We, humans, are a social species, and that’s why words and how we communicate have the power to shape our emotions. With that in mind, I have gathered together 23 quotes that I believe will inspire and fortify you for whatever 2023 may bring. They are the words of iconic leaders like Nelson Mandela and John F. Kennedy, the poet and author Maya Angelou, holocaust survivor and psychotherapist Viktor Frankl, and the Toltec sage Don Ruiz Miguel. Some date back hundreds of years to the French Enlightenment, while others are phrases I have recently coined. What they all have in common is that they have been an essential source of guidance and comfort to me and a pleasure to share with all of you.
1. The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude. — Oprah
2. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past, or present are certain to miss the future. – John F. Kennedy
3. Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. – James Baldwin
4. The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. – George Bernard Shaw.
5. The most important thing in communications is to hear what isn’t being said. – Peter Drucker
6. Communication leads to community, that is to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing. Rollo May
7. Listening is the willingness to have your mind changed. –Oscar Trimboli
8. Teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability.– Patrick Lencioni
9. You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try. –Beverly Sills
10. There is no greater impediment to getting on with other people than being ill at ease with yourself. –Honore de Belzac
11. Don’t make assumptions, and don’t take things personally. –Don Ruiz Miguel
12. The best is the enemy of the good. – Voltaire
13. Everyone one you meet knows something you don’t. –Bill Nye
14. It is not joy that makes us grateful, but gratitude that makes us joyful. — Brene Brown
15. We see the world not as it is, but as we are. –Varela
16. Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. — Nelson Mandela
17. If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. — Maya Angelou
18. The most important conversations are those you have with yourself.
19. Change before you have to. —Jack Welch
20. It always seems impossible until it is done. — Nelson Mandela
21. The less you need anything, the more power you have.
22. Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. –Viktor Frankl
23. And finally: Get comfortable with being uncomfortable!