Top Ten Meaningful Quotes

"We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."

~ T.S. Eliot

To me, this is a beautiful description of the learning process.

I love the concept of always exploring . . . asking questions, investigating, being curious, not being stuck in a rut or a box. I especially love it with kids. Kids are naturally curious about their environment. It would be wonderful if we could foster that more.

And I love the way that T.S. Eliot describes the "end" of our exploring as being back where we started and knowing the place for the first time.

Doesn't that feel empowering and exciting?

It does to me.

It's like the big, wide-eyed look on a child's face when he or she discovers something new, or an "aha" moment for an older person. It's that place where you just sort of stop and say, "Wow." It's where you have a clearer picture of something like never before. And ironically, it's not the "end" of the exploring, but another beginning.

"Sometimes all you can do is say, 'Wow.'"

~ Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes

This quote flows from the first one.

It's somewhat frivolous in that it comes from a fun kid's book.

Yet it has a deep meaning. There's just way too much cool stuff in our world - - nature, kid's learning, "aha" moments, kind things that people do, incredible books . . .

And I just have to stop and say, "Wow."

"To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom."

~ Socrates

This is really profound to me. Socrates says that to know yourself is the beginning of wisdom.

Wisdom is the application of knowledge or insight.

So, why would knowing yourself be the beginning of wisdom?

Well, I believe that knowing yourself is the starting point for your best life - - which requires the application of knowledge or insight about who you are.

I often use a map as an analogy to explain this. You know those maps that have a big, red, "you are here" arrow? You often see them in malls or in communities. That arrow is the first thing you look for when you go to look at one of those maps. Without it you wouldn't really have a clue how to get where you're going.

It's the same thing with life. Knowing who you are is that "you are here" arrow. It sets you firmly in place. It gives you your bearings - - your passions, values, characteristics, talents, beliefs, gifts. And it allows you to determine where you're going (your dreams and vision for your life) and how you're going to get there (your goals and life purpose).

So, it's the starting point for all you want to be, do and have in your life.

And, it's really only the beginning of wisdom, because it also then extends to others. I think that when you know yourself, you're able to see others more clearly too. You're able to see that they're just like you . . . that they're valuable . . . that they're doing the best with what they know just like you are.

"One can choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances."

~ Viktor Frankl

Viktor Frankl was a Holocaust survivor. He endured the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp. But he kept his perspective positive. He chose to learn from his circumstances and ended up creating a model of Psychotherapy called Logotherapy, which proposes that searching for meaning is a human's greatest drive.

His story is motivating. It's so easy to get caught up in circumstances and negativity.

But it's so true that how we view our circumstances is a choice. We can choose a positive, productive, creative, forward moving attitude. Or we can choose a destructive, negative, stifling attitude.

Someone else said something like, "It's not what happens to us that matters, but how we respond to it."

I think that's true.

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful that the risk it took to bloom."

~ Anais Nin

I spent a lot of my life afraid to step out and be all I could be. It was like being tight in a bud. It seemed safe for a while . . . comforting, actually. Opening up is what seemed risky and painful.

But over time, as living in fear continued to keep me from where I wanted to be, it became more and more uncomfortable until the pain of being closed was more than the perceived pain of opening up.

Funnily enough, the opening up ended up not being painful at all. I just told myself it was all those years.

"We should never shy away from the challenges that face us out of fear of failure or an unwillingness to battle the odds. We should confront our problems head on and make no excuses."

~ Kyle Maynard

Have you ever had a hard time going for your dreams or reaching your goals? Have you been stopped by challenges or fear?

Like I shared above, I have.

But when I read No Excuses by Kyle Maynard, I was motivated to get over my crap (to put it bluntly).

Kyle is an incredible young man who overcame apparently insurmountable obstacles (no arms or legs) to become greatly successful . . . as a wrestler.

If he can do it, so can I!

Most of the time, excuses are just ways to hide in our fear. We think they keep us safe, but they really keep us locked up and far from where we really want to be. Taking on a philosophy of "no excuses" is freeing. And it's never as scary on the other side as we think it's going to be!

"It's good to shut up sometimes."

~ Marcel Marceau

This quote is hilarious to me, not only because it's very true, but because Marcel Marceau was a mime. I crack up about that!

On a more serious note, though, it is good to shut up sometimes. Often we're too quick to react or reply in anger or upset. Often we say things we later regret; things that hurt other people. I've learned that sometimes shutting up, pondering things and cooling down is the best way to go.

"When doing becomes infused with the timeless quality of Being, that is success."

~ Eckhart Tolle

This quote takes me back, almost to the beginning of my list. It's very much connected to what I wrote about the quote by Socrates about knowing yourself, but takes it deeper. Tolle also says, "Knowing yourself is to be rooted in Being, instead of lost in your mind."

Being lost in your mind, or being ego-oriented has to do with being attached to forms . . . things . . . circumstances.

Being rooted in Being has to do with being aware that what you are is consciousness. It has to do with being present in the moment, not tied to external things, not focused solely on the doing and striving for success in outward things. Doing comes from Being. It's infused with Being.

Tolle says that's success.

"Even though each of us is only one person, consider the effect that is created when the energies of our hurt, hate, bitterness, fear, sorrow, anger and resentment resonate with all the other people in the world who are experiencing the same feelings. What transpires when our negative energies combine with everyone else's? . . . If enough of us are suffering and everything we feel, think, say and do is projected outward, how does this affect the world around us?"

~ Karol Truman

The ripple effect can also go the other way.

What would happen if our love, forgiveness, courage, joy and positive energy was projected outward?

What would happen if each of us, just in our own little world, could create a circle of this positive energy?

And what if those little circles in our own lives connected with one other person, and then another, and then another . . . all across the planet?

It's worth thinking about.

"Love like you've never been hurt."

~ Satchel Paige

This is closely tied with Karol Truman's quote, above, I think. I think so because when we've been hurt and we focus on that, we tend to close off. We tend to stay stuck in the pain or the anger or the self-condemnation or the hatred. And when we focus on that inside ourselves, it comes out in our words and actions.

If, instead, we love like we've never been hurt before, we're free from that "stuckness." It's easier to say than it is to do. And, yet, it's a choice we can all make.

"Your job as a parent (or mentor or teacher) is to do your best to instill positive messages that those in your charge are whole, complete, wanted, loved, amazing human beings with innate gifts as well as challenges - and you are there to assist them."

~ Jay Fiset

For me, this also connects with the concept of knowing who you are and know that you're worthy. Personally, I find it sad that so many people don't know that they're worthy - - that they're whole, complete, loved, wanted, amazing human beings. I believe that a lot of the challenges in our world stem from this lack of self love, which plays out in terms of lack of love of others and the planet.

As a parent, this was a concept that I wanted to instill in my kids and I know I did a good job at that. Other things, maybe not such a good job . . . but this I did well.

I want to help spread it to others as well.

Disclosure: I earn money from the sale of items on this page.