October, 2000 "Apple Seeds," Motivation, Inspiration Quotations

Patience in Anger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chinese proverb

"If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow."

Great Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Luis Martin

"Methodologies are to great teaching what a musical score is to the sound of a great symphony. The score does not make the sound; human beings do. Following the same score, a gifted musician creates art and a poor one treats the audience to a musical catastrophe.
"Teaching is an action that emanates from a person, the teacher. The qualities of that person will ultimately determine the nature and quality of the teaching."

Sense of Destiny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. Scott Peck, A World Waiting To Be Born, p. 69

"I have never known a genuinely talented person who achieved ‘greatness’ without a sense of destiny—who did not, years before such achievement, experience an almost burning sense that she or he was called to grand and glorious achievements."

Being Open-Minded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous, God’s Little Instruction Book II, p. 13

On Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in her "My Day" column "Sometimes I wonder if we shall ever grow up in our politics and say definite things which mean something, or whether we shall always go on using generalities to which everyone can subscribe, and which mean very little" (July 1, 1940).

Fairy Tales & Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A youngster asked his father, "Dad, do all fairy tales start with, ‘Once upon a time?’"
The father replied, "No, son, some of them start with, ‘If I am elected…’"

No Nonsense Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard Sloma

    "It is impossible to achieve lasting and worthwhile personal success at the expense of others. Sooner or later, one’s reputation catches up with him.
    The mark of someone with ambition is easily discernible. Stated simply, it’s the ability to build a team and lead it to achieve the firm’s goals. Leadership, a degree of selflessness, competence and integrity are all presumed. Enthusiasm, lack of cynicism and a reach toward ideals provide the uplift and spark to mold and move an organization.
    Everyone, inescapably, projects an image. To present the right image one must first develop the right inner person."

For Parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edith F. Hunter

"The walks and talks we have with our two-year-olds in red boots have a great deal to do with the values they will cherish as adults."

Leadership Combination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf

"Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy."

The More I Studied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Albert Einstein

"The more I have studied physics, the more I realize I do not know. To me, the real lesson of my whole life was that the more I know, the more challenged I am to know, and the wider my mind is open to new ideas and new concepts."

Real Seekers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bits & Pieces, Feb. ‘90, p. 21

"Mark Twain said that he had never known a real seeker of truth. Sooner or later everyone engaged in that search found what they were looking for and gave up the quest."

Wisdom Seeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous

"We are not put on this earth to see through each other, but to see each other through."
"One outstanding success can often cover a multitude of blunders."

Instrument of Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alan Paton

"The gospel is full of reassurances to us, some of them startling. You are salt of the world! You are light to all the world! These words were exciting to those who heard them. Things might be dark but they are to be the light of the world. They were given a new sense of their value as persons. Of these none was greater than Francis of Assisi. He might well have prayed:

There are therefore two things for us to do. The first is never to doubt that God can use us if we are willing to be used, no matter what our weaknesses. The second is to see that God can use any other person who is willing to be used, whatever his weaknesses, and if need be, to assure him of this truth."

Covey’s Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stephen R. Covey, Seven Habits of Highly Successful People

"If I were to summarize in one sentence the single most important principle I have learned in the field of interpersonal relations, it would be this: Seek first to understand, then to be understood."

Visioneering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dennis Deaton, INSIGHT, # 83, 6

"Visioneering is the mental engineering of dreams into physical reality through sensory-rich mental imaging.
Mental Creation. The beginning of great achievement is the formulation of an idea. Not only can the mind perceive what is, but it can also conceive what can be. A goal involves a commitment to pursue the experience and make it a physical reality."

One of These Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rev. Norman Vincent Peale,
Plus-The Magazine of Positive Thinking, Oct. ‘96, p. 5

One day a man met Rev. Peale and said to him, "Dr. Peale, I just finished your latest book and I am really working at doing what you suggest. One of these days, I am going to learn how to live."
Another time, Rev. Peale referred to a best-selling book called Peace of Mind by Rabbi Joshua L. Liebman. "I got that book, too…and I’m making a study of it," he said again. "I am really going to learn how to live someday. You know how messed up my life has been at times and everything seems to go wrong. Well, I’m going to correct that and learn how to live. I really am."

Do What You Can . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous

"Forget that you cannot do enough;
it is enough to do whatever you can."

Give Heed to Conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William James,
Guidewords: Anthology of Inspiration and Humor, p. 90

"Could the young but realize how soon they will become mere walking bundles of habits, they would give more heed to their conduct…We are spinning our own fates, good or evil, and never to be undone.…Young people should know this truth in advance. The ignorance of it has probably engendered more discouragement and fait-heartedness in youths embarking on arduous careers than all other courses put together."

The Present Opportunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Pitts, SOUNDINGS, Vol. 6, # 3, p. 23

"A first-century writer advised that ‘redeeming time’ and ‘using the present opportunity to the fullest’ was the way to accomplishment. It is advice for us today, too. It applies in business…in education…in the ordinary relationships of daily living."

A Giving Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sower’s Seeds of Encouragement,# 62

    There is an old tale about an unusual tree that grew outside the gates of a desert city. It was an ancient tree, a landmark, as a matter of fact. It seemed to have been touched by the finger of God, for it bore fruit perpetually. Despite its old age, its limbs were constantly laden with fruit. Hundreds of passersby refreshed themselves from the tree as it never failed to give freely of its fruit.
    But then a greedy merchant purchased the property on which the tree grew. He saw hundreds of travelers picking the fruit from his tree, so he built a high fence around it. Travelers pleaded and pleaded with the new owner, "Share the fruit with us."
    The miserly merchant scoffed, "It’s my tree, my fruit, and bought with my money."
    And then an astonishing thing happened—suddenly, the ancient tree died! What could have happened? The law of giving, as predictable as the law of gravity, expresses the immutable principle: when giving stops, bearing fruit ceases, and death follows inevitably.

Plant these "seeds" well and water often. Enjoy!