As I reflect on 2017, here are quotes that inspired me on my journey in life and in my work. May they do the same for you in 2018.
“But life is every grain of sand in the hourglass. And it is running. And once run it is gone forever.”
~ Sr. Joan Chittister, author and international lecturer
“Happiness can be attained by letting go, including letting go of your ideas about happiness.”
~ Thick Nhat Hanh, author and Zen Buddhist monk
“What God gave Adam was not forgiveness from sin. What God gave Adam was the right to begin again.”
~ Elie Wiesel, a Romanian-born American Jewish writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor
“What’s on the lips makes it way to the heart.”
~ From Voices in the Stones by Kent Nerburn
“Non-fear is the greatest gift we can offer to those we love. Nothing is more precious. But we cannot offer that gift unless we ourselves have it.”
~ Thick Nhat Hanh, author and Zen Buddhist monk
“What else can be more worth it than giving the gift of the perfect question in a world uncomfortable with the answers but too frightened or too complacent or too ambitious to raise these doubts again?”
~ Sr. Joan Chittister, author and international lecturer
“When you sit in silence with joy, you can hear the heartbeat of the earth.”
~ Jolie Davis, dear friend
“Possibility opens when we are vulnerable enough to be seen and courageous enough to live in integrity.”
~ Vicki L. Flaherty, industrial/organizational psychologist and dear friend
“Warning: in the age of accelerations, if a society doesn’t build solid floors under people, many will reach for a wall – no matter how self-defeating that would be. Addressing that anxiety is one of today’s great leadership challenges.”
~ Thomas L. Friedman, author and writer for The New York Times and three time Pulitzer Prize recipient
“In the twenty-first century, knowing all the answers won’t distinguish someone’s intelligence – rather the ability to ask all the right questions will be the mark of true genius.”
~ John E. Kelly III, IBM’s senior VP for cognitive solutions & IBM Research