“wife and two children on the spot of barren dirt that hours before had been his home and everything he owned, he spoke the words I will keep with me always. He said, “We have lost absolutely everything. We have nothing left other than the clothes on our backs.” Then, after a brief pause, he continued, “But I guess we are lucky since our whole family is safe and sound. We have everything important.” To have lost everything and still have everything seems contradictory, but it’s not. As I reflect on the lessons presented by the young father, I realize that we all spend a lot of time accumulating things that in the final”
―
Jim Stovall
“Instead of looking to find a friend, seek situations where you can be a friend, and you will always find what you are looking for.”
―
Jim Stovall
“Showing Respect Is not Slavery...and Must Be Taught”
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Jim Stovall
“Some friendships are a legacy left to us by those who have gone before. Other friendships are legacies we will leave behind.”
―
Jim Stovall
“Tournament. For months, every team in the country has a goal of making it to the tournament. Then, at the end of the season, 64 teams are selected from various parts of the country. As the tournament progresses, teams are eliminated one-by-one until, at the end of the season, the team remaining is named the national champion. Among all of the participants who began at the beginning of the season, and among all the top 64 who actually made the tournament, only one team comes out on top. If this is our only goal, the majority of us are doomed”
―
Jim Stovall
“The only way to truly get more out of life for yourself is to give part of yourself away.”
―
Jim Stovall
“Conventional wisdom would say that the less you give, the more you have. The converse is true. The more you give, the more you have.”
―
Jim Stovall
“I defy you to find a statue or a monument ever erected to anyone because they were realistic. All dreamers, all achievers, all great people kept their child-like faith in their own dream and their ability to carry it out, and these great people had an inordinate gift to disregard the word's cries for reality.”
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Jim Stovall
“great legacy starts with a great life, and every great life starts with a great plan.”
―
Jim Stovall
“that we would receive the overwhelming message that the vast majority of adults feel they have no talent in these areas. On the other hand, if we were to conduct the same poll among 4-year-olds, we would find that virtually all of them are convinced they can sing, and virtually all of them have confidence in their ability to dance. Most of the 4-year-olds have little or no real talent, but, instead, they are endowed with incredible confidence in their own potential. This confidence, or certainty of success, is something we were all born with but we later traded in for a strong dose of what we call realism. Shortly after we reach school age, we are taught lessons about the world that revolve around us, limiting our vision and becoming realistic.”
―
Jim Stovall
“Success lies in the balance between seeking and striving on one hand and being peaceful and content on the other.”
―
Jim Stovall
“I have always found it ironic that the people in this world who have the most to be thankful for are often the least thankful, and somehow the people who have virtually nothing, many times live lives full of gratitude.”
―
Jim Stovall
“In those times when we yearn to have more in our lives, we should dwell on the things we already have. In doing so, we will often find that our lives are already full to overflowing.”
―
Jim Stovall
“There is absolutely nothing that can replace money in the things that money does, but regarding the rest of the things in the world, money is absolutely useless.”
―
Jim Stovall
“Our memories are not totally fact or completely fiction. They are a conglomeration of the thoughts that we put together to explain to ourselves who we are. Just like a beautiful flower garden will look totally different in daylight as opposed to dark, the memories of our past are held hostage by our perspective.”
―
Jim Stovall
