It has been said of Winston Churchill that he took the English language and sent it into battle. I believe this is exactly what you have the power to do with words too. You have the possibility to send them into battle against negative thoughts and wrong perspectives that sabotage your life and career goals. You can use them as a way to influence your worldviews, actions or mood of the moment. Words count. They are powerful vehicles that convey meanings, thoughts and emotions. It’s through smart use that you can turn them into valuable tools. I have always regarded words as containers of creative power and I believe that it is up to us to decide what kind of power we want our words to carry. As Tom Stoppard said “Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.”
Life and Business can look terrifying with the right (wrong) perspective. Would you fancy an intellectual vitamin mix that inspires and motivates you to greatness? This is the aim of these quotations. I am passionate about quotes. Quotes are records of the wisest, most memorable—and often—funniest things ever said. My aim through this book is to offer you the best bits of the best minds. I believe that if a book has one sentence, passage, main idea or core message with the power to change a person’s life, this very bit alone justifies reading the whole book. From my earliest childhood I’ve developed a deep love for books, I spent countless hours of my life reading all sorts of books, from academic books to literature and self-development books. Books written in various languages by people who lived in different time periods and countries. I have always wished to read a book that would gather all the “aha” moments I went through many years of reading, all these sentences that had a great impact on my heart and mind. Power Quotes is precisely the sort of book that I’ve always wanted to enjoy as a reader in moments of major life transition. I found that it is in periods of change—like taking a flight to the other side of the planet to settle there, or starting a brand new business venture—that powerful quotes have influenced me the most.
The quotes featured in this book are not your typical quotes. I have only included the ones I can’t live without. These statements ignite in me the desire to pause and reflect, the urge to make life-changing decisions, set goals and work towards achieving them. Thousands of quotes were evaluated based on their relevance to the main title, their originality, motivational power, their depth of meaning and also what I call “quotational gravity,” that is, the weight and authority that the original author adds to a particular statement. For instance the statement “If I had known, I’d become a shoemaker” is nothing but a casual phrase that could come from the mouth of any person who took a wrong career turn. It gains a lot of weight though when you know that the person who spoke this phrase was Albert Einstein, when, in the beginning of his career, his theories received a lot of skepticism and rejection by a large part of the scientific community of the time.
Power Quotes is divided into three main sections: Life, Business, and Leadership. Each section includes various topics that are relevant to the main title. Some could argue that I should have included Leadership as a subtopic under the Business section but I regard Leadership as a major life skill, a skill that should not be solely limited to the workplace. You may also notice that some quotes and topics can be applied to all three sections. For instance Learning is a subtopic that I chose to place under the Business section, but is equally applicable to Leadership and Business. Each section is introduced with a few personal thoughts and theories on the subject. In the comments section you will discover my personal philosophy on leadership and career development. Theories I live and swear by.
I believe that variety can only bring more inspiration; to reflect complexity in Life, Leadership and Business I have purposely selected quotes which complement and very often contradict each other. By doing this, my intention is to take you on an emotional roller-coaster ride. I included various quotes in each section to create a mix of optimism, pessimism, humor and philosophy. I hope that instead of causing the reader confusion, such quotes will offer food for thought by helping you consider one same topic from different angles. You will be able to notice that different quotes on a same topic will cause mixed feelings and thoughts. Some will leave you rather confused while others will make you feel enthusiastic about a new idea or a brand new way of perceiving Life and Business. I encourage you to write down or simply underline the quotes that are most relevant to you—the ones that make you tick—and integrate them into your daily life. I have myself divided my favorite quotes into subsections to match various circumstances of my own life.
Statements that you will find in Power Quotes were collected from many sources. They date back to Antiquity and extend to the beginning of the 21st century. The words, thoughts and ideas that you will find in there originated in the minds and mouths of influential people of different nationality, culture, social class, religion, profession, and so on. Many quotes were originally uttered by historic figures, philosophers and politicians, while others by entrepreneurs, industry leaders and scientists. Some were written by writers, poets and artists. You will find quotes by people as unrelated to each other as Aristotle, Leonardo Da Vinci, Confucius, Shakespeare, Mahatma Gandhi, Machiavelli, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Gates or Alexander the Great. You will also find many statements by lesser known individuals, next door professionals, CEOs and people who make a big difference in their workplace and community. Studying the wisdom of the ages in a society that is being accused of bringing shallowness and dumbing-down to new heights is a vital step toward regaining ethical and intellectual standards.
Life often comes down to a chaotic mix of opposing ideas and systems of thought. It’s an arena where differing perspectives and possible ways of being fight for supremacy. There is no instruction manual to life. There are a billion possible lives you can live. Every quote represents a life stance. I like to think of each quotation as a distinct line, an axis passing through a single point. There are an infinite number of lines that can pass through this point, each one of them pointing to a different direction. I invite you to see every topic as that single point and the lines passing through it as the thoughts and arguments that can be expressed about this topic. It’s up to you how you will choose to engineer your life map. You plan your day in advance because you know well that “failing to plan is planning to fail”. If it makes good sense to plan your daily actions why not plan your daily thoughts and emotions as well? That would be great, right? After all it is thoughts that guide actions. Fueling your actions with the right thoughts and statements can only add to your success in Life and Business. Incorporating Power Quotes in your everyday routine can only be beneficial.
As humans we are hardwired to observe patterns. It is more or less consciously that we scan daily life events in order to detect mechanisms and fundamental patterns we can use for survival and happiness. We are on the lookout for a better system, a better pattern that will allow us to lead more meaningful and prosperous lives. What I like about powerful inspirational statements is that they invite the reader to contemplate an alternative existence, a career they never thought before, a different life direction, a new challenging goal. Maintenance is required though. I believe motivation is a muscle. It doesn’t happen by itself and it doesn’t last long. You have to train, maintain and feed it daily or it will become atrophied. Likewise, I regard success less as a linear process leading to a goal and more like a muscle you develop gradually. You cannot succeed at some point in your career and just rest on your laurels. It is daily practice and training at being successful that guarantees long-term success in Business and Life.
The statements included here have been a source of reflection and inspiration for me. They have influenced my worldviews, shaken certain beliefs, stimulated my imagination, strengthened my willpower, and helped me overcome tough challenges in my own personal and professional life. I have been using many of these quotes as a daily vitamin to uplift my mood and enter into the most advantageous mood state depending on the specific situation I find myself in. Words are wonderful things. They are free though and can be misused. If used in a wrong way language can end up being pretty limiting, demoralizing, and often destructive. What makes Power Quotes effective is that the impact words have in our brain, emotions, habits, and decisions is not only immediate, but also ongoing. People tend to perceive words—especially spoken ones—as volatile and impermanent. Words do fly but not as far as you might think. If not used in a smart and conscious way they can turn into haunting bats. Optimum use of positively loaded language is necessary to uplift our mood and thus enable our brain to function at its best before it can serve the life goals each of us has set for themselves.
The strength of Power Quotes lies precisely on the ongoing power carried by intentionally spoken words. The impact of those words and thoughts that we, either consciously or unconsciously, keep repeating in our mouths and heads is unbelievably strong. The main aim of this book is to be a source of inspiration and a trigger for action in your daily life. In the pages that follow you will find powerful statements that will stimulate your brain and nourish your soul. These statements will hopefully motivate you to stand up and step forth, from where you stand currently to where you want to move next on various levels of your life. These quotes have helped change and shape my professional and personal life for the better. It is my hope that they will have a similar impact on yours.