Success has as many definitions as there are people and the best ones are those that are private. You know, the ones you think about at 3 am or hug to yourself as you fall asleep at night.

Most of the quotes about success follow predictable lines and there are enough to count instead of sheep if you’re having problems sleeping. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad choice for today, it just means I had to look a little harder to avoid boring you.

Oh well, in a salute to the norm we’ll start with Harry F. Banks comment, “For success, attitude is equally as important as ability.” Or we can translate it to Miki-speak and say it’s all in your MAP.

And that means, as Adlin Sinclair said, “You are the embodiment of the information you choose to accept and act upon. To change your circumstances you need to change your thinking and subsequent actions.”

Lily Tomlin hit the nail on the head when she said, “The road to success is always under construction”

And Anon backs that up with a nice little play on words, “Success comes in cans; failure in can’ts.” (I love language plays like that.)

Albert Einstein offers up a great formula for success, “If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.” Funny how many people forget just how critical ‘Z’ is to achieving ‘A’.

But it is T.S. Eliot who offers up the real truth of the subject, “Success is relative: It is what we can make out of the mess we have made of things.”

Your comments—priceless Don’t miss a post, subscribe via RSS or EMAIL

Image credit: alter1fo on flickr

I am a believer in truth, but not in Truth.

I find those who believe they speak Truth to be scary—rigid, righteous, lacking empathy, incapable of seeing any view except their own.

Those who speak truth know that it can change—research, new information, a view from a different angle—all these can alter truth.

Because truth is dynamic—continually growing and changing as the human race evolves.

Two quotes from Albert Einstein give great insight into the pursuit of truth…

“Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”

“The search for truth is more precious than its possession.”

Oscar Wilde reminds us of something that is especially important considering today’s rigid attitudes…

“A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.”

Finally Max Born sums up my attitude and feelings in one eloquent sentence…

“The belief that there is only one truth, and that oneself is in possession of it, is the root of all evil in the world.”

Your comments—priceless

Don’t miss a post, subscribe via RSS or EMAIL

Image credit: Jeremy Brooks on flickr

Post from Leadership Turn Image credit: szlea

Einstein, like other true thought leaders, was a sound byte master whose comments are as true today as when he said them.

Even those said at different times about unrelated subjects seem to line up rationally, like these well-known four.

• The important thing is not to stop questioning; curiosity has its own reason for existing.
• Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
• Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
• Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

I don’t know abut the former, but I have no doubts that Einstein’s right about the latter in this comment.

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.

How many “experts” could explain a theory that turned the scientific world on its collective head using just 33 words to produce two sentences that a child can understand?

When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it’s longer than any hour. That’s relativity.

Finally, viable words for those of us who don’t buy the idea of a personal deity concerned with the price of gas, accumulation of wealth or finding a job.

I believe in Spinoza’s God, Who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God Who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind.

Your comments—priceless

Don’t miss a post, subscribe via RSS or EMAIL