Words To Live By - Thoughts To Ponder by Michael E. Angier (book club recommendations TXT) 📕

The Success Networks
A Compendium of Words to Live By,
Thoughts to Ponder and Ideas to Share

By Michael E. Angier

I’ve been collecting quotations and inspirational poems and
stories for over 25 years. Words well written, deeds well done
and lives well lived have always inspired me.
Many of the following messages have been previously published in
Success Strategies and we share them again in the hopes they will have as
much meaning for you as they have to so many others.
Some of these writings are old and may have been attributed to
different people. We’ve done the best we can to properly source them.
If you know for sure that they are not properly attributed, please let us
know.
Feel free to share this collection with others.
—Michael E. Angier

To see thousands of inspiring quotations,
visit http://www. SuccessNet.org/library.htm


Copyright © MM
Success Networks International, Inc. and Michael E. Angier
This document may be reprinted and shared as long as it is not altered in any way
and contains all contact and copyright information. It may not be sold.
Success Networks International
Phone 802.862.0812 w Fax 425.988.7300
E-mail: [email protected]
Michael Angier is the founder and president of Success Networks International,
publishers of Success Strategies, Insight and Success Digest. Success Net is an association
committed to helping people be more knowledgeable, productive and effective. Their
mission is to inform, inspire and empower people to be their best—personally and
professionally. Free membership, subscriptions, books and SuccessMark™ Cards
are available at http://www.SuccessNet.org


Good Enough
My child, beware of “good enough,”
It isn’t made of sterling stuff;
It’s something anyone can do;
It marks the many from the few.
The flaw which may escape the eye
And temporarily get by
Shall weaken underneath the strain
And wreck the ship, the car or plane.
With “good enough,” the car breaks down,
And one falls short of high renown.
My child, remember and be wise,
In “good enough,” disaster lies.
With “good enough,” the failures rest
And lose the one who gives the best.
Who stops at “good enough” shall find
Success has left them far behind.
For this is true of you and your stuff—
Only the best is “good enough.”
—author unknown


Our Deepest Fear
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond
measure.
It is our Light, not our darkness, that most
frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does
not serve the World.
There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so
that other people won’t feel unsure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God
that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
As we let our own Light shine; we unconsciously
give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear; our
presence automatically liberates others.
—Marianne Williamson


Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in
silence. As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare
yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be
greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your
plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the
changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world
is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons
strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for
in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress
yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a
wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a
right to be here. And whether or not is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding
as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever
your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your
soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be
careful. Strive to be happy.
—Max Ehrmann, 1927


Who Am I?
I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half the things you do, you might just as well turn over to me,
And I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.
I am easily managed; you must merely be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done,
And after a few lessons I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of all great men
And, alas, of all failures as well.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine, though
I work with all the precision of a machine
Plus the intelligence of a man.
You may run me for profit, or run me for ruin;
It makes no difference to me.
Take me, train me, be firm with me
And I will put the world at your feet.
Be easy with me, and I will destroy you.
Who am I?
I am habit!
—author unknown


The Man in the Glass
When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself
And see what that man has to say.
For it isn’t your father or mother or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass.
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.
You may be like Jack Horner and chisel a plum
And think you’re a wonderful guy.
But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.
He’s the fellow to please—never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear to the end.
And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the man in the glass is your friend.
You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass.
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.
—author unknown
The use of the male gender is acknowledged.
We chose not to alter the poem to make it politically correct.
Thanks for letting it be.


Attitudes
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude
on life.
Attitude, to me, is more important than the past, than
education, than money, than circumstances, than failures,
than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It
is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It
will make or break a company…a church…a home. The remarkable
thing is we have a choice every day regarding the
attitude we will embrace for that day.
We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact
that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the
inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one
string we have, and that is our attitude…I am convinced
that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to
it.
And so it is with you . . . we are in charge of our
Attitudes.”
—Charles Swindoll


Don’t Quit
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low, and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a person turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far.
So stick in the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worse,
That you must not quit.
—author unknown


Live Each Day to the Fullest
Live each day to the fullest. Get the most from each hour,
each day, and each age of your life. Then you can look forward
with confidence and back without regrets. Be yourself, but be
your best self. Dare to be different and to follow your star. And
don’t be afraid to be happy. Enjoy what is beautiful. Love with
all your heart and soul. Believe that those whom you love, love
you. Forget what you have done for your friends, and
remember what they have done for you. Disregard what the
world owes you, and concentrate on what you owe the world.
When you are faced with a decision, make that decision as
wisely as possible—then forget it. The moment of absolute certainty
never arrives. Above all, remember that God helps those
who help themselves. Act as if everything depended on you and
pray as if everything depended on God.
—author unknown


Excellence
Excellence is never an accident. It is achieved in an organization or institution
only as a result of an unrelenting and vigorous insistence on the
highest standards of performance. It requires an unswerving expectancy of
quality from the staff and volunteers.
Excellence is contagious. It infects and affects everyone in the organization.
It charts the direction of a program. It establishes the criteria for planning.
It provides zest and vitality to the organization. Once achieved, excellence
has a talent for permeating every aspect of the life of the organization.
Excellence demands commitment and a tenacious dedication from the
leadership of the organization. Once it is accepted and expected, it must be
nourished and continually reviewed and renewed. It is a never-ending process
of learning and growing. It requires a spirit of motivation and boundless energy.
It is always the result of a creatively conceived and precisely planned effort.
Excellence inspires; it electrifies. It potentializes every phase of the organization’s
life. It unleashes an impact which influences every program,
every activity, every committee, every staff person. To instill it in an organization
is difficult; to sustain it, even more so. It demands imagination and
vigor. But most of all, it requires from the leadership a constant state of selfdiscovery
and discipline.
Excellence is an organization’s life-line. It is the most compelling answer
to apathy