's tempting to hold others in higher esteem than we hold ourselves.  We always find that, despite these thoughts, that the grass is not always greener on the other side.  But where is it greenest?  Where we water it.  

Marc Chagall was an artist who understood the magic of his work.  He understood that artists fulfill an important role for us.  They maintain our sense of wonder.  They push back against our (and their) tendency to want to sleep (or simply drift through life).  His words are a challenge to us to maintain that wonder.  

Stephanie Hunt is an author and writer whose works have touched numerous publications.  In addition to her writings, she teaches others to write, contributes to a non-profit radio station in South Carolina, and finds time in between all of that to read.  Reading is so important and so powerful and Stephanie's words in today's quote highlight just how vital it is.   You can find Stephanie and her works at https://stephaniehuntwrites.com/ or on Instagram  at https://www.instagram.com/stephhuntwrites/?hl=en  

William Faulkner was a Pulitzer Prize winning author and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949.  At that time, the fear of nuclear annihilation was significant and everpresent and would be for decades to come.  Faulkner used his few short moments at the podium to graciously (perhaps begrudgingly) accept his award and then turned his attention to the young authors and writers in the crowd and abroad.  He chose to encourage them and forego applause, self-aggrandizement, and monetary gain, all to make them better.  He challenged them then as his words challenge us now.  

This week, we revisit one of my favorite episodes about Rapoport's Rules for critical commentary.  I still struggle with this to this very day.  I hope this challenges you as much as it does me.  

Michael J. Fox has been an actor for decades.  He starred in Back to the Future, Spin City, & Family Ties.  He also happens to be an actor with Parkinson's.  Despite that diagnosis, he maintains palpable optimism.  How?  Today he tells us the magic ingredient to sustained optimism...it's gratitude.  

Oliver Warbucks is the fictional multi-millionaire in the classic musical Annie.  Though he is not a real person, he offers us valuable advice as we scramble for evermore success, wealth, and notoriety.  As you might expect, he reminds us that those things are not everything.  Of course, this is easy for him to say...but it doesn't mean there's not truth behind his words.  

Edmund Vance Cooke's poem is full of hardship, difficulty, and challenge.  It's also full of hope and should embolden us to stand still, with stiffened spines, as life's challenges confront us.  Let us have a good answer to the question "How did you die...?"

Chuck Palahniuk is the author of Fight Club, Choke, Invisible Monsters, and many other novels, often with troubled main characters and difficult circumstances.  Today's quote comes from one such character, Brandy, in Invisible Monsters.  We are the amalgamation of the people with whom we most often and closely associate.  Importantly, we can (and should) curate that group carefully.

Augustine of Hippo is a saint in multiple churches and penned a fascinating autobiography entitled Confessions.  In it, he describes his shortcomings as if to a priest and we, the readers, are able to get a unique glimpse into why he did what he did in life.  In today's quote, Augustine cautions us to beware the smooth talker AND the imperfect one as neither is guaranteed to be telling us the truth.  

There is trouble all around us.  Society is frustrating and counterproductive and sometimes seems downright impossible to change.  Today's quote by author and public speaker Barbara de Angelis acknowledges that we cannot singlehandedly fix all the injustices we see...but...we can initiate change and it's far easier than it seems.  

Montaigne was a 16th century French philosopher and essayist who wrote short, single-page essay and far longer ones.  Today's quote comes from one such essay and sets the tone, right from the start, that WE control how we respond to the inevitable hardships and torments of life.  We can, with effort, choose not to be victims of circumstance and allow them to perpetually harm us, but instead repurpose them for good, both for ourselves and for others.  

Steven Pressfield has written many amazing books.  His story of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae, Gates of Fire, is among the finest.  In this week's episode, we explore Dienekes and his officership in the face of certain death at the hands of more 2 million Persian fighters.  He stood strong, steadied his men, and we can all learn something from that.  

Augustine Mandino was a highly successful salesman, author, and public speaker.  He wrote and spoke extensively on success and, in today's quote, shows us how important it is to treat people well.  If we do, then our lives will never be the same again.     Here's a great 10min speech of his that I reference in the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV0Vmth4kT0&t=924s  

Maya Angelou is one of the most well-known poets from the United States.  She wrote and published for decades and had such an impact that her legacy will live on for centuries to come.  Today, we explore her words about exploring ourselves.  She encourages us to express ourselves through our creations and thus, to show the world both who we are and to show ourselves the same.  

Ryan Holiday, author of The Obstacle is the Way, and other books is a modern stoic and has thought a lot about how we can and should deal with hardship and difficulty, the universal certainty of human existence.  His perspective on objectivity, taken directly from his book, is a great starting point.  

Coolio was a rapper whom many of us remember from our youth.  His song Gangster's Paradise is as well known as any song out there.  In the song, which is catchy and memorable, he talks about death and how near to all of us it is at any moment.  We've talked about death a lot recently and this is another reminder to live and enjoy living every moment that you can because you never can know when your time is up.  

Evelyn Waugh was a writer in the early to mid-20th century.  In a book review, of all places, he penned today's quote which highlights for us, once again, the potential creation of beauty from the ugly.  We are equally capable of being both.  

Chief Tecumseh was a Shawnee Chief and a warrior who spent the majority of his life fighting.  As such, he was familiar with and accepted death as a constant companion.  His words on death, both preparation and respect for it are as accurate today as they were more than 100 years ago.  

Today's episode features a quote by Sam Harris from his podcast Making Sense.  In it, Sam talks about the finiteness of life.  We do everything for the last time at some point.  We often don't even realize we're doing a thing for the very last time.  This means that we have the opportunity to savor each moment, even the unpleasant ones, as we may never repeat them again.  This is a perspective changer, to be certain.

This is our explication of the second half of W.H. Auden's September 1, 1939.  Though the poem depicts a very dark day, it ends in hope and...a lesson to all of us.  

W. H. Auden was a British-American poet who wrote an iconic poem about the day WWII officially began.  In September 1, 1939, he gives us a glimpse into the thoughts and feelings of a speaker living through what was the beginning of a multi-million casualty war.  The poem describes how we got here and, importantly, how we might emerge.  This is the first of a two-part series.  

Thomas Macaulay was a historian, author, and British Secretary of War.  He wrote a massive tome on the history of England from 1685-1702, covering 5 volumes.  He also wrote a collection of essays on various topics, compiled into a book entitled Critical and Historical Essays.  It is from this work that we draw today's quote.   If you've ever felt like the world is coming to an end or that your or our way of life is threatened, Macaulay has salve for that concern.  The trajectory of the world is, in fact, upward, not downward.  

Joseph Rost was a professor of leadership and published a fantastic book on the topic Leadership for the 21st Century.  From that book, I examine today's quote about leader-follower influence relationships.  They can be difficult to establish and maintain, but well worth the effort when systemic change is needed.  

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner has practiced his faith and led for decades.  He's a regular contributor on NPR and in this week's episode, we explore a pearl of his wisdom from his 1977 book Honey from the Rock.  He compares each of us to incomplete puzzles, wholly dependent on others to complete our puzzle and us theirs.