Who doesn’t love a great quote?
Here are my top 10 quotes of my career and life….and who passed them on to me.
#10 From my husband Ron Van: “Comicated: Comically Complicated” a word coined while listening to, yet another, death by powerpoint.
#9 My Dad was a big proponent of Dale Carnegie and he shared this one with me when I was very young. “A person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” He taught me the importance of remembering people’s names, a lesson I’ve never forgotten.
#8 Joe Huffman: “Leaders are people who do the right things, managers do things right". Joe shared this during a panel discussion with the Women In Industry Networking Group on the topic of “Transitioning from a Manager to a Leader”.
#7 Ken McAllister: “Life is one repeat memo.” I worked with Ken at Coleman Cable and he taught us the value of repurposing content from prior campaigns, old presentations, different promotions.
#6 Tammy Livers frequently quotes Maya Angelou and this is one of the favorites she shared with me: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
#5 Ana Esteve Yoder’s Father: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Ana is a dear friend from Notre Dame and I’ll never forget these wise words from her father any time she missed a deadline....but she had the best intention.
#4 Joe Huffman’s Assistant: when Joe would complain in frustration “this darn computer isn’t working” she would reply “PICNIC....Problem In Chair Not In Computer.” How many times have we all needed to remember this one?
#3 Sandcastle BVI - “It is not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see.” (Henry David Thoreau) This was on a picture hanging in the Sandcastle Hotel on Jost Van Dyke BVI…sadly this cozy little getaway was wiped out by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.
#2 My Mom: “Growing old isn’t for sissies”. My mom shared this nugget with me this year with a story about how my Great Aunt Jean Van Meter used to say this all the time when someone complained about a sore hip, knee, back, muscle, etc. Jean and her two sisters (Hazel and JJ my Grandmother) were elegant but tough ladies!
#1 Albert Einstein: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results.” Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows this is absolutely my all time favorite.
Feel free to share your favorites in the comments!
Photo courtesy of Sharon McCutcheon Unsplash