“The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement... It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”
James Truslow Adams, The Epic of America
The Gettysburg Address
Abraham Lincoln, Bliss version. Read more
It is impossible for me to explain the impact in words, just like Lincoln felt his words could never hallow or consecrate the ground more than the actions that had already taken place.
“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”
Archimedes
This is powerful to me because my life is about influence and leverage. This is how you create change.
“Many hands make light work.”
My mom, and of course others before her
“Everyone is capable of speaking truth.”
DWH
Do not discount the knowledge others can provide you, even when they hold widely different philosophical views.
“We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions.”
Stephen Covey, reworded
“Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.”
“Plans are worthless, but planning is indispensable.”
“Measure twice, cut once.”
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
Often attributed to Einstein
The better version is the application of that philosophy in context: “It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience.”
“Sokath, his eyes open!”
Dathon, Tamarian captain, Darmok, Season 5, Episode 2 of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Common stories create connections and can act as shorthand to express something extremely rich. As the content available to us has increased dramatically over the last ten years, I have been pained that we are losing this connection and shared story.