Every day when I post the best links I can find on the Internet, I include a quote. They are chosen to inspire and instruct. This year, many of them dealt with the fact that failure and success go hand in hand. This is a popular concept in current business and education literature. It is also the topic of my summary of Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge From Small Discoveries by Peter Sims. I hope you enjoy my favorites from 2013 and thanks for your support.
11/27 If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. John Quincy Adams @gcouros
11/21 If you’re not the one who’s controlling your learning, you’re not going to learn as well. Joel Voss @wired
11/19 The best way to predict the future is to invent it. Alan Kay @petersims
11/14 Be kinder than necessary. @readingsecrets
11/13 People don’t know what they want until they’ve seen it. Steve Jobs @petersims
11/7 The only way to get ahead is to fail early, fail often, and fail forward. John Maxwell @principalspage
11/4 Listen if you want to be heard. John Wooden @principalspage
11/2 Every wrong attempt discarded is just one more step forward. Thomas Edison
10/21 Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. @Larryferlazzo @justintarte
10/20 Kids who grow kale will eat kale. Growing your own food is like printing money. Every kid should be a gardener. @DrDougGreen
10/17 If you are going to doubt something, doubt your limits. Don Ward @principalspage
10/16 Progress is impossible without change; and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. George Bernard Shaw @Montberte
10/15 “I was wrong,” builds more respect than, “I told you so.” @Leadershipfreak @principalspage
10/10 A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be. Wayne Gretzky @GuyKawasaki
10/7 Surrounding yourself with ‘yes’ people is like talking to yourself. @FSonnenberg @LollyDaskal
10/3 Do you want your students to enjoy your class? Then enjoy your class. @DrJoeClark @principalspage
9/30 Failure doesn’t mean you are a failure. It just means you haven’t succeeded yet. Robert Schuller
9/29 Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. John Wooden @principalspage
9/26 The only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary. Vince Lombardi @principalspage
9/20 I have failed over and over again, that is why I succeed. Michael Jordan @steve_maul
9/11 How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. Anne Frank @GuyKawasaki
9/3 The way to succeed is to double your failure rate. Thomas Watson, (Founder of IBM) @principalspage
9/2 When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this – you haven’t. Thomas Edison @principalspage
8/28 If you don’t start you can’t fail. If you don’t start, you will fail. Seth Godin @thisissethsblog
8/26 Risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. Leo Buscaglia @GuyKawasaki
8/25 Nothing will stop you from being creative so effectively as the fear of making a mistake. John Cleese @nancyrubin
8/22 It costs you nothing to be nice, but can cost you a fortune if you’re not. @petershankman
8/17 A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, and a little less than his share of the credit. Arnold H. Glasgo @Jeff_Zoul
8/11 Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure. Napoleon Hill @ChrisWidener
8/2 Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve. Roger Lewin @BryanMcDonaldPD @justintarte @clindhol
7/27 I not only use all the brains that I have but all the brains I can borrow. Woodrow Wilson @tombarrett @c_durley
7/6 The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. Ralph Nader @principalspage
6/24 Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible. Frank Zappa @GuyKawasaki
6/23 It is better to keep asking questions than to know all the answers. @LollyDaskal
6/10 The biggest mistake isn’t making mistakes its making excuses. @Leadershipfreak
5/10 Don’t let the fear of striking out hold you back. Babe Ruth @mccoyderek
5/7 Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. Dalai Lama @ChrisWidener @DalaiLama
4/30 What is right is more important than who is right. John Wooden @principalspage
4/26 Anyone who doesn’t make mistakes isn’t trying hard enough. Wess Roberts @principalspage
2/25 Every strike brings me closer to the next home run. Babe Ruth @Sports_HQ @zecool
2/6 Don’t compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to the person you were yesterday. @Fit_Motivator @principalspage
2/5 The only time you run out of chances is when you stop taking them. – Unknown @NMHS_Principal
1/31 It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up. -Babe Ruth @motivational
1/17 A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor – English Proverb @ToddWhitaker
1/9 The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it. Michelangelo @SirKenRobinson
1/8 To be outstanding, get comfortable with being uncomfortable. @principalspage