More Words to Live By

A few years ago, I wrote the post Words to Live By. Since including a version of it in my book, Sacred Coffee: A “Homesteader’s” Paradigm, I’ve read other quotes that ring particularly true for me for various reasons. It’s about time to revisit the topic.

Most, but not all of these come from the daily quotes found in my Franklin Covey planner (see The Franklin Planner: An Unlikely Homesteading Tool). Hopefully, you’ll find these inspirational, as I have done.

“Change and growth take place when a person has risked himself and dares to become involved with experimenting with his own life.” —Herbert Otto (see Living on the Edge: Security Through Insecurity.)

“Few are they who have never had the chance to achieve happiness . . . and fewer those who have taken that chance.” —André Maurois (see Develop Healthy Attitudes Toward Your Belongings.)

“Conditions are never just right. People who delay action until all factors are favorable do nothing.” —William Feather (This one goes right along with the William Menninger quote in Words to Live By.)

“I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness [see Foraging: Finding Food For Free!] and respecting her seniority [see Attuning to Natural Rhythms: “Livin’ by the Moon and Tide”] .” —E. B. White

“Be yourself and think for yourself, and while your conclusions may not be infallible, they will be nearer right than the conclusions forced upon you.” —Elbert Hubbard (see Beyond “Conventional Wisdom”: Thinking Critically in the Information Age (Part 1).)

“Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we ever learn from books.” —John Lubbock (see Unschooling: Self-Directed Learning on the Homestead.)

This last one reminds me of my favorite Shakespeare quotation (see And this, our life…).

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3 Responses to More Words to Live By

  1. Patricia says:

    Oh, amigo. Franklin Covey? Seriously?

    My wish for you in 2014 is that you explore the world of real thinkers.

    Franklin Covey? *shudders*

  2. Patricia says:

    Wow, did you delete my comment?

    Here’s the thing. No one takes Franklin Covey seriously. He was the whole 90’s thing about making employees tow the line. I am very sad that you still take him seriously.

    Okay, well, we’ll see. You have an internet connection, you have access to so many wise thinkers. None of whom ever affiliated with FRanklin Covey. Seriously? I can’t believe you ever fell for that shtick.

  3. Mark Zeiger says:

    Hi Patricia, comments are held for approval, and as today’s post shows, connectivity’s been spotty lately.

    I think you may be thinking of Stephen Covey, the guy who took over and tacked his name onto the Franklin Planner system, named for Benjamin Franklin, who developed a similar personal scheduling system to that used by the planner.

    If you haven’t already, please read this post: The Franklin Planner: An Unlikely Homesteading Tool. This will better explain why I find the Franklin Planner so helpful. It also expresses some of my opinions of the “recent” change.

    I apologize to no one for using the planner. It’s been extremely important to my life since I started using it around 1996. I believe this was before Covey came on board. I know little about him, and have not found any of his “innovations” and changes to the Planner look and feel useful to me personally. I simply continue to use the original, basic methods to organize my life, and it works. It should be obvious that I am not taking Covey’s philosophies seriously. Do you think that, if I embraced his teachings, I’d be living as I do? This blog would not exist if that were true.

    I don’t see my continued use as “buying in” to Covey’s precepts. At best, I sometimes feel vaguely uncomfortable that people who see me use the planner might assume that I do, or that I’m a member of his religion, which I most definitely am not. The benefits of using the system outweigh the risks.

    Nor do I turn solely to the daily quotes for inspiration! Please don’t assume that I’m that shallow! Many days I forget to read it. A large number of the quotes have no bearing on my life whatsoever, or advocate philosophies I oppose. But, it remains a source, along with many others in my reading, that occasionally offers a nugget of wisdom that appeals to me. I wouldn’t have mentioned the source of the quotes in the essay above at all, except that my Franklin Planner has been mentioned here before, and has been an important feature in my life.

    So, your wish has come true. I’ve been exploring the world of real thinkers since 1965, about the time I got good at reading. I do not regard Mr. Covey, for all his money and success, a “real thinker,” nor do I feel that quoting thinkers make one a thinker oneself. Perhaps the essay above is clear enough indication of that?

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