Diamonds In The Rough

[goingonhope]

Diamonds in the Rough

Life Yields Only
(Commitment)
Dag Hammarskjold

Life yields only to the conqueror. Never accept what can be gained by giving in. You will be living off stolen goods, and your muscles will atrophy.

 

[goingonhope]

Diamonds in the Rough

Do Not Handicap
(Leadership)
Robert Heinlein

Do not handicap your children by making their lives easy.

**

Being a Midwife
(Leadership)
Lao Tzu

The wise leader does not intervene unnecessarily. The leader's presence is felt, but often the group runs itself.

Lesser leaders do a lot, say a lot, have followers, and form cults. Even worse ones use fear to energize the group and force to overcome resistance.

Only the most dreadful leaders have bad reputations. Remember that you are facilitating another person's process. It is not your process. Do not intrude. Do not control. Do not force your own needs and insights into the foreground.

If you do not trust a person's process, that person will not trust you. Imagine that you are a midwife; you are assisting at someone else's birth. Do good without show or fuss. Facilitate what is happening rather than what you think ought to be happening. If you must take the lead, lead so that the mother is helped, yet still free and in charge.

When the baby is born, the mother will rightly say: "We did it ourselves!"

 

[goingonhope]

Diamonds in the Rough

Children Learn What They Live
(Leadership)
Author Unknown

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with fear, he learns to be apprehensive.
If a child lives with pity, he learns to feel sorry for himself.
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.
If a child lives with jealousy, he learns what envy is.
If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty.

If a child lives with encouragement, he learns to be confident.
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with praise, he learns to be appreciative.
If a child lives with acceptance, he learns to love.
If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with recognition, he learns that it is good to have a goal.
If a child lives with sharing, he learns about generosity.
If a child lives security, he learns to have faith in himself and in those about him.
If you live with serenity, your child will live with peace of mind!

 

[goingonhope]

Diamonds in the Rough

A Race With Old Age
(Leadership)
Author Unknown

A race with Old Age - long and hard with detours and distractions. But a Navajo tells her children to run towards the dawn every morning - to choose the most difficult trail because only the path that is long develops into a life worth running. A strong life. And if these young people should run well, then all good things in mind and spirit will become theirs.

 

[maus]

great quote

Voltaire (1694 - 1778), French philosopher

"The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease."

love this one

 

[goingonhope]

Diamonds in the Rough

ya' that is a real good quote maus, I like it too.
Hope

**

ANIMALS IN OUR WORLD

Thornton Wilder (1897 - 1975), American novelist, playwright

"The best thing about animals is that they don't talk much."

**

FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND NEIGHBORS

Samuel Levenson (1911 - 1980), American humorist, television personality

"The simplest toy, one which even the youngest child can operate, is called a grandparent."

**

CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

(Unknown)
"A great many open minds should be closed for repairs."

**

 

[goingonhope]

Diamonds in the Rough

Being First
(Journey)
Dan Baker

Being first is not my style
I like to stop and feel awhile
Under the moon's thin-lipped smile
I find a peace that lasts for miles.
By myself I'm not alone
No TV guide, no telephone
The quiet noise in the trees
Cuts my bonds, puts my mind at ease.
You know my journey never ends
Long as I am I will be travelling
To know myself and know my friends
To heal some hurts and make amends
Down this rocky trail I find
The roughest path is in my mind
Down this rocky trail I find
The roughest path is in my mind.

 

[Marilyn_S]

Hello Hope!

This is a couple of quotes by me. I'm no famous person, just humble me, but sometimes I get some interesting stuff in my brain.

"Knowledge is a drug that without wisdom creates a fool."

"Self pity is the pablum of the human spirit in that it merely maintains a person's state of being rather than being nourishment for personal growth."

 

[Marilyn_S]

Ok! This one may sound a bit mellow draumatic but it is strait from my heart.


"When I observe and ponder the poverty and deprivation of third world countries, a quest for knowledge soars my mind like a mighty bird and the urge to create change flutters my daunted and fledgling soul."

 

[goingonhope]

Diamonds in the Rough

Hello Marilyn, And, THX for sharing your quotes with us. Hope


To Be Of Use
Marge Piercy, Circles on the Water
(Commitment)

The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
Them seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half-submerged balls.

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.

I want to be with people who submerge in the task, who go into the fields to harvest and work in a row and pass the bags along, who stand in the line and haul in their places, who are not parlor generals and field deserters but move in a common rhythm when the food must come in or the fire be put out.

 

[goingonhope]

Diamonds in the Rough

We Make a Fetish of Success
(Commitment)
Steven Muller

Americans do not understand nor do they live well with failure. Yet it is an inevitable part of the human condition: no one can win them all. We have made a national fetish of success and victory - I think to a dangerous degree.

I believe in achievement, but I believe the crucial factor is the effort rather than the result. Who can do more than one's best? Who can ask more than to give the most one has? A successful person is one who is productive to the peak of his capacity and who is comfortable with his own self.

This sounds so simple, but it is not commonly accepted. Success is equated with wealth, power, prestige and notoriety. These are dubious assets - some crave and possess them, but find no happiness or fulfillment in this application. Clearly, they are not available to all. But a successful life is possible for each of us. My argument is that as people we try to shut out the realities of failure and of death (the ultimate failure) and that this is unhealthy. Each of us will die and each of us will fail at things. Can't we admit that and live with it?

The message of organized Christianity has been that death is a natural climax of life, not a hateful evil. Failure is no disgrace. He who never fails can never have tried very hard, and how do we know our limits without failure?

Strive for the self-respect that comes from giving your best to whatever you do, and measure success by the degree to which you are at peace with yourself.

Accept failure as natural and unavoidable and do not allow the best that is in you to be stunted by fear of failure.

Admit your failures easily, not only because it is neurotic to deny them, but because to fail the first time may be the best way to learn how to master the problem the next time, and also because failure in one direction may be the only road to mastery in others.

Do not envy the trappings of success in others. There is so much less to them than meets the eye.

You will not, thank God, each and every one of you become President of the U.S. or U.S. Steel, or latter-day Elizabeth Taylors, Ella Fitzgeralds, Mickey Mantles, or John Paul Gettys. But to each of you I wish a successful life of self-respect based on your best efforts exerted without fear of failure.

From a speech to the midwinter graduating class of the University of Maryland. Printed in the Washington Post.

 

[goingonhope]

Diamonds in the Rough

To Build a Wooden Boat
(Commitment)
Jim Schoel

Each plank, beveled
and butted in its climb
from garboard to sheer,
must be unique
and true as can be.
I go deep to find this, and take assurance
from my acts.
But this boat is not a house...
every piece done on time
does not assure the next.
There are few right angle plumb lines here.
Plywood and shingles cannot cover your errors.
Your creation will do battle with water,
not just shed it.
So it must come together
each day, new, complex,
each piece depending on the last, a figure in itself
demanding only that it
be right.
It asks nothing more,
is totally doable,
does not depend on sucking you dry.
You just do it
or you don't.

Spring, 1972
Hanging in There (an unpublished book of poems)

author's note: True teamwork is reflected in everyone playing a part, and fitting together in some way in order to get a job done. And it is true - you do it, or you don't. The finished (or unfinished) job is the measure.