What do the people I admire most have in common? Empathy and altruism, and the ability to get things done.
Inspirational people have made a huge impact on my life. People like Sir Edmund Hillary, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Jimmy Carter, Mahatma Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela. Each strongly focused and dedicated to a particular cause.
Their struggles and achievements fueled a desire I’ve had since my college years in the ‘50s to do something, whatever I could, to fight poverty.
In that same spirit, I encourage you to find some quiet time this week. Reflect on how you can best renew your focus and commitment in the new year to your own causes.
From the pages of An Accident of Geography, here are some favorite quotations that perhaps will help guide your thoughts towards patience, persistence, and thinking big:
“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. In this life we get nothing save by effort.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
“Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
– T.S. Eliot
“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”
– Nelson Mandela
“If you confront your problems rather than avoid them, you will be in a better position to deal with them.”
– His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama
“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
– William Butler Yeats
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
– Nelson Mandela
“I entered politics young and impatient, and full of confidence that government could be used to better people’s lives. My faith has not dimmed.”
– Walter F. Mondale
“We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes–and we must.”
– Jimmy Carter
“Because of strong motivation, you keep plugging on.”
– Sir Edmund Hillary
Richard Blum
Thomas C. Hayes
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