Thoughts 31OCT2013

Listen a hundred times; ponder a thousand times; speak once - Kurdish Proverb

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Ahjar xih u gharef milli zaghzugh u ibleh - Maltese Proverb

Better (marry) an old but wise man than a young but foolish man - Maltese Proverb

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A person is a person because of other persons - South Sotho Proverb

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Con el tiempo y la paciencia se adquiere la ciencia - Spanish Proverb

Patience, time and money accommodate all things - Spanish Proverb

Thoughts 30OCT2013

LEADERS' ENERGIZED

The world of the '90s and beyond will not belong to managers or those who make the numbers dance, as we used to say, or those who are conversant with all the business and jargon we use to sound smart. The world will belong to passionate, driven leaders - people who not only have an enormous amount of energy but who can energize those whom they lead.

Jack Welch, Chairman and CEO of General Electric - extracted from "Speaker's Sourcebook II", Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994

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There's no substitute for experience - Spanish Proverb

Thoughts 29OCT2013

WINNING

Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all time thing. You don't win once in a while, you don't do things right once in a while ... you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit.

  

Unfortunately, so is losing. Make the most of what we have. Make winning, not losing, a habit - Vince Lombardi

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We're all a little crazy in one way or another - Spanish Proverb

Thoughts 28OCT2013

ON COURAGE

Courage ... is nothing less than the power of overcome danger, misfortune, fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm inwardly that life with all its sorrows is good; that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there ids always tomorrow.

Dorothy Thompson (1894-1961) Journalist - cited in "Bits & Pieces"

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Mischief comes by the pound and goes away by the ounce - Spanish Proverb

Thoughts 25OCT2013

ON EXCELLENCE

Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.

Mario Andretti - extracted from "Speaker's Sourcebook II", Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994

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Sometimes the remedy is worse than the disease - Spanish Proverb

Thoughts 24OCT2013

EXCELLENCE

Some people may have greatness thrust upon them. Very few have excellence thrust upon them. They achieve it. They do not achieve it unwittingly, by doing what comes naturally and they don't stumble into it in the course of amusing themselves. All excellence involves discipline and tenacity of purpose.

John Gardner - Extracted from "Speaker's Sourcebook II", Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994

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Half the truth is often a whole lie - Spanish Proverb

Thoughts 23OCT2013

THEN WHAT?

Henry Ford always bought flowers for his wife from a shop every Friday evening. Once, he asked the old florist, "Gentlemen, you have a good shop. Why not open a branch?" Florist, "Sir, then what?" Henry Ford, "You will then have several branches in Detroit". Florist, "Sir, then what?" Henry Ford, angrily, "Damn it, you will then be able to relax". Florist, "That is what I am doing even now". Ford walked away sheepishly.

Extracted from "Management Thoughts" by Promod Batra, Golden Book Centre Sdn Bhd, reprinted 1995.

To speak is to sow, to listen is to reap - Kurdish Proverb

Thoughts 22OCT2013

DON'T CRY OVER SPILT SOUP

An old Chinese farmer was walking along the road with a stick across his shoulder. Hanging from the stick was a pot filled with soy bean soup. He stumbled and the jar fell off and broke into pieces. The old farmer kept going, unperturbed. A man rushed up and said excitedly, "Don't you know that you jar broke?" "Yes", the old farmer answered. "I know, I heard it fall." "It's broken; the soup is gone - what can I do about it?" he asked.

extracted from "Management Thoughts" by Promod Batra, Golden Book Centre Sdn Bhd, reprinted 1995

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A thousand friends are too few; one enemy is one too many - Kurdish Proverb

Thoughts 21OCT2013

POINTS TO PONDER

Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, that what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company or a home. The remarkable thing is, we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have and that is our attitude - Charles Swindoll (Strengthening Your Grip) - extracted from Reader's Digest, July 1995 - Points to Ponder

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Live life to the fullest and focus on the positive - Matt Cameron

Thoughts 18OCT2013

ON RELATIONSHIPS

Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get - only what you are expecting to give - which is everything. What you will receive in return varies. But it really has no connection with what you give. You give because you love and cannot help giving. If you are very lucky, you may be loved back. That is delicious but it does not necessarily happen - Katherine Hepburn

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The love we give away is the only love we keep - Elbert Hubbard

Thoughts 17OCT2013

POINTS TO PONDER

No organization can depend on genius; the supply is always scarce and unreliable. It is the test of an organization to make ordinary human beings perform better than they seem capable of, to bring out whatever strength there is in its members and to use each man's strength to help all the others perform. The purpose of an organization is to enable common men to do uncommon things.

Peter F Drucker - extracted from "April 1996 Edition of 'Reader's Digest'"

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Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you will get neither - C S Lewis

Thoughts 16OCT2013

GOLDEN RULES FOR LIVING

If you open it, close it. If you turn it on, turn it off.

If you unlock it, lock it up. If you break it, admit it.

If you can't fix it, call in someone who can.

If you borrow it, return it. If you value it, take care of it.

If you make a mess, clean it up. If you move it, put it back.

If it belongs to someone else and you want to use it, get permission.

If you don't know how to operate it, leave it alone.

If it's none of your business, don't ask questions.

If it will brighten someone's day, say it.

If it will tarnish someone's reputation, keep it to yourself.

Author Unknown - extracted from "A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for The Soul", Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, Health Communications, Inc., 1996

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Failure is success if we learn from it - Malcolm Forbes

Thoughts 11OCT2013

ON LEADERSHIP

If people are coming to work excited ... if they're making mistakes freely and fearlessly ... if they're having fun ... if they're concentrating on doing things, rather than preparing reports and going to meetings - then somewhere you have a leader

Robert Townsend - extracted from "Speaker's Sourcebook II", Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994

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Nothing is impossible to a willing heart - John Heywood

Thoughts 10OCT2013

ON LIVING

Ninety percent of the world's woe comes from people not knowing themselves, their abilities, their frailties, and even their real virtues. Most of us go almost all the way through life as complete strangers to ourselves.

Sydney J Harris (1917-1986), Syndicated Columnist - Cited in "Bits & Pieces"

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Equality is not easy, but superiority is painful : Serere

Thoughts 09OCT2013

ON RELATIONSHIPS

Almost all married people fight, although many are ashamed to admit it. Actually, a marriage in which no quarrelling at all takes place may well be one that is dead or dying from emotional undernourishment. If you care, you probably fight : Flora Davis

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Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions : Albert Einstein 1879 - 1955

Thoughts 08OCT2013

ON WINNERS

I play even when common sense should tell me that I no longer have a chance. Even when I have been playing at my worst, or when all the breaks have been going against me, I approach each new day, each new hole, as a glorious opportunity to get going again.

Arnold Palmer - Professional Golfer, Cited in "Bits & Pieces"

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Learning makes some into Mullahs and some into devils : Afgani Proverb

Thoughts 07OCT2013

A FRIEND INDEED

A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out. Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend : Albert Camus

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PEACE TO THE WORLD

If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world : Chinese Proverb

Thoughts 04OCT2013

MONEY

I've been working since I was young - out on the courts practising, practising. It's a big investment of time. I'm one of the lucky ones - I got a return on my investment ... Money is good, money makes thing happen - it's how you direct it, what you do with the money that's important. When money starts owning you, you're in trouble.

Billy Jean King - extracted from "Bits & Pieces", The Economic Press, Inc., Fairfield, New Jersey, USA.

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We know the worth of water then the well is dry : Chinese Proverb

Thoughts 03OCT2013

ENSURE QUALITY LIFE

You can't control the length of your life, but you can control its width and depth.

You can't control the contour of your countenance, but you can control its expression.

You can't control the other person's opportunities, but you can seize upon your own and make the best of them.

You can't control the weather, but you can control the atmosphere which surrounds you.

You can't control the distance that you head will be above the ground, but you can control the level of the contents of that head.

You can't control the other person's annoying faults, but you can see to it that you yourself do not develop or habour similar propensities.

A verse from Southern Statesman newsletter - extracted from "Speaker's Sourcebook II", Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994.

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Of all the thirty-six alternatives, running away is the best : Chinese Proverb

Thoughts 02OCT2013

THREE THINGS

Three irrevocable things in your life are :

Words ... Time ... and Change

Three undeniable things in your life :

Serenity ... Honesty ... and Hope

Three gems of your life are :

Love ... Self Esteem ... and True Friends

Source Unknown : found framed on the walls of Chiang Mai International Airport, Thailand

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If you are tough you don't live longer, if you are weak don't die faster : Somali Proverb