Monday, March 07, 2005
Quotes and notes
I spent a little time this weekend Googling for a wallpaper I could use of the Adidas Impossible is Nothing campaign that had the full quote ("Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men..."
) with the picture of the defiant/triumphant Ali in the ring. (Anybody who knows where I can find such an image for personal use, please email me.
Buried deeeeep in a Google search result was this little gem from the NC (North Carolina, USA) Soccer.Net website that had several great quotes (IMAO) about the nature of winning. Besides the text of the Ali quote I was following,
Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they\u2019ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. its an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. its a dare. impossible is potential. impossible is temporary. IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING.
There was also this great, humbling quote attributed to Michael Jordan:
I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.
That is going to get mounted beneath the Edison quote plaque for reinforcement and encouragement on the days when things not only don't go according to plan, they argue forcefully against the existence of any plan. To wit:
Unfortunately, many of life's failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed because every wrong attempt discarded is just one more step forward.
Useful words to remember when, for example, pondering pulling up stakes yet again and moving business and personal life to another place Far,Far Away.
