One of my favorite people to quote is Dr. Seuss—and it’s even
more fun because his quotes are frequently
rhymes. Since I love to read and travel I especially liked this quote:
The more that you read,
the more that you'll know.The more that you learn,
the more places you'll go.
Dr. Seuss
Of course, he was referring to the transportation that takes place in
your mind as you read and imagine possibilities and not necessarily for the
physical travel. But I still like it.
In reading quotes for this post I came across an Australian Aboriginal Proverb that is very close to a Proverb I like in the Bible:
Those who lose dreaming are
lost.
Australian Aboriginal Proverb
I had heard the Bible version of this proverb a long time ago, but
every time I tried to find it, I couldn’t. I finally realized why I couldn’t
find it two weeks ago when my Pastor quoted it—I prefer the NIV (New
International Version) and this verse, is slightly changed—unfortunately the
key words I looked it up by: vision and perish, were the words that were
changed. I originally heard it in the King James Version (KJV). The verse is;
Where there is no vision the
people perish…
Proverbs 29:18a
You have to have a vision. But equally important is being able to problem
solve. Critical Thinking is a skill we need to instill in our children—rather than
teaching to test (teaching just to
pass a specific test).
When I was working on my Masters, I took a Problem Solving class and
one of the first activities we did was to figure out a riddle about how to get
Missionaries safely across the piranha infested river with only two canoes and a bunch
of Cannibals. The solution involved taking steps that to the casual observer,
might appear to be going backward. This of course, was a lesson that sometimes you have to take a few steps
back in order to advance. What
appears to be a set-back, may in fact advance you in the long run. That’s a
great lesson to learn. Military leaders and sports coaches, among others, use this strategy. It’s not one I can stomach
easily, because I want to always make forward progress. But it is a fact of life and once you learn
it, those temporary setbacks, don’t have the paralyzing power that they might have if you viewed
backward motion as always being negative. John Clarke said it this way:
Go back a little to leap
further.
John Clarke
Just like I have several favorite Dr. Seuss quotes, Thomas Edison is someone else who said several things I like—most
have to do with working hard as the foundation to success. But he also has
several quotes about failure. You wouldn’t think he would know anything about
failure—at least I never thought of it, but he had his share of failures—just
as we all have. Here are three of my
favorites:
I failed my way to success.
Just because something doesn't
do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless.I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that will not work.
Thomas Edison.
While I was looking for some of my favorite failure quotes I came across many who said the same thing. It seems
failure is rampant—even among the successful. That gives me hope. Thomas
Bailey Aldrich and Theodore
Roosevelt, said it best:
They fail, and they alone, who
have not striven.
Thomas Bailey Aldrich
It is hard to fail, but it is
worse to have never to have tried to succeed.
Theodore Roosevelt
And what about turning failure into success? I love a good come-back-from-behind story. I root for the underdog—unless they are
playing the Cowboys or the Saints (in that order). Henry
Ford was someone that knew how to
turn a failure into a success. He said:
One who fears failure limits his
activities. Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again.
Henry Ford
Okay, so everyone fails at something, but how do you turn it around?
When I was in Nursing School, one of my jobs was to work in the Campus Health Center,
which was run by an RN, named Margret Petrick. Ms. Petrick was also an artist and
loved to paint. I told her I couldn’t paint and made too many mistakes. She
quickly corrected me and said, “There are no mistakes—only opportunities for
embellishment.” I don’t know if she was
quoting someone else or not, but I loved that sentiment and I have employed it myself
on a number of occasions—especially since I’ve recently become very interested
in art of many different media. James Joyce knew this. He said:
Mistakes are the portals for
discovery.
James Joyce
Since I’m thinking of Ms. Petrick and her painting advise, I have to
end with the best Dr. Seuss quote—especially
for anyone who creates anything. I love to write and I’m learning to draw,
paint, work with clay, and take photos. I love the creative process. In
every single instance, when I am creating something I come to a place, anywhere
from two-thirds to three-fourths of the way through, when I look at whatever I
am creating and I think This is crap! There is no saving this! However, I have found
if I keep on doing whatever it is, be it writing or painting, etc., if I work
through the wall of negativity, I invariably find I have created something I like.
Dr. Seuss said it this way:
Everything stinks 'til it's
finished.
Dr. Seuss So turn those backward steps into a forward motion, embellish your mistakes, and make your vision a reality!
This blog post ismy contirbution to the A to Z Blogging Challenge 2015, in which Bloggers from around the world, representing every skill level and interest, blog every Monday through Saturday during the month of April, using the letters of the alphabet as their inspirtaiton. Tommorrow is the letter R and as usual I'm clueless as to what I might write about...
Loved your quotes!
ReplyDeleteThanks Donna. I tried my version of a Rondeau for R (I was late posting) and today for S I've written a Haiku and Limerick. But once again, when I didn't have paper and pen, I came up with a really quite limerick and it's evaporated. I'm looking forward to catching up on reading your posts. You've inspired me to look at new poetry forms (and ones long forgotten).
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I love the Thomas Edison quote. I'm going to share that with my pupils :)
ReplyDelete