Quotable Quotes: Eternity of Change
by Miki SaxonIt is the time of year that we look back, marveling at the speed with which the last 12 months have past and forward, wondering and planning for the next 12. Whichever direction you choose to focus, the one thing that is guaranteed is that there has been/will be change.
Arthur Schopenhauer summed this up quite pithily when he said, “Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal.”
And although change is constant, it is good to keep in mind Ellen Glasgow’s wise warning, “All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward.”
Even when change does facilitate growth and moves you closer to your goals it may still be a difficult path to follow. As Arnold Bennett points out, “Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.”
I don’t really agree with Thoreau’s view, “Things do not change; we change.” Perhaps it was true then, although I doubt it, but it certainly isn’t true today.
What is true was best phrased by Dean Acheson, although I’m sure it’s been said in many ways before and since, “Always remember that the future comes one day at a time.”
Each of us is changing every second of every minute of every day; Gail Sheehy says, “If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.”
Bruce Barton states the same thought, but more pithily, “When you are through changing, you are through.”
But it is Gandhi who offers up the most powerful reason to change, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Consider it; make 2011 the year you change yourself and in doing so you will change your world.
Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackheart/457852359/
December 12th, 2010 at 2:07 am
Miki,
These quotes are timely for me as I am facing big changes professionally. I appreciated waking up to them in my inbox this morning. You consistently write helpful material that helps me learn. Occasionally, you write something that makes me shake my head, but then I spend time thinking about your perspective and I learn from that, as well.
Thanks!
December 12th, 2010 at 2:55 am
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December 12th, 2010 at 8:24 am
Hi Becky, I’m surprised that your head shaking is only occasional, but if something I write causes you to think and possibly strike off in a new direction, not necessarily mine, then I am honored.
Congratulations on the changes you have wrought and the launch of http://www.weavinginfluence.com.