"The strongest oak tree of the forest is not the one that is protected
from the storm and hidden from the sun. It's the one that stands in the
open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the 
winds and rains and the scorching sun."

Napoleon Hill
1883-1970, Writer

"Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for
that determines our success or failure."

Norman Vincent Peale
1898-1993, Author of "The Power of Positive Thinking"

"You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to
do so. For remember, fear doesn't exist anywhere except in the mind."

Dale Carnegie
1888-1955, Speaker and Author

"We pay a heavy price for our fear of failure. It is a powerful obstacle
to growth. It assures the progressive narrowing of the personality and
prevents exploration and experimentation. There is no learning without
some difficulty and fumbling. If you want to keep on learning, you must
keep on risking failure - all your life."

John W. Gardner
American Educator and Public Official

"I skate where the puck is going to be, not where it has been."

Wayne Gretzky
Former Professional Hockey Player

"Bigness comes from doing many small things well. Individually, they are
not very dramatic transactions. Together, though, they add up."

Edward S. Finkelstein

"An invincible determination can accomplish almost anything and in this
lies the great distinction between great men and little men."

Thomas Fuller
1608-1661, British Clergyman and Author

"Your mental attitude is something you can control outright and you must
use self discipline until you create a positive mental attitude - your
mental attitude attracts to you everything that makes you what you are."

Napoleon Hill
1883-1970, Author of "Think and Grow Rich"

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"You will never be happier than you expect. To change your happiness,
change your expectation."

Bette Davis
1908-1989, Oscar Award-Winning Actress

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Struggles

When he was a small boy, he had loved butterflies. Oh, not to net and
mount them, but to wonder at their designs and habits.

Now a grown man with his first son to be born in a few weeks, he found
himself once again fascinated with a cocoon. He had found it at the side
of the park path. Somehow the twig had been knocked from the tree and
the cocoon had survived undamaged and still woven to the branch.

As he had seen his mother do, he gently protected it by wrapping it in
his handkerchief and carried it home. The cocoon found a temporary home
in a wide-top mason jar with holes in the lid. The jar was placed on the
mantle for easy viewing and protection from their curious cat who would
delight in volleying the sticky silk between her paws.

The man watched. His wife's interest lasted only a moment, but he studied
the silky envelope. Almost imperceptibly at first, the cocoon moved. He
watched more closely and soon the cocoon was trembling with activity.
Nothing else happened. The cocoon remained tightly glued to the twig and
there was no sign of wings.

Finally the shaking became so intense, the man thought the butterfly would
die from the struggle. He removed the lid on the jar, took a sharp pen
knife from his desk drawer, and carefully made a tiny slit in the side
of the cocoon. Almost immediately, one wing appeared and then outstretched
the other. The butterfly was free!

It seemed to enjoy its freedom and walked along the edge of the mason jar
and along the edge of the mantle. But it didn't fly. At first the man
thought the wings needed time to dry, but time passed and still the
butterfly did not take off.

The man was worried and called up his neighbor who taught high school
science. He told the neighbor how he had found the cocoon, placed it in
the mason jar, and the terrible trembling as the butterfly struggled to
get out. When he described how he had carefully made a small slit in the
cocoon, the teacher stopped him. "Oh, that is the reason. You see, the
struggle is what gives the butterfly the strength to fly."

And so it is with us. Sometimes it's the struggles in life that strengthen
us the most.

****************************************

When you face your fear, most of the time you will discover that it was
not really such a big threat after all. We all need some form of deeply
rooted, powerful motivation - it empowers us to overcome obstacles so we
can live our dreams."

*****************************************

Good Leaders make people feel that they're at the very heart of things,
not at the periphery. Everyone feels that he or she makes a difference
to the success of the organization. When that happens people feel centered
and that gives their work meaning."

*****************************************

"Every memorable act in the history of the world is a triumph of
enthusiasm. Nothing great was ever achieved without it because it gives
any challenge or any occupation, no matter how frightening or difficult,
a new meaning. Without enthusiasm you are doomed to a life of mediocrity
but with it you can accomplish miracles."

Og Mandino
1923-1996, Speaker and Author

*****************************************

"The only way to live is to accept each minute as an unrepeatable miracle,
which is exactly what it is - a miracle and unrepeatable."

Margaret Storm Jameson
1891-1986, Writer

*****************************************

How many times have you used excuses to rationalize your way out of
success? Zig Ziegler calls the phenomenon "Stinkin' Thinkin'" and warns
us about "hardening of the attitudes."

Wilma Rudolph is an example of how an undying belief in one-self can be
the catalyst to overcoming problems. Polio took a toll on Wilma as a
child. For six years she wore braces and could not walk, but she believed
the braces would someday come off. The doctor was doubtful Wilma would
ever walk correctly, but he encouraged her to exercise. Wilma didn't
understand that she might be permanently handicapped. She thought that if
a little exercise was good, a lot must be very good. When her parents
were away, Wilma would take off the braces and try again and again to
walk unaided. When she was eleven, she told her doctor, "I have something
to show you." Wilma removed her braces and walked across the room. She
never put them on again.

Wilma wanted to play sports. After some false starts at basketball, she
finally confronted her coach, saying, "If you give me ten minutes a day,
I will give you in return a world-class athlete." The coach laughed
uncontrollably but agreed to give Wilma the time. When basketball season
was over, Wilma turned to track. By age fourteen she was on the track
team, and by sixteen she was encouraged to prepare for the Olympics.
Wilma Rudolph won a bronze medal at the 1956 Olympics and three gold
medals at the 1960 Games.

Belief in yourself and hard work can make you a world-class individual
in whatever area you choose. What will you have if you give up? What can
you have if you keep on trying?

Alan C. Elliott
Author of "A Daily Dose of the American Dream

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you
become by achieving your goals."

Zig Ziglar
Speaker and Author

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes
off the goal."

Henry Ford
1863-1947, Founder of Ford Motor Company

"Some people are making such thorough preparation for rainy days that
they aren't enjoying today's sunshine."

William Feather
1889-1981, Author and Publisher

"Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I
have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly
as possible before handing it on to future generations."

George Bernard Shaw
1856-1950, Irish-Born Writer

"Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've
got a second. Give your dreams all you've got and you'll be amazed at the
energy that comes out of you."

William James
1842-1910, Psychologist and Author

"Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible.
This power becomes available to you just as soon as you can change your
beliefs."

Dr. Maxwell Maltz
1899-1975, Author

"I have often been afraid, but I would not give in to it. I made myself
act as though I was not afraid and gradually my fear disappeared."

Theodore Roosevelt
1858-1919, Former American President

"Everything works out right in the end. If things are not working right,
it isn't the end yet. Don't let it bother you, relax and keep on going."
Michael C. Muhammad

"You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself."

Ethel Barrymore
1879-1959, Academy Award Winning Actress

"The difference between good and great is the attention to details."

Dietmar Backer
Educator, Hairstylist and Father

"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to
become what they are capable of being."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
1749-1832, German Poet and Novelist

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

Albert Einstein
1879-1955, Physicist and Nobel Laureate

"The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions
and not our circumstances."

Martha Washington
1731-1802, Former First Lady

"No person was ever honored for what they received. Honor has been the
reward for what they gave."

Calvin Coolidge
872-1933, Former President of the United States

"When one door closes another one opens; but we so often look so long and
so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which
open for us."

Alexander Graham Bell
1847-1922, Inventor and Teacher of the Deaf

"You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body,
but you will never imprison my mind."

Mahatma Gandhi
1869-1948, Indian Political and Spiritual Leader

"There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who
face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other."

Douglas Everett

"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which
difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish."

John Quincy Adams
1767-1848, 6th U.S. President

"The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of
persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail."

Napoleon Hill
1883-1970, Author

"Maturity begins when we're content to feel we're right about something,
without feeling the necessity to prove someone else is wrong."

Sydney J. Harris
1917-1986, Syndicated Columnist

"If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write
things worth reading or do things worth writing."

Benjamin Franklin
1706-1790, US Statesman and Scientist

"Believe it can be done. When you believe something can be done,
really believe, your mind will find the ways to do it. Believing
a solution paves the way to solution."

Dr. David Schwartz
Author of "The Magic of Thinking Big"

"Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream of things that
never were and say why not."

John F. Kennedy
1917-1963, Former U.S. President

"Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it."

George Halas
1895-1983, Pro Football Coach

"The deeds you do today may be the only sermon some people
will hear today."

St. Francis of Assisi
1182-1226, Italian Preacher

"The game of life is the game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and
words return to us sooner or later, with astounding accuracy."

Florence Shinn
1871-1940, Writer

"The deeds you do today may be the only sermon some people
will hear today."

St. Francis of Assisi
1182-1226, Italian Preacher

"When we see ourselves in a situation which must be endured and gone
through, it is best to make up our minds to it, meet it with firmness,
and accommodate everything to it in the best way practicable. This
lessens the evil, while fretting and fuming only serves to increase
your own torments."

Thomas Jefferson
1743-1826, 3rd U.S. President

"A positive attitude is perhaps more important at home than anywhere
else. As spouses and parents, one of our most vital roles is to help
those we love feel good about themselves."

Keith Harrell
Speaker and Author

"If doubt is challenging you and you do not act, doubts will grow.
Challenge the doubts with action and you will grow. Doubt and action
are incompatible."

John Kanary
Speaker and Success Coach

"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not
a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."

William Jennings Bryan
1860-1925, Speaker, Lawyer and Presidential Candidate

"When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself."

Wayne Dyer
Psychotherapist, Author and Speaker

"Everyone who has ever taken a shower has had an idea. It's the person
who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it that
makes a difference."

Nolan Bushnell
Founder of Atari

"Goals give you more than a reason to get up in the morning; they are an incentive to keep you going all day. Goals tend to tap the deeper resources and draw the best out of life."

Harvey Mackay
Author and Speaker

"Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized
anyway."

Eleanor Roosevelt
1884-1962, Former First Lady

"The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it,
but what they become by it."

John Ruskin
1819-1900, British Artist and Author

"Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to
unlocking our potential."

Sir Winston Churchill
1874-1965, Former British Prime Minister