Norman Vincent Peale

A Methodist minister, Peal, born in Bowersville, Ohio, made effective use of radio, television, and newspapers to promote his ideas and philosophy - perhaps best described in his best known book - The Power of Positive Thinking.

1. Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure.

2. The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.

3. Getting people to like you is merely the other side of liking them. - from The Power of Positive Thinking

4. There is a real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment.

5. Believe you are defeated, believe it long enough, and it is likely to become a fact.

6. Plan your work for today and every day, then work your plan.

7. Your enthusiasm will be infectious, stimulating and attractive to others. They will love you for it. They will go for you and with you.

8. Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities -- always see them, for they're always there.

9. We tend to get what we expect.

10. Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you don't have any problems, you don't get any seeds.

11. We struggle with the complexities and avoid the simplicities.

Theodore Roosevelt

Soldier, explorer, conservationist, writer, New York Governor, and 26th US President, Roosevelt (1858-1919) was at the same time a realist and a romanticist. extended the powers of the US presidency, and established what later became the National Park system. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for mediating an end to the Russo-Japanese war and promoting construction of the Panama Canal.

1. No man is above the law and no man below it.

2. Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.

3. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

4. Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

5. The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.

6. In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

7. Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster.

8. I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head.

9. No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency.

10. No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his body, to risk his well-being, to risk his life in a great cause.

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Roberts Thatcher (1925 - ), was the first woman to be elected Prime Minister in the history of Europe. She was elected to the House of Commons in 1959, elected leader of the Conservative Party in 1975, became Prime Minister in 1979, and went on to become the longest serving British prime minister of the 20th century.

1. I'm extraordinarily patient provided I get my own way in the end.

2. I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near.

3. You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.

4. I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left. - London Daily Telegraph, 3/21/86

5. I usually make up my mind about a man in ten seconds, and I very rarely change it.

6. Pennies do not come from heaven--they have to be earned here on earth.

7. If you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you.

8. To wear your heart on your sleeve isn't a very good plan; you should wear it inside, where it functions best. - from an interview with Barbara Walters, 3/18/87

9. In politics if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman. - from People Magazine, 9/15/75

10. You don't tell deliberate lies, but sometimes you have to be evasive.

Harry S. Truman

Truman (1884-1972), born in Lamar, Missouri, was a captain in World War I, a judge, a senator, vice president, and, following the death of Franklin Roosevelt, the 33rd US president. He was known for his stong basic values, his no-nonsense attitude, and his plain speaking. While Truman received rough treatment from his critics while in office, hhe is one of the most admired past presidents. Among his accomplishments were bringing the second World War to a swift conclusion, helping to establish NATO and the UN, and implementing the Marshall Plan for economic recovery in Europe after the war.

1. The buck stops here.

2. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

3. Study men, not historians.

4. Being too good is apt to be uninterresting.

5. I always considered statesmen to be more expendable than soldiers.

6. If I'd known how much packing I'd have to do, I'd have run again. - on leaving the White House, from Time Magazine, 1/26/53

7. Any man who has had the job I've had and didn't have a sense of humor wouldn't still be here.

8. We must have strong minds, ready to accept facts as they are.

9. Some of the presidents were great and some of them weren't. I can say that, because I wasn't one of the great presidents, but I had a good time trying to be one, I can tell you that.

10. If you can't convince them, confuse them.

11. A politician is a man who understands government and it takes a politician to run a government. A statesman is a politician who's been dead for fifteen years.

12. I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.

13. It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose your own.

14. I always remember an epitaph which is in the cemetery at Toombstone, Arizona. It says: "Here lies Jack Williams. He done his damnedest." I think that is the greatest epitaph a man can have.

George Washington

Washington (1732-1799), born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, was commander in Chief of American forces during five harsh years of the Revolutionary War, and at times held his troops togethr with little more than his own willpower. After the war he played a vital roll in presiding over the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and was was elected the first US president in 1789.

1. Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation, for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company.

2. Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

3. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.

4. To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.

5. Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.

6. Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distress of everyone, and let your hand give in proportion to your purse.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 844