Saturday, February 20, 2010

How much do quotes reveal about you?

Answer any of the following:

1-What do you think about the idea of quotes in general?

2-Have you heard of any of these before?

3-Do you have a favorite from this list?

4- What do all of these quotes have in common?


A-Too Much of a good thing can be wonderful.


B-It is not enough to win everyone else must also lose.


C-To do well one must be hardcore and forward thinking.


D-The truly great giants and geniuses of American business habitually worked 16 and 18 hour days often seven days a week and seldom took vacations. As a result, most of them lived to a ripe old age.

33 comments:

  1. I haven't heard of any of the mentioned qoutes,
    I do think qoutes in general do say alot about a person and the way the person thinks and acts on life.

    My favourite qoute is: " Todays gratitude buys you tomorrows happiness".
    I came across it in a book I was reading by Paul McKenna and it was very appropriate at the time.

    Yvonne.

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  2. Since I have an MA in English Literature, one could say I am quotation-obsessed. I have a weekly quotation on my blog (your comment on this week's brought me here) and my favorites are permanently on the sidebar. Yes, I do believe that a person's choice of quotations says a lot about their dreams and hopes for themselves. Often, our favorite quotations represent what we want the world or themselves to be rather than reflecting reality. Hope and dreams can be powerful forces of good in the world.

    As for the quotations you selected here, I've heard the first two before. What do they have in common? I disagree with them all, LOL! My favorite quotation sums up my personal philosophy of life: "What we see depends mainly on what we look for." Just goes to show you can end a sentence with a preposition and still impress an English geek. ;-)

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  3. 4D is true for Indians also. :)
    After working for 18 hours my father will say, "Tommorow I will work somewhat for more hours." :)
    His favorite quote is 'Work is worship.'

    4 I think all the four quotes say work, work and only work.

    Best wishes. :)

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  4. I have a huge collection of quotes. I try not to live by maxims, because on analyzation, most of them don't pan out, like the ones mentioned here. They just sound good or amusing.

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  6. It sounds like the above quotes were said by business people who worked hard and started from the ground up to be successful and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

    You strike me as one of those people.

    I agree with all of those except for B. If I am winning or being successful, I don't want others around me to lose. But on the other hand, I can understand this saying in the sales/ business world. But I am not cutthroat like that. I don't live my life by that rule. That is probably why I can't stand sales.

    But, I do agree that to do well, one must be hardcore and forward thinking if they want to be in the game for a long time. Luck alone does not do the trick. One must also be resilient.

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  7. They are all misquoted.

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  8. Never heard these exact quotes, but I think D has a ring of truth, perhaps not so much a work work but from the standpoint of staying busy and having goals to which to look forward.

    I like quotes, but I usually can't remember them.

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  9. Usually, I love quotes. Love to tweet 'em as well. But, that last one reminded me of another one:

    No-one ever laid on their deathbed and thought, "Gee. I should have spent more time at the office."

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  10. I like quotes, especially B above. These all have a dose of irony. Good stuff. My favorite is Ralph Waldo Emerson's "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
    Then there's my own: "The most precious form of life is the child. Second is the cacao plant."
    Have a good one, Tom.
    Robyn

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  11. Hmm interesting -

    1-What do you think about the idea of quotes in general?

    I think they are a good way to sum something up eloquently. I like to use them for various things. They usually have a good impact when they are written well.

    3-Do you have a favorite from this list? Maybe C


    4- What do all of these quotes have in common? Seems like they all have to do with determination and working hard. I probably wouldn't use any of them, but for some they may be okay.

    Thanks! Er

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  12. Quotes can be very inspiring, but I believe we should find our own unique words...

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  13. I love quotes.. they tell such big truths in so few words...

    I like A

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  14. I haven't heard any of these quotes before. I generally do like quotes, and if understood properly, they can convey a lot without much explanation. I liked A. It is positive. B and C seem negative to me, and D, frankly, did not make much sense to me.

    The common factor among the four is about doing well. My favorite among the four is A. Too much of a good thing is indeed wonderful :)

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  15. I haven't heard of the quotes above. Too much of a good thing can certainly be wonderful, one one level. On another level, it can also lead to unhappiness.

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  16. I love quotes and I use them on my Daily Grace blog and on Twitter every day. I am unfamiliar with the quotes mentioned above and they are not the type of quotes that I find inspiring or useful. Quotes that I believe are inspiring and useful are those that put into words what we already know to be true in our own minds but have never verbalized. They initiate a chain of deeper thoughts that can lead to many places. As usual, Tom, great blog.

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  17. I love quotes... I'm always posting them either on my blog or on my Facebook...

    As always, quotes are subject to interpretation... I tend to interpret them as I see fit... and then see how they apply to my Life and how I live it...

    Quotes (B) and (D) seem to imply an opportunity cost... I am very much a Type B Personality... so my short-lived career as a stock broker was Hell on Earth...

    I think in order to be successful, it helps that one be focused and forward thinking, but I don't think its necessary... I also don't agree that I have to win at someone else's expense.

    ~shoes~

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  18. I don't care much for any of those quotes although I think they highlight that focus is key to success.

    Mad Hatter

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  19. I am afraid I don't know these quotes. They seem very eighties to me if you don't mind me saying. They sound like quotes by eighties Yuppies. They seem very greed focused.

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  20. I like 'D' it was just the think I needed to hear. I've been feeling down about my writing and all the rejection letters but this quote has given me a new point of view.
    I think that's the point of a quote, it is suppose to offer a fresh outlook and impart a wisdom.
    Thanks for this Tom.
    Warm regards,
    Simone

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  21. I think quotes like tastes change often as we evolve. Sometimes I can read a quote and it won't resonate with me. A week, a month or a year could pass and all of a sudden that quote is profound and inspiring.

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  22. I would like to comment on the last quote as they worked hard and lived to a ripe old age but I often wonder how happy they were. I guess they helped their family to get the American Dream.I can't help to think of the spouse who hardly saw the love of their life as in those days it wasn't easy to work from home like today in the age of information technology. They sacrificed so much for their children and grandchildren and all those to follow. I guess they received happiness through seeing their children befitting from their hard work. It's kind of sad to me for the actual person sacrificing through such hard work.

    I do have a favorite quote for character building: "The strongest oaks grow where the strongest winds blow."

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  23. Quotes can be quite inspiring. They can also be sappy or cheesy. I just heard the phrase "Cheese Tweeter" referring to people who post cheesy quotes on twitter daily. Thought I would share this new-found slang word, lol. None of the quotes above are "cheesy" they strike me as very sales, or business oriented if I look at them as having similarities.

    ...but, separately, some could be taken another way. For example:

    "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful" -I love this quote, it makes me think of family and friends. In comparison to the others it can be interpreted as greed, but I didn't see it that way.

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  24. Quote D reminds me of words by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, writing about Thomas Edison;

    "The heights that great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight.
    But they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night."

    There appears to be truth in energy and dynamism being healthy and good for the soul. Einstein said "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving"

    I concur.

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  25. did you create those quotes? I think they are related with the importance of work and have the mind occupied in reasoning with good results...

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  26. I came across it in a book I was reading by Paul McKenna and it was very appropriate at the time.

    Work From Home

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  27. I LOVE quotes! I post a bunch of them around a different theme every Monday. I've never come across any of yours though, and it's always great to find new ones. What sources do you use?

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  28. I love quotes - use them extensively on FB, in Tweets, my blog and throughout workshops and presentations. The quotes you offered do not appeal to me, are not memorable to me, or something I would quote.

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  29. Quotes have made alot of people into icons. Alot can be told from an internalized thought put into words. It takes something stagnent, and causes it to vibrate with intensity. Plug it into the universe, and you have something very special.
    Thanks,
    Dr. Bob Moulas

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  30. Yes, I think we have to be forward thinking to do well, but then too much forward thinking can be detrimental. How about straight thinking? And how about thinking appropriately for the times and for the purpose? I think this is more important. And quotes in general are great, but that's just in general. Because, quotes do generalize, and we all don't fall into the same boxes like that... we all don't think and behave and react the same way, do we? I don't think so...

    Nevine

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  31. Quotes are a good starting point. It just gives you something to chew on.

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  32. I generally love quotes and use them when I want to say something in a few words. But I'm not sure I like these...they make me uncomfortable and I'm not sure why. Very interesting, for all that.

    I'll have to think on them some more, Tom...

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  33. Pardon if this post comes out twice. Edits are a nightmare for me. But like the Its Bitsy Spider the rain washed out, I keep trying.
    I find quotes and adages so instructive and inspiring. I have no favorite per se but they can be useful reminders when dealing with people , situations and life in general.
    Early bird gets the worm, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, or from the spanish, palo doblado nunca enderece, a bent stick can never straighten, tell me who you walk with and I'll tell you who you are, and so on. LoL..always nice to have a bartlettes nearby, with its own treasure trove.
    Many can encapsulate thousands years of human experience in just a few lines passed on just for us.
    My father always said "nothing is more beautiful than a simple and honest person". haven't seen that one embedded anywhere, and the latter certainly seems to be an extinct if not endangered species. In a post wiki era, that has touched on and exposed the corporate worlds skewed ethics..Corporate accountability does not seem to bear any resemblance to our own , a saying that Watergate Atty Mitchell used when caught durin the Nixon years, was "when the going gets tough, the tough get going" .
    Indeed they did. these types know just how to put meaning in adages. but in directing ones heart in the face of adversity, embarrasment, I often use "take care of the senses, and let the sounds take care of themselves".
    Sayings can have powerful force in the right circumstances..they can pop out of nowhere, and for the superstitious, or esoterically inclined, perhaps they were meant for the reader. It is said, there are no accidents.

    Happy holidays to all, and to all a Happy Holdays.

    Manuel

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