You Are Destined For Greatness. Go for it.
We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility. — Rabindranath Tagore
True greatness consists of sincere humility and a desire to be of service to others. But where there is self-assertion or rivalry to secure the “chief seat” and win applause, then the impulse of such vanity necessarily create alienation and disorder. It is a humbling lesson to human vanity and tends to check the growth of self-importance to consider how well the world will go on when we are laid in the dust and no longer partake in the direction of its affairs. Leaves fall in autumn! Trees are felled in the spring! But the next vernal season renews the foliage. Another age replaces the veteran oak removed by the ax or the tempest, and the forest still presents its broad expanse and deep shade to the eye of the traveler.
Be Humble. The great are always willing to be little. We learn through humility. We grow through humility.
People throw stones at you and you convert them into milestones. — Sachin Tendulkar
The oyster, when it is feeding, lies with its shell open a little way, so that the water may flow through it. When any of the very little insects and animals on which it feeds comes floating in with the water, the oyster opens its mouth and swallows them. But it sometimes happens that things float in which the oyster does not want, and which it cannot swallow or eat. When it is lying quietly in the sunshine, and enjoying its meal, a little grain of sand may come inside the shell, so small that you and I could scarcely see it, but so hard and sharp, that if it gets under the oyster’s soft, tender body, it would irritate and pain it. What does the oyster do? It has no hands to catch hold of it and throw it out. Well, it does not, as we should say, get into a passion, and knock itself about the shell. No, it lies quite still, and with some of that beautiful, white, smooth, glossy matter, with which it has lined the inside of its shell, it covers the sand all over, and so makes it smooth too. And more than that, when the oyster is caught, and its shell is opened, if one of these small round beads is found, it is taken out and called a pearl, and makes a very valuable and handsome ornament. Provocation should be the occasion of developing the pearl.
The greatest danger with most of us is not our aim is too high and we miss it, but that its too low and we reach it — Michelangelo
We should aim at perfection in order to make great attainments. No one makes any great advance in anything, who does not set a high standard. We usually accomplish about what we expect to accomplish. If one expects to be a quack physician, they become such. If he/she is satisfied to be a fourth-rate lawyer, he/she becomes such. They advance no higher. Those who sincerely aim, however, to excel, they usually accomplish their object.
Aim high. Aim for the moon. If you miss you may hit the stars. You get what you settle for. Never settle for anything less than greatness. It’s not where you start but how high you aim that matters for success.
Duty makes us do things well. Love makes us do them beautifully- Phillips Brooks
Love is higher than duty. Love is a better master than duty but the reason is that love, in reality, contains duty in itself. Love is duty and something more. If the instinct of love is ever to reach its true perfection, it must absorb the instinct of duty into itself, and make the sense of duty stronger and deeper and keener.
If you think you know everything, you will never learn anything. — Dani Johnson
Teachable people know there is always something more to learn from everybody.They are like the bee, they extract honey from every flower. Those who fancy they have all in themselves will never learn.
President Lincoln once said that he was willing to learn from anyone who could teach him anything. In proportion to the love of instruction will be the acquisition of knowledge. It is wisdom to admit that we do not know everything. We sometimes get things wrong. We can actually learn from others.
We are born like in dire need of instruction, but some are such enemies of themselves that they will not consent to be taught wisdom.
Don’t Complain. Just Work Harder
After all, without labor and industry, no one can get any comfort in life. There is no substitute for hard work. Indolence is self-destruction.
In writing to his step-brother Johnston, who had requested a loan of money, Abraham Lincoln says: “The great defect in your conduct is, not that you are lazy, but that you are an idler. This habit of uselessly wasting time is the whole difficulty, and it is vastly important to you and to your children that you should break the habit. Go to work for the best money wages you can get, and for every dollar that you will get for your own labor, I will give you another one. If you will do this you will soon be out of debt, and what is better you will have gained a habit that will keep you from getting in debt again.
Let them sleep while you grind. Let them party while you work. Hard Work Pays Off.
