Benjamin Franklin on war, peace and self-improvement

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.

~ Benjamin Franklin

Jodi Picoult on happiness

There are two ways to be happy: improve your reality, or lower your expectations. 

~ Jodi Picoult, American writer

Jordan Peterson on self improvement

Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.  See, that's a game you can win.  The possibility that you can make yourself slightly better on a continual basis... I think that's something that's accessible to everyone.  I think that's equivalent to leading a virtuous life.  There's something to be said for virtue and truth.  That's another thing I've noticed about people who have been phenomenally successful, is that they really do everything they can to live a truthful life.  You get a bloody long ways by being honest.

~ Jordan Peterson, speech on YouTube, 3:30 mark, July 26, 2021

Fortune cookie: "The architect of your destiny..."

The architect of your destiny is yourself.

~ fortune cookie

"The Rock" on success

Success at anything will come down to this: focus and effort, and we control both.

~ Dwayne Johnson

Ben Franklin on making excuses

I never knew a man who was good at making excuses who was good at anything else.

~ Ben Franklin

Scott Mautz on making excuses

Excuses are an attempt to dodge accountability and blame. Confident people embrace accountability and don't worry about being blamed. They own their mistakes and command respect accordingly. They don't hide behind circumstances or lack of resources to justify not accomplishing something.

~ Scott Mautz, "Highly Confident People Avoid These 14 Behaviors," Inc., December 8, 2019

Scott Mautz on indecision

Choosing not to decide is still a choice, a corrosive one. Indecision is often born from insecurity, a fear of making the wrong decision and looking bad. Highly confident people don't worry about who's right, they worry about what's right. And if they decide incorrectly, so be it. Onward. Upward. Live and learn.

~ Scott Mautz, "Highly Confident People Avoid These 14 Behaviors," Inc., December 8, 2019

Scott Mautz on negative energy

When negative people project their unhelpful vibe into the universe, it's often a cover up. They don't feel good about themselves or something in their life and so want to project that sentiment elsewhere. Confident people aren't having it, because they don't need to build themselves up by tearing other people or things down.

~ Scott Mautz, "Highly Confident People Avoid These 14 Behaviors," Inc., December 8, 2019

Michael Jordan on failure

Failure always made me try harder the next time.  That's why my advice has always been to "think positive" and find fuel in any failure.

~ Michael Jordan

George Washington Carver on excuses

Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.

~ George Washington Carver, botanist and chemist

George Washington Carver
1948

Bethany McLean on making excuses

[A]t the end of the day, no one actually cares why you got it wrong. All that matters is that it’s wrong. And if you don’t think in terms of excuses, you’re less likely to make a mistake in the first place.

~ Bethany McLean, "My Goldman Sachs Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (And Why I'm Grateful)," February 19, 2014

Lou Holtz on determination

Ability is what you're capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it.

~ Lou Holtz

Kevin Duffy on positive attitude

Be positive. Positive emotions are life’s fuel, negative emotions life’s baggage. Keep a full tank and travel light.

~ Kevin Duffy

Ralph Waldo Emerson on positive attitude

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer