6 Quotes to Inspire Success

Posted on Dec 20, 2010 in Top-10's | 11 comments

Complacency and procrastination can be like a disease. It can handicap us and keep us from taking that one chance to apply ourselves to reach the level of success we are capable of. We can choose to sit back and not take a chance when the bills are being paid. We can make excuses about why we don’t take that step into then unknown when the bills are not being paid.

To achieve success whether it’s personal or professional, or even relationships or sports, we must take a chance. Until we submit ourselves to the scrutiny of the task at hand, success remains beyond reach. Since the dawn of man, we have wrestled with the procrastination that keeps us from stepping out of our comfort zone, but great men have always been there to remind us, with simple words, why we should step out and risk failure against success.

“Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.”

Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) Henry Ford was a visionary. We know him as the man behind Ford Motor Company, but Henry Ford took chances early in Life. He gave up being a farmer and taking over the family business and instead chose to head to Detroit to work as a machinist. By 1891 he was working for Thomas Edison and experimenting with gas powered engines. In 1899, he formed his first car company, but business was not easy at first and failed by 1901. Ford persisted and started his second automobile company that same year with investor William H. Murphy. Ford was replaced in his position as chief engineer and by 1902 had left the Henry Ford Company. That company became Cadillac. In 1903, Ford found another investor and started the company that became Ford Motor Company. That company leads the automotive industry in America today.

“Life is “trying things to see if they work””

Ray Bradbury (August 22, 1920) Ray Bradbury is one of the most prolific American authors of all time. Without a college education he ventured out with one ideal – To Live Forever – as he was instructed to do by a carnival sideshow entertainer. Bradbury chose to be an author. What better way to have a legacy that lives on forever. Bradbury published his first story at age 18 and by 19 he was publishing his own magazine. To date Ray Bradbury has published 23 novels, over 400 short stories, numerous screenplays, children’s books. He is a master of speculative science fiction (Fahrenheit 451) and has inspired thoughts that have designed our future.

“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there”

Will Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) The most famous American cowboy ever was actually a Native American Cherokee and a high school drop out, but he never gave up on himself or people in general. Rope tricks propelled Will Rogers to stardom, but his mind and wit kept him there. Rogers became an actor in Hollywood and on Broadway. He wrote over 4000 news columns and penned six books. He commented on the condition in America and led his life as a role model of how to be American. His life was tragically ended in a plane crash, but not before he assured his place in history and as an inspiration to both men and women.

“It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, “Always do what you are afraid to do.””

Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) Emerson attended Harvard College at the age of fourteen and graduated at eighteen. His lectures and essays changed the way people would think and still influence the great minds of our generation. He espoused individuality and our ability as men and women to achieve success and realize that anything is possible. Sir Oliver Wendell Holmes deemed Emerson’s speech ‘The American Scholar’, the “American Intellectual Declaration of Independence”.

“I haven’t failed, I’ve found 10,000 ways that don’t work”

Thomas Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) Edison tested over 3000 filaments before he succeeded in creating the light bulb. He didn’t just light up the world. He ignited minds to strive for what was impossible. Not everything Edison did was a success, but he learned from his mistakes. Some mistakes taught harder lessons than others. While experimenting with x-rays Edison invented the Fluoroscope, the first machine that took dynamic pictures of the inside of the human body. His assistant Clarence Dally was employed as his test subject at state fairs and exhibitions. The unit used such a large amount of radiation that Dally suffered the effects and lost his life to cancer induced by the radiation, in 1904. Edison suffered as well, losing the ability to focus one eye and other painful visual symptoms, but the science behind that invention is still in use and saving lives today.

“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.”

Colin Powell (April 5, 1937) Born the son of Jamaican immigrants, Colin Powell saw education as his chance to live the American dream. College introduced him to the military. As a soldier and then a statesman, Powell served in the administrations of five U.S. Presidents holding positions as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff, Commander of the US Army Forces Command, National Security Advisor and United States Secretary of State. Powel was never afraid to speak his mind and disagreed publicly with several Presidents.

None of these men lead a complacent lifestyle.  More than one turned their hobbies into successful businesses. Complacency and procrastination can be our downfall. To be a success on any level we must believe we can be successful and take a chance. Sometimes the chance will be calculated and planned and other times we will take a risk. If we’re sitting on the sidelines and not playing in the game of life, we sell ourselves short. We sell our families short and maybe, just may be we are selling the world short, because one of us may be the next great businessman, writer, entertainer, lecturer, inventor or general.